Strike the harp and join the chorus! We're having impromptu fun at the Ohop Indian Village at Pioneer Farm! And while we're at it, we're learning about both native plants and Native Americans at the same time.
Welcome to the Ohop Indian Village
The Valley of the Sound of Rushing Water
Lots of fun with our friends:
Lots of uses for native plants:
Going on a nature hike with "North"
He stressed the need to ALWAYS check with an expert before eating anything from the forest!
He taught us about plants that are beneficial for diarrhea and for upset stomach,
plants that stimulate appetite and plants that suppress it,
plants that are edible and full of good vitamins and plants that are poisonous,
plants that sting us (stinging nettle) and plants that take the sting away (fern)
and much more.
'There are 250 million plants species in the world.
Ninety percent of them are still unstudied."
The shaman was an expert on all plants.
But each person was responsible for developing their own "special eye"
for a specific plant
so that they could look at a plant and know if it was good or bad.
This was a way to keep the community
healthy and safe.
False Solomon's Seal
A powerful narcotic pain reliever
Trillium--a time teller
Goes from white to pink to purple throughout the season
Grinding corn--a staple crop
Ironwood is good for nails, staffs and arrows because it is straight and strong.
Ironwood also makes good tongs as it is heat resistant.
Tule reed, sweet grass and bear grass are all used to make clothing.
Grasses are used for shelter, too.
This basket, called the Mount Rainier basket, is made of bear grass.
Bear grass is light in color and dyes well.
When cedar bark is soaked in water it turns black and is easy to strip into fibers.
It can then be twisted together to make cordage.
Stripping the water soaked cedar
The cordage can then be made into mats like this.
Or even diapers!
Cedar trees can be made into canoes, too.
Lots more hands-on experiences:
Starting a fire
Playing a hoop game
Gotcha!
Another version of a hoop game
Adding "Friendly Welcome" marks
A very "Friendly Welcome" mark
Learning about the winter headquarters and instruments, tools and arrowheads.
A long plank drum
Tools
Making an arrowhead out of slate
We all got into the action!
Feeling successful
Weaving
Tanning
Beadwork
Sorting
Marveling at a turtle shell
Working on a petroglyph
It'll take a lot of people and a lot of time to engrave this rock to pass the test of time.
Who needs a classroom when we have the great outdoors?
What a great way to experience the Native American way of life!
Robert Harju, Cowlitz Tribal Carver, and his son Danial, an apprentice carver, came to our class and gifted us with a cedar feather. We consider it an honor to have them come to our class, show us their artwork, demonstrate how they carve and involve us in the final stages of finishing a carving.
Hands-on, up close learning at its best!
'
We each received a feather and later sanded them with three grits of sandpaper.
As Tribal Carver, Robert's job is to carve items used in his tribe's ceremonies and celebrations. The long platter above is for the first-salmon-of-the-year ceremony.
He also carves oars for the canoes, both long ones that serve as a rudder and shorter ones for rowing. Most items that are carved are also a work of art. This one in the picture was gifted to another tribe, hand-painted with that tribe's story of origin and then re-gifted back to Robert.
Part of being the Tribal Carver is passing the skill on to others. This apprentice is his son, Danial, a parent of one of our Seabury Ladybugs. We have such a great pool of willing, diverse, interesting and skilled people in our school community!
It starts with a block of wood.
And some very sharp tools.
A ceremonial fan of feathers in progress
We hear some great stories, see some beautiful artifacts and head on outside to finish our feathers.
The finished work. Each one turned out differently.
Robert taught the kids that the lighter colored wood, called sapwood, is closer to the bark of the tree and is where nutrients go up the tree. The red wood, called heartwood, is deeper in the tree. He purposefully carved the feathers to be half of each.
For more information, here is an article on a 22 foot cedar canoe Robert carved.
