Sacajawea Days

In the early fall we attended Sacajawea Days with a homeschooling group.  This was an event where people can see what life was like for the Lewis and Clark expedition, as well as other early settlers of the West.  K has been learning about Lewis and Clark in her My First Report research study, and this was a good opportunity to bring some of this learning to life. 

It was school groups day when we went, so we had to keep with our group and just visit our assigned stations.  This was ok because we really enjoyed the stations we visited, and our guide let us explore some of the other stations during the breaks.  There was a lot to see and learn about.

 

The first station we visited was about daily life for pioneer families.  The children learned about the long process of churning butter and got to hoist a real butter churn to see how heavy they really were.  No lightweight plastic for these people.

 

 

The kids also learned about kneading bread and doing laundry in old times.  Then before we moved to the next station, the kids were reminded how there were no bathrooms or indoor plumbing in those days.  Chamber pots were described and the children were divided into two teams to have a relay race to pretend to dispose of their family's chamber pot.  I was told the pots were realistically filled with Snickers bars and yellow colored water.  Needless to say, the children ran very fast.

 

 

 

At the next station we listened to singers and drummers from a nearby Indian tribe.  They also showed us some traditional dances.

 

 

Then everyone participated in a "friendship dance".

 

 

Next, we learned about birds of prey native to the area.

 

 

Last was a station that showed what the Lewis and Clark expedition campsites may have looked like.

 

 

 

This man shot his rifle for our group. 

 

 

It was fascinating to hear about the tools they used and all the steps they had to take to set up camp.  We think our lives contain a lot common tasks to get through the day, but this is nothing compared to what they had to do from scratch each. day.

 

 

There were a few additional stations we visited on our own, but I didn't get pictures of those.  After all was said and done, I let the kids play by the river before we went back home.  It was a good day, and M did admirably in her stroller as well.

 

Over the next days, the kids wanted to play in our canoe.  I think they pretended they were going on a long expedition of their own.