Today I had a delightful experience: my first third grade field trip since my youngest daughter was in the third grade. I am in Ashland with family and Michelle and I accompanied the Owlet's third grade class to the Nature Center for a day of hands on learning about Native American life in the Ashland area.
A uama - the house of the Native Americans.
Learning to weave a basket from cat tail reeds.
Sitting in the uama, learning to sew rabbit skins to make warm clothes.
In the willow shelter making manzanita tea. As we have a back yard full of manzanita bushes, I just may make some of this mild, tasty tea at home.
A family of deer wandered by during the session.
With pretend bows and arrows, the kids practiced their shooting of the prey the Native Americans used for food and leather for clothes. When the bear was one of the animals, I began to bristle and Michelle said, "Settle down, mom. It's historical." *sigh* We are So protective of our bears in Tahoe that it was hard to think of killing them even years ago.
After practicing, we went "hunting" - a learning: smudging with the sage came first as a way to mask the human smell from their prey. The hunt was the only time all day when every child and adult in the group was absolutely quiet.
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