The fourth graders had the opportunity to visit Churchville Nature Center's hands on Lenape living history village. We have begun our yearlong study of Philadelphia, and the students had many questions and wonderings about the indigenous Lenape people.
We arrived by bus and hiked down a hidden trail through the woods that was like a doorway to the past. The village, tucked behind woods and fences, shares the customs and way of life of the Lenape before their contact with Europeans.
Students were guided through their day by an educator dressed in hand made deerskin clothing replicating the dress of the time period. They rotated through different interpretive stations with the help of their guide.
As they learned the history, they interacted in activities that ranged from fire making, practicing the skills young Lenape needed to master to be effective hunters, pottery making, gardening, cooking, cordage making, long house construction and matrilineal family structure.
The students quickly discovered that nothing was ever wasted and the Lenape were amazing at creating usages for every aspect of the animals they hunted. The children thoroughly immersed themselves in the culture and will continue to explore and research the Lenape and their history.
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