Hawk Circle In-School Field Trip Programs
Demonstrations, Question and Answers and Hands On Workshops

?The following subjects and descriptions are a listing of programs that the Hawk Circle Instructors can present, demonstrate and teach at your school.    With higher fuel costs, and safety issues in administration minds, this is a great option, where your students spend less time in the school bus and more time doing hands on activities and connecting with our instructors and guides.  

Our Demonstrations, Presentations and Question/Answer programs offer students an opportunity to see, hold, feel and hear about various skills, artifacts, crafts and tools that helped early people’s flourish in the wilderness before modern-day tools.

Our Hands-on Workshops give students the opportunity to actually make a craft or artifact, using original, native skills, for a full sensory experience of living history.

For schools who wish to have more than one workshop as part of the presentation, using “rotating stations”, we will usually need to bring in several instructors to work in smaller groups.   Please call us for information about your specific class needs, prices and scheduling information.    (607) 264-3396.   

Download a printable brochure PDF file:

Hawk Circle School Programs Brochure 2006

Pre-Columbian Native American Living Skills
Demonstrations / Q & A:
The Life of a Native Boy or Girl
This discussion offers insight into the life of a native person who might have lived 400 years ago, and presents items that would have been important to their lives, such as young hunting weapons, clothing, games, necklaces and other items used daily. Brings together all of the above skills and programs into a unique view of the native world.
  

Hands-On Workshop:
Living the Life of a Native Boy or Girl
This program combines the above information as well as provides various stations where students will learn valuable skills and hands-on crafts, culminating in a thanksgiving circle celebrating what we have learned on our ‘living historical journey’.

Stone Tools
Demonstrations / Q & A:
Arrowheads, Knives & Spearpoints

 Students will learn about different stone projectile points, knives, axes and scrapers, and see how an arrowhead is made from a flake of natural New York chert. Stone working tools, antlers, leather padding, safety issues and identifying materials will also be presented.
 

Hands-On Workshop:
Flint Knapping an Arrowhead or Spearpoint
Students will have the opportunity to make their own flint arrowhead using pressure flaking tools. Safety gear will be provided, and students will learn about how this important skill made life possible before European contact.

Native Shelter Building
& Insulation
Demonstrations / Q & A:
Natural Debris Shelters, Grass Mats, and Insulation
Students will see different forms of natural Insulation, from furs, grass or cattail mats, and learn about how aboriginal peoples survived the cold, northern winters. Stories of instructor experiences in the wilderness, making and living in primitive shelters will be shared as part of this program.
  

Hands-On Workshop:
Building a Natural Wilderness Shelter
In this class, students will make a shelter that will keep them warm, using leaves, medium sized sticks, brush and twigs. This program can be done using small natural areas on school property if there are resources available, or it can be done on a playing field with materials that are brought in by students and/or instructors. Students really enjoy being inside their new shelter, and working together to make it.

Wild Edible Foods

Walk & Talk
Hands-On Workshop:
Experiential Plant Identification Walk:
Students in this program will learn about many of the different foods, medicines and useful plants and trees that still live and grow around us. Berries, barks, nuts, roots and shoots are among the many different foods we will explore and share during this activity.

Hands-On Workshop:
The Tasty Hickory Nut and Wild Blueberry
In this short class, students will learn about Hickory trees, their uses and seasons, and learn how and when to gather the nuts and how to break them to gain the nutrious nut meat inside. We will also discuss gathering, drying and using wild blueberries and other wild berries for food.

Animals & Hunting Technologies
Demonstrations / Q & A:
The Way of the Hunter
This program provides insights into the role that animals and hunting played in early cultures, and the uses of those animals for survival. Buckskin clothing, feathers for arrows, sinew for string and thread, bone for tools and pendants, hooves for rattles, oil and much more will be shown and described. Bows and arrows, spears and atlatls, throwing sticks, bolas, slings and several other hunting implements will be brought to demonstrate how these tools were made and how they looked.
 

Hands-On Workshop:
The Hunter’s Way: Using Primitive Hunting Tools
In this program, students will learn to throw simple throwing sticks for hunting, at mock targets, use spears and spear throwers for the atlatl and see a handmade bow and arrow used as well. We will learn how and when these tools were used and have fun with short contests to find out who would do well as a native hunter.

Primitive Firemaking Skills
Demonstrations / Q & A:
Fire by Friction, Fire by Steel
This demonstration gives students a chance to see the fire-making process from start to finish, from carving, wood selection, tinder choices and then several firm-making techniques. Hand drill, bow and drill and flint and steel skills will be modeled and demonstrated. Tipi fires, fire safety concerns will be taught and emphasized as well.
  

Hands-On Workshop:
The Art of Primitive Fire-making
This program is a hands-on version of the demo program, with several stations where students can make and try these skills for themselves, or in small groups.

Natural Fiber Arts
Demonstrations / Q & A:
Fibers of the Northern Woodlands
Students learn about the role of plant fibers in early people’s lives, from milkweed string to yucca rope, dogbane weavings, belts, pouches, netting and cornhusk crafts. The differences between tree and plant fibers will be discussed, as well as when and how to gather these resources from nature.
 

Hands-On Workshop:
Milkweed: Making Natural Rope and String
The reverse wrap technique of twisting fibers to make a soft, silky cord for a necklace or bracelet will be shown to students, so they can bring home rope that they have made themselves. Students will learn how to find the fibers in different plant stalks, how to prepare them for twisting and wrapping and how to care for them and make them ultra soft and strong.

Native “Gorget” or Neck Ornaments
Demonstrations / Q & A:
The Role of Adornment for Native Peoples
Native people used shells, bone and stones to make jewelry that demonstrated their appreciation of the natural world, and in this short discussion we present different items that were sometimes made by native peoples for adornment, ceremony or practical uses. Techniques used to make these beautiful objects will also be demonstrated.
 

Hands-On Workshop:
Making Bone, Shell or Stone Necklace Pendants
Students have an opportunity to make their own tribal jewelry from natural materials, using a variety of native and modern means. Very popular and fun for participants!

Leather, Buckskin & Rawhide
Demonstration / Q & A:
Natual Leathers, Buckskins & Rawhide
This program provides an experiential look at the role of leather, animal skins and rawhide in native and early pioneering life. Samples of rawhide pouches, drums, lanterns and rattles, buckskin clothing, leather bags, and how these different items helped early people survive.

Hands-On Workshop:
Making a Buckskin Medicine Pouch
In this class students will make small leather neckbags, called ‘medicine bags’ using hole punches, sinew and learn several sewing techniques that are useful when working with leather. These pouches can be worn under the shirt and are for small, personal treasures that keep us remembering our roots & our good ‘medicine’.