Meaningful Experiences with Indigenous Culture
Above: Deitrich Peters and Shane Oglesbee play the big drum at the Earth Ways summer camp in Cottage Grove.
Earth Ways Summer Camp 2024 was full of interesting learning, cultural experiences, nature exploration and fun. There were several moments that I call magical, which resonated with deep meaning for me, and I think, for the campers as well. Such as when our special guest Deitrich Peters, Grand Ronde, allowed the children to come up and touch his regalia…they marveled over the thousands of tiny beads and intricate patterns. This kind of special learning experience is why I got into this career, and it’s what keeps me investing so much of my time and energy into it.
Deitrich Peters and I have been friends for a few years, and he graciously agreed to come to the camp to share culture with the children. His son-in-law, Shane Oglesbee came as well to talk about his regalia, and his experiences with flute playing. The kids got to hear both of them play flute, and got to color their own PVC flutes to take home. Shane taught them a few basic fingering techniques, and helped them practice. This really captured their interest!
(All our special guests are paid a generous stipend thanks to our funders: Weyerhauser Giving Fund and Cottage Grove Community Foundation)
Throughout the week we explored things like Native American animal stories, tools and material goods of life for thousands of years in the Willamette Valley, traditional foods and more.
We were fortunate to have Stephanie Craig, Kalapuya, teach us about traditional basketry and how to make our own tule mats to take home. I learned the twining technique right along with the kids! Now I use my tule mat in my display of items with the Kalapuya Ways presentation. It was a challenging task for some of the kids, especially the younger ones, but each person made a mat and was proud of it.
Stephanie is a well known and respected teacher and culture-bearer. I have been lucky enough to attend several of her talks and workshops and have been very impressed each time. She also does presentations for our Acorn Circle Program. She came all the way from Salem to work with our campers, and she provided all the materials and instruction. Several of our board members and their children also joined us, as well as one of our parent volunteers.
(Read the article in the Cottage Grove Sentinel here.)
Campers take notes in their journals about the types of materials used in basketry.
Here we are after coloring our own indigenous themed animal masks (and some of the kids made paper bear claws.) I drew these from the book Sharing Our World: Animals of the Native Northwest Coast.
Kids love stories, and they love animals, so that part of the curriculum is especially fun and engaging. Kids love to express themselves and be creative and we help them do that.
Other activites we did included making soapstone bears from a kit, including getting them wet and sanding them. We read a story about bears first and talked about their importance.
We also read Frog Girl by Paul Owen and talked about the significance of the button blanket. They made their own button blanket wall hangings with felt and lots of white buttons. It was so interesting to see the different designs they came up with! In each lesson, I make sure to talk about what tribe the art/stories are from, and that these tribal members are still living here, reclaiming their culture, language, land, and traditions. We model respect and inclusivity.
The kids loved going to the river to swim several times! We see ducks, fish, snails and all kinds of little creatures down at the Coast Fork Willamette River. This location is perfect for this camp!
We also had a visit from an instructor with Coast Fork Willamette Watershed Council who helped us do dip-netting in the river. We caught river creatures and learned about science and watershed health. The kids gained new understanding about the importance of respecting water and all it gives to us.
Another special guest was Devin Kesner, who taught us to weave little cedar basket bottoms as pendant neckalces. The kids loved these. I never knew how easy it was to soak little strips of cedar until they are flexible, and wrap waxed linen cord in a twining style to make these. It was challenging, but they were up to the task!
“This is our favorite camp ever!!” ~ a brother and sister at camp
I was fortunate to be able to work with our wonderful teen helper, Kai Williams, Siletz Tribe, for this camp. He is the most fun, awesome, kind, and silly teen I know. Kai was so good at making the other kids feel comfortable, modeling patience and participation, and just being generally helpful! Our teen helpers are volunteers and do not pay any fee to attend camp.
For our field games the kids learned to throw the atlatl, an ancient hunting tool with a dart. Our guest instructor Ryan had a lot of fun teaching them aim and form for throwing competitions.
For me, this summer camp is a culmination of 20 years of teaching living history, and feeling very connected to Native culture. I come to this teaching from a place of respect and humility, being careful to avoid appropriation, and checking with the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Curriculum Specialist frequently.
A hearfelt thank you to our wonderful indigenous culture-bearers and special guests who made this camp so memorable for all of us. We are so grateful for your time and energy. And a big thank you to the land, the animals, and the river for sharing it’s beauty, food, and joy with us.
Hiya Masi! (Thank you!)
– Karen Rainsong
Special thanks to our funders:
