The War of 1812

We went to a War Encampment with our homeschool group. I read up on the war before attending since I was not interested in history in school. I read a U.S. history book and found that it leaned toward U.S. Patriotic views. I became curious right away about what the views of Canadians was. So to attend a Canadian War of 1812 event was so much more interesting. The Canadian book I found at our library was longer. I wanted a fast overview in case I needed to explain anything to my kids. Well, not only did we get the view of the Canadian side but much of it was from the Native point of view. The actor who played Tecumseh's was AMAZING! I thoroughly enjoyed his acting! I, personally learned from him. I had no idea that Chicago actually means "Black murky stinky muck" or something like that! I guess when the city was named the white men never found out what the word meant. He really let us know how things were and that Natives were not the barbarians that the white men have brought us up to believe. He talked about their way of life and how there use to be many buffalo. He talked about how they never scalped people as part of their way of life.  They learned this from Christian white men who came and paid them to do it. He even talked about how his brother should be more well known but because Tecumseh is a war leader that is more interesting to talk about him. Life changed dramatically in his generation and he witnessed so many terrible things. He talked about how family members and friends were ordered to kill each other on both sides of the boarder at Windsor and Detroit. He shared so much that I can't even begin to share it all here.

The costumes were well done. This man introduced Tecumseh and he told us what his job was at that time. He was to teach the English how to get along with the Natives. He was a sort of middle man.

I noticed sitting on that grass that my kids are so comfortable among the other children. They are all such good friends. 

We learned what the difference between a rifle and a musket is. Muskets were not accurate but they could be loaded faster. They then fired a musket off. Austyn found that one of the most exciting parts of his day!

We talked to the weavers. They talked about how the famous Canadian Sashs were made and what they were used for. The markings were to identify families and the voyagers also found that they provided back support while carrying and canoing. It took a very long time to make a sash. Much of the time is spend untangling the yarn after each row.

 This woman was using a loom. The yarn would have been died from natural sources in nature.
Here she is talking about beading. The beads she is pointing out were made from porcupine quills.

 We learned about peoples' living courters and how trading was tipped in favour of the white men.

We learned about furs and how they were prepared. We got to touch some. We also learned about the fur trade.

The Voyagers discussed their jobs and how life was for them. They were long days with much labour. They would sing to pass the time well.

We saw how people kept themselves fed even in times of war. They ate salted pork and a hard buscuit that lasted a very long time. Their diet was usually unhealthy. As you can see in the picture of the fire, they were roasting some sort of animal.

We learned about the canons they used. There is a whole procedure they go through to light it. He also talked about the dangers faced by the people who used the canon. One wrong move could cost someone an arm.

The kids got to get right in there and make some rope just like they would have around the time of the war. Each family got to take a piece of the rope home. 

After making rope the kids were instructed on how to play tug of war with two people and two logs. This looked fun!

Look at the concern in Zoe's face. They were telling them how to hold their hands around their ears and open their mouths a bit so they don't blow their ear drums when the canon is fired. It was very loud. That was the grand fanale of our field trip. It was a good day!