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Life On The Road
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We walked through Powhatan huts and saw where they would have slept and
ate. We saw how they ground their corn and made their bowls and
utensils. We felt the deerskin garment of the Indian woman who greeted
us and talked to her about how comfortable her shoes were (they're made
from elk hide), and learned that although the fur on her cloak looked
itchy it was actually warm and soft.
From there we walked through James Fort, a triangular city surrounded by walls to protect the inhabitants. We watched the carpenter make a scabbard and the blacksmith make nails.
We listened to a demonstration about muskets and how they worked and
then heard one fired. It was as loud as a cannon! We went to the
building where they stored all of their weapons and learned about the way the
men were trained for combat, with swords and with muskets. The boys
were enthralled and stayed asking questions until it was time for the
shopkeeper to leave. Then we watched several men in the middle of the
fort doing laundry (yes, I said men). Watching them made me thankful
for washers and dryers - what an awful job!
Our final stop outdoors was the dock where we boarded the Susan
Constant, the Discovery and the Elizabeth (the Elizabeth was not one of
the first ships to bring settlers, but it did make many trips in later
years). We were surprised to see how small they were. Walking through
the holds we imagined being stuck inside for 3 or 4 months - waves
crashing, people sick and stinking. Our textbook says that several
young boys, called younkers, made that first journey. They were
probably runaways or orphans and "were expected to climb the rigging,
high on the ship's mast, to help set the sails, and keep a lookout for
land and danger. If a younker fell into the ocean and was lost - well,
too bad. That was one of the perils of sea travel." Standing on the
decks of the Susan Constant, the rigging looked a mile high and every
breeze made it sway perilously above the water. "How'd you like to
have to climb that during a storm?" I asked? Wide eyed, they both
shook their heads no.
Back inside we walked through the museum that chronicles the coming
together of the Indian, the English and the African people in America
in the early 1600s. The museum is very well done, but unfortunately we
were not allowed to take pictures, so we can't really show it to you.
We also watched a short film about the first landing. Once again, very
well done. Just to be clear, Jamestown Settlement is not the actual
site of the first landing, it is a replica. The original site is at
Historic Jamestown, which is now a National Park and more of an
archeological site, but still worth exploring.
This is exactly the type of experience I was hoping for when we decided
to take this trip. We had been reading about this place, about its
people and what had happened to them. Now we were seeing it, putting
our hands on it, hearing the muskets fire, and making a memory of a
historical event that hopefully won't fade.
If you'd like to learn more about Jamestown, here are some of the suggestions that will be included in our newsletter:
Journaling-
1. Pretend you are a Powhatan Indian and you're fishing when you see
ships anchored off the coast and some small boats carrying several men
headed toward you. What are you thinking? What will you do?
2. Pretend you are one of the members of the Jamestown settlement
during The Starving Time. Describe how you feel, what you do each day,
what you eat or wish you could eat, and how you cope with the idea that
you might not live through the winter. Read "Jamestown - Adventures in
Colonial America Series" by James Knight to help you understand what it
was like.
Art-
Research the structure of the Jamestown Fort and create a model of it.
Math-
Research and calculate the distance from Jamestown to England. See if
you can figure how long would it have taken to get from one to the
other by sailing ship? Research the history of the term "knots" to
measure speed.
Geography-
Research the area along the Virginia coast and determine where you
would establish a colony and why. Make a presentation to convince the
Virginia Company to settle where you think they should. (this is great
for a group)
Science-
Research what happens to the human body when it is starved. Discuss
healthy eating and nutrition. Become aware of parts of the world that
are still starving even today. *BONUS: Do something to help someone
who is hungry.
Try some of the activities in "More Than Moccasins: A Kid's Activity
Guide to Traditional North American Indian Life (A Kid's Guide series)
by Laurie Carlson
Supplemental Reading-
Jamestown - Adventures in Colonial America Series by James Knight
Blue Feather's Vision: The Dawn of Colonial America - Adventures in Colonial America Series by James Knight
The Ox Cart Man by Donald Hall
The Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgliesh
A Journey to the New World - The Diary of Remember Patience Whipple by Kathryn Lasky
The Double Life of Pocahontas by Jean Fritz
Pocahontas, Girl of Jamestown by Kate Jassem
If you Lived in Colonial Times by Ann McGovern
The Thanksgiving Story by Alice Dalgliesh
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