Today I helped out at Ten Sleep’s summer school! They were going to one of my favorite places, Medicine Lodge State Park, just north of the town of Hyattville. Their theme this summer is “Dig Deep”, so I got to talk archaeology! This is the perfect spot for it, having had multiple digs on the premises and pictographs and petroglyphs along a sandstone wall.
After a quick tour of the visitors center, we talked a bit about Indians, and what it would have been like here 10,000 years ago, and projectile points, and atlatls, and we walked a great little timeline!
Then we split into groups, and the kids with me got to try their hand at the atlatl!
They also got to draw some of the pictographs into their journals… and take a nature hike. What a fun morning! After lunch, I went back to peruse the pictographs/petroglyphs myself. I know UW has been working on a map of the wall, but I assume it isn’t complete as I couldn’t find it online.
The drawings are always inspirational…
I will share what they inspired my sister and I to do this afternoon… come back tomorrow!
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Happy birthday to my mom… Still missing her… ALWAYS. And happy first birthday to little Sweetgrass Edenfire! You are a firecracker and have brought me much joy! Can’t miss her, she’s laying right at my feet!
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A little late, but shall we do a Q&A session this month? Leave your question in the comment section, and I’ll answer them in a few!
Find me here!
Looks like your “lesson plan” was a lot of fun with “painless learning” as I call it.
Now that I know what an atlati is (from you) I wanted you to know I saw several of them at the “Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump” near Lethbridge, AL. This is a terrific museum about history and ways of the Blackfeet Indians.
What a fun day that looked like! Q: Did you ever teach school? Has Eden left her puppiness behavior behind and is she being a more obedient cattle dog these days?
Hey that’s my maiden name without the ville part.
I did not realize that they drew over each other’s pictures!! My daughter, grandkiddies and I were there on Tuesday – I would have loved being an Indian and living in that little area and drawing my live events on the red wall!
Your pictures brought back memories. I visited there a year ago. What a lovely park, so quiet and peaceful.
Looks like you all had a fun day. It’s good to spend time with kids. And those drawings. Your photos showed so much detail of both drawings and the many tones of rock colour.