Fourth grade students at Winthrop Avenue were immersed in a two-day in-house field trip to American Indian territory to hone their knowledge of the Eastern Woodland Native Americans. The curriculum-based event, “Journeys Into American Indian Territory,” discussed the geographical location of the Algonquian and Iroquoian peoples, their government and modes of survival.

The program also stressed leadership principles and core values taught in the district’s character education program. Presenter Maddi Cheers explained to the students that tribes had to work together to survive and respected plants and animals by not wasting natural objects. “No matter who you are, you need to get food and shelter to survive,” Cheers explained. “But it is important to know that nature also teaches us to be good humans.”

During the field trip, students explored artifacts in the museum and a longhouse, learned to make clay pots, played traditional games, listened to Native American legends and learned traditional Iroquoian dances and music.