The rock monster got tired of eating fish, and found a squirrel family starting to make stew for dinner. They heard the rock monster coming and told their squirrel children to hide in their tepee. The rock monster came and demanded to try their stew. It was not finished yet, though, so he demanded to try to eat the squirrels themselves next. He found the baby squirrels in the tepee and tried to grab them, but barely missed. His great claws raked down their backs though, leaving stripes.
And that is how we go chipmunks, at least, according to Cajetan Matheson, the cultural resources protection program manager for the Coeur d’ Alene tribe during his opening story for the Native Heritage Month canoe workshop and demonstration at the Kroc Center on Nov. 8. The class involved creating model-sized replicas of the types of canoes the Coeur d’ Alene tribe used to use.
“We did use canoes, but we also had some families that didn’t even use canoes; they used rafts. And so there’s just tons of different kinds of water craft that we used that pre-date the glamorized, romanticized idea of tribal folks and tribal people,” Matheson said. “One of the things I really try to tell people about the Coeur d’ Alene people is that we were very, very practical people. Basically, we used– we did what worked. And if we needed to make modifications or borrow, we would do that. We would do that in a heartbeat.”
The participants got to work on their canoes. They had to begin with three thin sticks that had been soaking in water. They were soaked in water to make the sticks more supple so they would bend a little for the shape of the bottom of the canoe. Participants then tied the sticks together with either wire or string to create the skeleton of the canoe.
To finish it off, white cloth was cut out and stretched tight on the skeletal structure and sewn around the two sticks that made the top rim of the canoe. And voila!
“I’ll probably test it in water and see if it floats and then, I don’t know if these guys want to, but race them,” said young participant, Ethan Armstrong while he sat at his table finishing his canoe. He said he had canoed in the past and enjoyed it. “It’s water, it’s nature, a paddle, it’s fun. You get to move.”
This event was one in a series that have been held by the Coeur d’ Alene tribe in honor of Native American Heritage Month. The first of the events were held at the Kroc Center, and the last of them will be held at the Human Rights Education Institute.
“We didn’t want to do too much. We didn’t want to get in too far over our heads since it was our first year,” said Heather Keen, public relations director for the Coeur d’ Alene tribe. “[We] wanted to do some things that might be a little more family friendly– like the canoe class, where we’ve got some young boys in there”
Keen said that when coming up with ideas, the tribe wanted an activity that would be a cool hands-on project that people could take home and have something to think about.
“We wanted to have something that showed and talked a little bit about our history [and] talked about the Coeur d’ Alene’s culture.”
Events began on Nov. 8 and will continue through Nov. 19. So far, Keen said the community participation has been great.
“We’re happy we’re getting really good feedback from the community… So that’s really neat to see that the community wants these things.”
The rock monster got tired of eating fish, and found a squirrel family starting to make stew for dinner. They heard the rock monster coming and told their squirrel children to hide in their tepee. The rock monster came and demanded to try their stew. It was not finished yet, though, so he demanded to try to eat the squirrels themselves next. He found the baby squirrels in the tepee and tried to grab them, but barely missed. His great claws raked down their backs though, leaving stripes.
And that is how chipmunks came to be, at least, according to Cajetan Matheson, the cultural resources protection program manager for the Coeur d’ Alene tribe during his opening story for the Native Heritage Month canoe workshop and demonstration at the Kroc Center on Nov. 8. The class involved creating model-sized replicas of the types of canoes the Coeur d’ Alene tribe used to use.
“We did use canoes, but we also had some families that didn’t even use canoes; they used rafts. And so there’s just tons of different kinds of water craft that we used that pre-date the glamorized, romanticized idea of tribal folks and tribal people,” Matheson said. “One of the things I really try to tell people about the Coeur d’ Alene people is that we were very, very practical people. Basically, we used– we did what worked. And if we needed to make modifications or borrow, we would do that. We would do that in a heartbeat.”
The participants got to work on building their canoes. They had to begin with three thin sticks that had been soaking in water to make them more supple so they would conform to the shape of the bottom of the canoe. Participants then tied the sticks together with either wire or string to create the skeleton of the canoe.
To finish it off, white cloth was cut out and stretched tight on the skeletal structure and sewn around the two sticks that made the top rim of the canoe. And voila–a working canoe.
“I’ll probably test it in water and see if it floats and then, I don’t know if these guys want to, but race them,” said young participant Ethan Armstrong while he sat at his table finishing his canoe. He said he had canoed in the past and enjoyed it.
This event was one in a series that have been held by the Coeur d’ Alene tribe in honor of Native American Heritage Month. The first of the events were held at the Kroc Center, and the last of them will be held at the Human Rights Education Institute from Nov. 16-18.
“We didn’t want to do too much. We didn’t want to get in too far over our heads since it was our first year,” said Heather Keen, public relations director for the Coeur d’ Alene tribe. “[We] wanted to do some things that might be a little more family friendly– like the canoe class, where we’ve got some young boys in there.”
Keen said that when coming up with ideas, the tribe wanted an activity that would be a cool hands-on project that people could take home and have something to think about.
“We wanted to have something that showed and talked a little bit about our history [and] talked about the Coeur d’ Alene’s culture,” Keen said.
So far, Keen said the community participation during the events has been great.
“We’re happy we’re getting really good feedback from the community… So that’s really neat to see that the community wants these things.”
