Have you ever wondered how Native Americans in the Litchfield
Hills of Northwest Connecticut lived through the cold winter months just a few
generations ago? The Institute for American Indian Studies in Washington has developed a program that will answer many questions regarding how Native Americans survived and even flourished during the harsh New England winter months.
Today, we depend electric blankets, heated cars, expensive
down coats, and homes heated automatically by furnaces; and still we complain
about the cold weather. In contrast, the Algonquian Indians of Northwest
Connecticut lived in homes heated by open fires that were built of bark and saplings. They wore skins and furs to keep warm and had to watch the changes in
the wind and the behavior of animals in order to predict a snowstorm or
blizzard so they were not caught unprepared.
On Saturday from 12 noon to 3 p.m. join museum educator, Griffin Kalin to for an in-depth look at the winter
survival techniques used by Connecticut's Native Americans. Learn the secrets of Connecticut's indigenous people and how they saw the cold as a spirit that had great power and was worthy of great respect. Learn how body heat and fire was used, the best time to chop wood and how area wildlife, the sky and the wind helped to predict winter storms.
This informative and fun program is appropriate for all ages. The cost is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and $6 for children. This program is free for members of the Institute for American Indian Studies. Make sure to dress warm and to wear boots, hats and gloves as this is an outdoor program.
DID YOU KNOW?
Native people were known to cut wood when it was well below freezing. Why? Not only were they kept warm through the effort, but cold wood splits more easily!
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