Our last day in Oklahoma we decided to drive down to the Chickasaw Cultural Center. Oklahoma is home to many Native American tribal peoples, some by choice, some not. They had a good size of land devoted to educating the general public about the history, culture, and struggles of the Chickasaw Nation. Behind us is the museum. We watched a film about the history of the chickasaw people then the screen went up into the ceiling and doors opened into another room (it was impressive). We walked through the doors into what they called a spirit forest. There was a trail leading us through a forest with trees, streams, and animals. The animals spoke as we walked by about taking care of the forest and their experiences with man. (o.k. I kind of don't remember what they talked about... all I remember is how distracting it was to have the animals talk in such a heavy Oklahoman accent.) But other than that, I thought the museum was very impressive and informative.
This was our favorite part. They had a demonstration village. We saw a man shoot a bow and arrow and play a native flute. Then we watched some girls doing some weaving and they all explained what the early Chickasaw people would have worn and done day to day. I didn't get to hear much because I was running after these two rascals. They were all over the place.
Running around included climbing up into the corn crib. 
My dad took us to the unveiling of the Edmond, OK safety village. This was kind of cool. It was a little town built to teach kids all about safety. They had bikes and go carts with helmets for the kids. They also had streets for them to ride around on with Stop signs and traffic lights so that they could learn about traffic safety.
This is the safety village. They had a City Hall, police and fire stations, and "construction sites". The purpose of the place was to teach kids all about traffic, fire, and stranger safety. I thought it was a great idea.
Claire and Noel sitting on a park bench in the safety village.
No comments:
Post a Comment