once again the nature center in Maplewood Minnesota that my Wife and i do some volunteer work at held their winter Trappers and Traders workshop for fourth and fifth graders.inside they got a run down of the life of a canoe Voyager and a chance to see and touch some of the items that would have been found in a trading post in the seventeen and eighteen hundreds.flintlock rifles and knives were among the items along with clay pipes,steel needles,brick tea,copper pots and cloth.



then it was outside to see how these would be used to make a life in the Minnesota wilderness,trapping animals to trade and use as clothing and food.the staff member in full Voyager gear is showing how to use a bow drill.



my part was fire tender and teacher.i kept a pot of wild rice warm so the kids could try a local wild food that was a staple in those days.when it came to the teaching part i told them that there would be no pretending but we would make real fires using one match.the kids loved this part of the program as much as the chance to get out on snowshoes and hike around the frozen lake our camp was next to.



then came the big moment when they were let loose with bags of tinder and birch bark to make their own fires after my lession.
we gave them the materials so they would have a good chance to really make a one match fire with the snow a couple feet deep and nothing around for them to gather.i also had them try flint and steel to see how hard that was and did a demo of a fire bow.



we had about two hundred children over five days.most were able to get a fire going with at least two matches.if one failed another in the group of two of three got a chance to try.many had never struck a match before so i gave lots of "show and tell" on how to hold and strike it and apply it to the birch bark.some of the kids were naturals and some just dropped the blazing match into the wood pile but they all got the idea of how it was done.i enjoy myself every year and between groups make cups of tea over my open fire and enjoy being outside--rather than fool around on this computer--