Harrison Avenue Students Learn To Live Off The Land

The fourth graders at Harrison Avenue Elementary School ventured to Greenburgh Nature Center to participate in a program known as Native American Living Off the Land.

“The students learned more about the Lenape Native Americans,” said Harrison Avenue 4th grade teacher Lauren Fahey. “They were able to explore the inside of a longhouse and wigwam, use a small type of spear to shoot through a hoop, crush corn using a rock, attempt to start a fire, and feel the warmth of several types of animal fur.”

The Greenburgh Nature Center offers seasonal and year-round pre-K through 8th grade environmental education programs. Each program is designed to enrich and support the New York State curriculum, according to their website.

Students experienced a day in the life of Northeast Native Americans who inhabited the land 5,000 years ago. Students’ learned how indigenous peoples met their needs for food, shelter, medicine, family and community. They explored daily behaviors in and around the longhouse, covered the roles that men, women, children, and elders carried out in the community. They hiked the same paths and trails that the local Indians hiked years ago and learned about the Native Americans’ hunting and gathering techniques as well as their knowledge of local plants, animals and the land.

“The students were fully engaged and curious learners, asking and answering many questions from our tour guide,” she said.