Seven Eagles School Field Trips

School field trip tours are one of our most popular activities where students come into contact with authentic characters and re-live history of early Ohio's Black Swamp Era with inter-active presentations in the Native Longhouse, the Pioneer Log House, and the trapper/trader Catfish Inn. Extended tours may involve historical arts & crafts activities, catch and release cane-pole fishing, canoeing, or an environmental project. We have a lot of fun doing school tours with students and we think they truly are important learning experiences in the lives of students. If you are a parent or a teacher, please share the information below with your child’s school. We are looking forward to seeing Seven Eagles teeming with students eager to learn and have fun this year!

The school tours and field trips at Seven Eagles are interactive programs ranging from a one-hour tour to a full-day tour. We do not lecture or give written homework, instead we encourage students to compare, contrast, and become curious and explore the world around them. Students are called to actively participate in the presentations, think, ask and answer questions. Download the 2018 Registration Form (MS Word) (PDF) and the Field Trip Information (PDF).

Presentations take place in the Native American Longhouse, where students will meet the Ottawa warrior Lightfoot. Here, students are given the opportunity to discover the material culture and lifestyle of the Woodland Indian tribes. They will be shown artifacts and cultural items, will identify and touch real furs of animals and learn about their use in trade, will sit around the fire and listen to Lightfoot talk about his family life and his life as a warrior, his tools, his house, his food, his clothing. Students will have the chance to touch all the exhibition materials and understand their purpose.

This year, we have added new items in the longhouse! As some of you may remember, we recently built a new longhouse to better suit modern requirements. This winter, volunteers have created new items: cattail mats, bark covers, gourd and birch bark containers, household objects as well as many post-European contact items that can be found in the longhouse or pioneer log house. Our most substantial addition is the samples of native foods and demos of traditional outdoors cooking: dried fruits, nuts, the three sisters (corn, beans, squash), wild rice and many others. They will be presented time permitting. Please consider booking an extra hour for a more detailed presentation.

Students will then transition to witness the European influence in the Pioneer Log House where they will meet Sandra, our Swedish pioneer. Students will learn about her struggle with nature as a pioneer woman, the influence of Native American food-ways on her lifestyle, the items and traditions she brought from Europe, clothing, trade items and their impact on Native American communities. Again depending on time, students will have the chance to have a hands-on learning experience: churning butter, carrying water on a yoke, spinning wool, trying on different trade-era clothing items, compare different cooking pots and utensils, and maybe even smell fresh bread cooking in the oven.

Catfish Inn is the third venue for students to encounter the original bed-and-breakfast community meeting hall. This replica 1790’s Scottish Tavern/Inn exemplifies where life becomes community as a gathering place for business, social activity, refreshment and accommodation. The City Tavern in Philadelphia was the site of the first continental congress and the drafting of the Declaration of Independence. The Virginia legislature met in the taverns of Williamsburg. Inns were the hub of government, the post office, learning the prices of commodities, entertainment, transition in measurement from weight scales to spoons and cups, and of course, the beginning of fast food, saloons, and hotels.

Lunch…if you bring your lunch, is outdoor s in nice weather at picnic tables and indoors in wet or cold weather in our heated Marlow Hall. The hall seats 100 at tables and is embellished with local deer mounts, a wild turkey and illustrations of Native Americans, maps and foods along with a collection of books for browsing.

After the tour and lunch… it’s play time! Traditional games, sports and entertainment are an important aspect of Native life and also a learning experience. It is an exercise in concentration, competition, intelligence and little strength. Don’t miss the opportunity to play double-ball or throw tomahawks with Lightfoot and friends! You may have a chance to win an arrowhead from Lightfoot!

All school tours are arranged on a reservation basis and are scheduled on a first-come first-serve basis. Unless there are excessive down pours and lightning, flooding or a blizzard, school tours are usually not cancelled by Seven Eagles. The Natives and Pioneers lived here and had to deal with the elements. Tours include walking outdoors between venues that are heated by real wood fires. Many times, the weather in the Toledo-Lucas County area is different than the other side of the Maumee River-Wood County area. Period dress reenactors conduct the tours and usually there is one re-enactor per group of approximately 20 students, two re-enactors for groups 40 and so on. Minimum number of students in a group is 20. The Seven Eagles cell phone (419-290-0995) may be called for questions the night before or morning of, for weather conditions or information.

Parents and teachers: be aware this is mainly an outdoor living history venue and students must be prepared to spend time outdoors and indoors by the fires. Please make sure students are dressed appropriately for the weather with coats, boots or umbrellas.

Fees & Tour Descriptions: Range from $2.50 per child for the one-hour tour, to $10.00 per student for an all-day six-hour tour/field trip. Detailed information about what is included in each tour may be found below.

One-hour tour — priced at $2.50 per child, is advisable for pre-school and kindergarten students only. This tour focuses on the Native American Village area with hands-on artifacts, but includes a brief introduction/overview of Pioneers.

Two-hour tour — priced at $4.50 per student, is the most popular due to bus and lunch schedules. Additionally, you may bring lunch, throw tomahawks and play the games. Tours focus on the 1600-1840 timeline or first-contact period whereby trappers, traders and pioneers came into contact with Native Americans. The tour includes approximately a one-hour tour of the Native area and a one-hour tour of the pioneer area, both of which have hands- on artifacts. Following lunch (if brought,) students play Native and pioneer games including: tomahawk throwing, double ball, stilts, two-person tug-a-war or three-legged sack races. Plan on three hours total for this tour.

Three-hour tour — priced at $6.00 per student, includes an extended version of everything mentioned in the two- hour tour with more in-depth focus on historical areas and venues. Plan on four hours total with lunch and games

Four-hour tour — priced at $7.50 per student, includes the expanded version of everything mentioned in the two and three-hour tours plus more edible plant and environmental information. Plan on 4 1/2 to 5 hours total with lunch and games.

All-day trip (six-hour tour/field trip) priced at $10.00 per student, includes the expanded version of everything mentioned in the two to four-hour tours plus your groups’ choice of: cane-pole fishing and canoeing or an arts/crafts project (choice of weaving, necklaces, quill pen & ink writing/drawing). Rabbit skin pictographs may also be available depending on current pricing.

While some students are playing games outdoors, some students may want to buy a souvenir for their friends or visit the museum gift shop. The Trading Post Museum/Store is available (with advance notice) to all groups following their guided tour. It contains souvenir items such as: flutes, whistles, tops, feathers, jewelry, beads, arrowheads, gourds, etc., ranging in price from .05 to $3.00 average and up. The Museum itself contains original Native American and Pioneer items on display, but not for sale.

Additional make-it-take-it arts and crafts projects in conjunction with your curriculum studies may be coordinated and scheduled for a fee with any tour above (some may be included in all day tours). For example, Feather quill and parchment calligraphy for $3.00, Trade bead and arrowhead necklaces for $3.00, Rabbit skin pictographs are $6-10.00 each (depending on availability) and these and various other items may also be purchased in the Trading Post during lunch/games activities.

Special demonstrations in the Blacksmith Shop, black powder shooting, archery, fishing and canoeing may be scheduled during the three-hour and up hourly tours in lieu of other activities according to availability and advance notice.

Special note must be given to the entire venue that is an environmental center as well as an historical center. The forty-acre piece of property is home to endangered species of flora and fauna. The native habitat is an ecosystem and is expected to be respected. No insects are to be killed or captured, fish caught must be returned to the pond, wildflowers enjoyed and not picked so they may thrive and be enjoyed by all. Chemicals are not used on the property to control invasive species or weeds that are truly wildflowers or herbs – many used in traditional medicines.

Special visits from one-hour to full-day(s) may be arranged for your school or community center whereby Seven Eagles re-enactors may come to speak, demonstrate, conduct hands-on activities or set-up an actual conical wigwam camp outdoors or indoors with students or the community. All visits are individually coordinated to fulfill your needs or curriculum. Prices vary on duration, materials, travel and complexity of set-up. Please call Lightfoot at 419-290-0995 to discuss your ideas, needs and arrangements.

Don’t forget to like us on Facebook and check out our albums for pictures of the facilities where the activities will take place. If you have any suggestions/inquiries/requests for special programs, please contact Martin Nagy at 419- 290-0995 or martinnagy@aol.com to discuss details.