Now booking field trips, group visits and tours for all ages and abilities!
Whether you’re looking for a genuine learning experience or a fun and different outdoor activity, Nowashe Village a great place for your next outing. We offer customizable programs for groups of all sizes, developing a rotational schedule for subgroups when necessary. With a wide range of programs to offer from social studies to STEM, you’ll also find that Nowashe is a place you can visit several times, each with a different learning goal in mind.
Our educators are focused on offering an enriching multidisciplinary and multi-sensory learning environment. Here, artifacts and other items of material culture come alive and are featured in real-time.
Nowashe Village was designed to create several natural learning classrooms, some featuring cedar benches or stumps for sitting, separated enough from each other that several learning stations can be taking place simultaneously. The Village is as ADA accessible as possible, and is regularly sprayed for ticks and mosquitos. Restrooms are available inside the adjacent Wood Library.
School programs are aligned with the most current Connecticut Social Studies Frameworks. Example standards we cover:
- 3.Civ.4.a. Tribal Sovereignty
- 3.Civ.6.b. Family and community organization in Indigenous societies
- 3.Geo.4.b. How Northeastern Woodland Native American communities preserve their cultural identity
- 3.His.2.a. Compare the regional and cultural characteristics of Northeastern
Woodland Native American tribes of Connecticut
- 3.His.2.b. Comparing life in specific historical time periods to life in Connecticut today
- 5.His.14.a. Probable causes and effects of the migration of Indigenous
peoples
- 5.Geo.8.a. Natural resources and human settlement patterns
- 5.His.14.b. Causes and effects of European exploration and
settlement of the Americas
- 5.Geo.4.a. Companion planting – Cultural diffusion of agricultural and technological knowledge held by Indigenous communities
We also work with Girl Scouts of the USA, homeschool groups, and senior centers. Instructional add-ons, such as beading, can enhance a visit. We also offer outreach programs at your library, museum, school, or residential center.
Available Programs
When planning a visit to Nowashe Village, we will work with you to book a program best suited for your group. With both in-person and online content available, our staff is eager to assist you in customizing the right educational program to accomplish your goals.
Various stations within Nowashe Village can be combined to create custom visits to suit the needs of various grades and age groups. Available learning stations include:
Stone Tool Evolution
Imagine Wooly Mammoths roaming free throughout New England! Paleo-age Indigenous Peoples used particular tools and weapons for daily survival in this post-Ice-Age period. But as the climate and environment changed over time, so did their tools and ways of life. As you travel through the Paleo, Archaic and Woodland periods, learn about the subtle and not-so-subtle evolution of tools. Engage in hands-on tool exploration through using both authentic and replicated artifacts. Understanding is enhanced by matching prehistoric tools to their modern-day counterparts.
Native American Storytelling
Since ancient times and among all peoples of the earth, storytelling has educated and entertained the young and old. Historically, Indigenous People passed knowledge orally from generation to generation. At Nowashe, your group can gather in one of the village’s wigwams or around the community fire to listen to, and discuss, stories from various New England tribes.
A Day in the Life
Travel back in time to the Woodland Period of the central Connecticut River Valley, when Indigenous Peoples began to rely more on an agricultural way of life. Gain first-hand insight into everyday village domestic life and enjoy hands-on exploration of native regalia, pelts, Wampum, and other cultural objects. Each participant will grind native corn with a stone mortar and pestle and learn how to properly cook corn cakes using only hot fire pit stones.
The Three Sisters Garden
Learn the science behind the “Three Sisters” gardening method and the important role nitrogen plays in a successful crop. Also known as symbiotic agriculture, the Three Sisters function as companion plantings. This program is best during the summer or early fall when Nowashe’s Three Sisters Garden of corn, beans and Squash is in its prime growing period.
Archaeology Lab
How do we know what we know about the past? In this station, visitors are introduced to the science of Archaeology, or the study of man-made objects from the past. By studying these objects – or artifacts as they are commonly known – we can learn about different people and cultures. Discover how local Indigenous Peoples lived by analyzing authentic local artifacts.
Woodlands & Wetlands Nature Walk
Learn about the Flora and Fauna of Nowashe Village on a walk through its meandering pathways. Nowashe is a Certified Wildlife Habitat with the National Wildlife Foundation and features native plants wherever possible. This provides the perfect opportunity to study native species that are just as important today as they were in the Woodland Period.
Atlatl Throwing and Native Games
Put your skills to the test and learn what it took to hunt in the Paleo New England! Participants will be able to throw spears and experience first-hand the mechanical advantage of the atlatl, one of humanity’s greatest inventions!
Have an idea or special need?
Please reach out to discuss a customized program for your group! For more information, please contact Amanda Flynn Rumney, Education Director, at (860) 289-1783, ext. 6.
