It was my privilege to set up my Cheyenne style teepee and present heritage and survival skills at the school field trip held the day before the annual “Daniel Boone Day” at Whippoorwill Academy And Village located in Ferguson North Carolina. In fact I was able to set up at the entrance area so that the teachers, students and volunteer parents could be welcomed by this cultural icon as they entered Whippoorwill Village grounds to begin their day of exploration and learning.

I arrived early to set up my equipment and in the process discovered some edibles on the grounds… some large puffball mushrooms and some garlic mustard plants. I was able to put these on display for the students to see later. I usually use a trash can lid inverted and placed on three rocks in which I build a campfire for the day. I can use this for multiple activities such as how to build a fire lay, how to suspend a can-turned-pot with which to boil water, and it adds a great atmosphere of campfire smoke aroma that spreads throughout the grounds.

There is a bamboo grove at the edge of the grounds which in the past has provided me with materials to make a bamboo pot that I had boiled bamboo shoots to eat in an earlier season. I was able to show the pot to the class and described how it was made and how water can be boiled in a wooden vessel in order to cook food.

I had various items spread out on a table to stimulate questions and give some hands-on learning opportunities. It was a pleasure to see inquisitive minds in action and with the help of the teachers we had an orderly and productive time. This was truly a brief but meaningful opportunity to impart knowledge of heritage and survival skills that may capture the thoughts of these students and may be a springboard to their pursuits of these important skills.