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SYRACUSE – Chautauqua-Wawasee and Syracuse-Wawasee Historical Museum are collaborating to offer the third annual series of three programs that explore the history of Native Americans in northeastern Indiana.
The three programs are presented over a three-day period, Sept. 2-4, with the first two one-hour programs held at the Syracuse Community Center; the third program will be held from 9 a.m. to noon on Sept. 4 at the Wawasee Area Conservancy Foundation Amphitheater.
All programs are offered free of charge and open to the public. Each program features presenters with expert knowledge, and provides an interactive environment for discussion and hands-on examination of artifacts.
This year’s programs are:
• Sept. 2, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., Syracuse Community Center
Dr. Jeff Pyle will discuss and display a portion of the renown Fred Bartol Collection of Prehistoric Indian Artifacts. This is considered to be one of the finest collections of midwest pre-historic Indian relics. It was compiled by Warsaw’s Fred Bartol, who began collecting at a young age and collected his entire life. Upon his death in 1972, the collection was packed up and put away until Pyle acquired it in 2019.
• Sept. 3, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., Syracuse Community Center
Notre Dame professors and researchers Dr. Mark Schurr and Dr. Madeleine McLeester will speak about what archaeologists know about northern Indiana from the very first humans to settle here over 10,000 years ago through the historic occupations of the Potawatomi and Miami, with a special focus on Kosciusko County.
The speakers will also present some new results from their ongoing research, the Kankakee Protohistory Project, which investigates how past societies used the Kankakee Marsh environment as well as changes to the marsh itself through time.
Join them for an evening filled with everything from woolly mammoths to sprawling mound centers, and uncover Indiana’s unique and rich archaeological past.
• Sept. 4, 9 a.m. to noon, Wawasee Area Conservancy Ruddell Pavilion.
Five individual programs are being offered:
– Myaamia (Miami Native American) Plant Traditions 9 to 10:30 a.m., led by Dani Tippmann at WACF Amphitheater
Follow Myaamia history as we look at the lives of the plants who accompany us on our journey through time.
– French Influence in the area, 10:30 a.m. to noon, led by Joe Zdziebko.
Zdziebko, dressed as a 1750s French Marine, will display and discuss his equipment, uniform, musket, furs, maps, etc. He will also talk about old sayings that are still used today.
– Flintknapping Hands-on 10:30 a.m. to noon, led by Jeff Mesaros.
Want to know how native American artifacts were made by hand? Mesaros will show you how. And here’s your chance to try making one!
– Kayak display, 10:30 a.m. to noon led by Mike Smith.
Mike will display and describe his hand-built 17-foot sea kayak.
– Archaeological Dig for Children, 10:30 a.m. to noon, led by Jamie Clemons.
Through this hands-on activity, students will “dig” for artifacts, documenting findings through drawings and notes.
The ChautauquaWawasee website and Facebook have more details, as does the Syracuse-Wawasee Historical Museum and their website. For questions, call 574-377-7543; visit the websites at www.chautauquawawasee.org; www.facebook.com/ChautauquaWawasee; www.syracusemuseum.org.
Based in Syracuse, Chautauqua-Wawasee is a nonprofit organization which provides life enriching programs for the northern Indiana region.
