Colonial Activities
Take a hike! When DeSoto explored Georgia, most of his men walked. He didn't blaze
a new trail, but rather followed the well established trails of the native people.
These were not roads as we have them today, but footpaths through the forests.
Find a trail in your area and walk it. Try to go as part of a group- DeSoto
didn't travel alone, why should you? Try to imagine yourself as a Spanish
explorer, complete with helmet, armor and heavy clothing exploring a completely
foreign environment. Or as a Creek, traveling much lighter, along familiar
paths through your homeland.
Visit a Spanish Mission. The Spanish presence in Georgia is often overlooked, but
they were here. They established missions, and attempted to Christianize the
natives. Many sites of Spanish settlements and missions are still preserved today
in various parts of the country. Visit one and learn more about these explorers
who conquered, colonized, and Christianized areas in the Americas.
Don't speak! By the early 18th century, the Creeks found themselves between the
English and the Spanish, and traded with both. The English spoke English, the
Spanish spoke Spanish and the Creeks spoke various dialects of Muscogee, so how
did they communicate? Trade can be a great motivator, and the Creeks learned to
communicate with their neighbors, and their neighbors with them. Try to communicate
with your friends without speaking your own language. How do you think you would
do as a trader on the frontier?
Think about leather. Before the Europeans came and established trade with the Creeks, the
Creeks fashioned their clothing from leather. Leather is much harder to work with
than cloth, and the Creeks didn't have the types of leatherworking tools that are
available today. If you had to fashion your clothes from leather, and didn't
have an easy way to cut and shape the leather, what would your clothes look like?
After thinking this over, go back to
Theodore De Bry Copper Plate Engravings, 1590-1591, and see if your ideas were
similar to what the Creeks came up with.
Get cooking! Before the Europeans, the Creeks had no metal pots to cook in, so how
did they cook their food? Try cooking meet over a campfire on a spit, or grill.
Bake bread in the hot ashes ( You can use aluminum foil to keep the ashes out of
the bread, but remember, the Creeks didn't.) You can roast corn or bake potatoes the same way. Taste the
difference cooking over fire makes in your food. Remember to make sure it is legal
to have a fire in whatever area you are planning to cook. Also remember to make
sure the fire is completely out and the ashes are cold before you leave the area.
Main |
Time Periods Index |
Nicenet |
Colonial Period
|