David, Adam, Delaney and I said our goodbyes to the rest of the relatives and headed for Plimouth Plantation, which is a living history museum of the Plimouth settlement dating to 1627. They had a Wampanoag village, with actual Wampanoag descendants staffing it and telling about Native American life during the time. The Plimouth settlement village had role-playing characters who spoke in old English and told all about their daily lives dating back to the 1600s. They were VERY good! The more questions you asked, the more they rambled on about daily life. They also had a craft center where local artisans would use historical techniques to recreate items for use in the village. We watched a potter and a leather craftsman for a while. The pottery techniques are very similar today to what they used then.
The Wampanoag made boats out of large trees and used fire to burn out the centers. The trees were green, so it was a controlled burn. They could make a canoe in about 1 week. The burning would cause the sap to ooze out and would help seal the remaining wood to be water tight. Once the canoe was in the water, it had to stay in the water in order to last. If it came out, the wood would dry and crack. So in the winter they would place heavy rocks in the canoes and sink them until spring use.
Delaney loved the simple dolls that they made for children
The Wampanoag would grow and hunt all of their own food. They ate only fresh meat and did not dry or salt it (they did not have salt, this was imported by the colonists from England). The kids would play on the 'corn tower' (a platform in the middle of the corn fields) to keep the birds away.
This is a chipmunk trap. The kids would use it. It would teach them patience and how to wait quietly. The woven basket would be suspended from the tree with a rope and corn is placed on the ground under it.
The Wampanoag homes were made of bark and lashed together with softened bark. They were very sturdy. They had holes in the roofs to let smoke out. The raised platforms were for sleeping and had lots of furs on them (5-8" worth), making them very soft (probably better than the straw ticks in the settlement). They used the homes for sleeping basically but most of their lives were lived outdoors.
These mats covered the walls inside the houses. They were handwoven from bull rushes and took about 6-8 weeks to make. They were durable and would last for 5-8 years. They helped provide insulation and decoration inside.
The Wampanoag people lived in about 40 different villages throughout the region extending approximately 50 miles out. They had a single 'king' who ruled them. This king sent a representative from his people to live next to Plimouth settlement. He servd as a liaison between the two groups.
Plimouth plantation had approximately 170 residents in 1627. It was surrounded by a high fence and had a fort at the top of the hill that could shoot cannons into the harbor if needed for defense.
We visited with this lady for probably 30 minutes and learned about children's responsibilities and games, religious practices, fishing and food preparation. She spoke about how the settlers were Englishmen who had moved to the Netherlands because they had rejected the hierarchy of the Church of England. Merchants paid for their transport to America in the hopes of establishing a fishing trade colony, but one of the ships that was with them had to be scuttled because it was not sound, so they did not have the boats they needed to fish commercially. Some of the settlers could read and would teach the children, but there was no school. She did not know how to write, but did not find that she had any need for it.
One man talked about how all men serve in the militia by English law from age 16-60.
I listened to another man who talked about each of the different herbs growing in the gardens. The onions, carrots and garlic were identifiable, but I didn't recognize many of the others. He talked about different remedies for different ailments, including using wormwood to induce "casting up" (vomiting).
We visited with a girl who was one of 7 siblings. She was the second oldest and "had 16 years". She was not yet married, but had plenty of choices. She was one of 3 marriable young girls and there were 30 young men her age. She was preparing dinner for the family. She had a spinich leaf across her forehead. It was a "refrigerator" soaked in water to help keep people cool on hot days (and today was hot!) Delaney got to play a game of 9 pins (bowling with a cloth ball).
Delaney's souvenir choice - two colonial dolls.
