2825 Fish Hatchery Road, Allentown, PA 18103
Email: info@museumofindianculture.org / Phone: 610-797-2121
OPEN Friday through Sunday from 10am-4pm
New Exhibit: Native American Beadwork
Learn Through Our
Offsite Educational Programs
We are committed to helping the community
learn about Native American heritage and culture.
**Please let us know if you are interested in a virtual version of any of our educational programs, most of them can be adapted for an online class room format.
General Program Information
Please call for date and time availability
Program Fees:
All Offsite Programs
are 1 to 1.5 hours long
Program: $300 plus travel expenses.
Additional fees apply for longer programs
and Materials fees (if applicable)
General Virtual Programs
are $300 for the first hour and $150 for each additional hour.
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Native American Cultural Heritage Program
Starts at $800 plus travel expenses
Call for pricing (610) 797-2121
Reservations:
Please schedule your program at least 30 days in advance to your expected program date.
To schedule, please contact :
Museum of Indian Culture at (610) 797-2121
Or Email: info@museumofindianculture.org
Deposit:
A 50% deposit is required within 1 week of making your reservation.
Cancellations:
Please give at least 48 hours notice.
The deposit will be retained to cover lost revenue.
“You took them on a path through history and described in great detail how the first Americans lived...
Your dedication to telling the Native American Story is truly admirable”.
Department of the Navy
Mechanicsburg, PA
Northeastern Woodland Program
(Ages 6th Grade through Adult)
Step back in time with the Museum of Indian Culture’s Northeast Woodland program. Focusing on the history and culture of the Lenape/Delaware, this program offers interactive hands-on experiences for children and adults alike.
Our Northeastern Woodland Program includes a general history on the tribes that once lived in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Participants will see a variety of European and Native American goods that were commonly traded, and learn about food sources, tools, jewelry, etc. There is a lecture on family life, social structure, housing, and survival. Participants will see how Indigenous peoples made cordage from plants and fire from a bow drill. Our Northeastern Woodland Program also includes demonstrations of various artifacts and an explanation of their uses.
Weather permitting, participants will be instructed on how to use the atlatl (dart thrower) and bow and arrow.
Woodland Life Skills Program
(Ages 3rd through 5th Grade)
Before Europeans arrived in the New World, life was very different for Native Americans. There was no land ownership... only territories. The need to adapt to their natural surroundings was not only practical but necessary for survival.
The Woodland Life Skills Program offers a practical and hands-on interactive experience into the life ways of early Native Americans. Children will learn about housing, hunting, gardening...and yes, CHORES!
Children will also hear Native American stories that were told by the elders.
Weather permitting, children will have the opportunity, with supervision and instruction, to use the atlatl (dart thrower) and bow and arrow.
Lifeways and Lore Program
(Ages Pre K through 2nd Grade)
So how did the rabbit lose its tail? Through folklore and fun, our Lifeways and Lore Program introduces younger audiences to American Indian cultures.
This interactive hands-on program encourages children to participate by answering questions about early American Indian cultures from food sources to animal pelts.
Children will hear stories that are not only fun but that teach a practical lesson, too!
Native American Cultural Heritage Programs
The Museum of Indian Culture provides a platform for federally registered Native Americans to perform their songs and dances and present their history and culture to schools, churches, and interested organizations.
The mission of the museum is to break stereotypes and provide the foundation of a genuine education about American Indians by empowering federally registered Natives to speak about issues facing this dwindling population.
The museum works closely with the community to educate on local tribes, such as the Eastern Woodlands Natives (Lenape(Delaware)/ Iroquois). We are fortunate to have contacts with many federally registered tribal members who are able to bring their cultures to the community and present an authentic program on Natives by Natives.
Onyota'a:ka Dancers - Iroquois Territory
Evolution and Innovation of the Native American Toolkit
(Ages 3rd through Adult)
Today we rely on metals and plastics to accomplish daily tasks. Without these things, Native peoples developed their own tools and techniques to “get the job done.” Starting with throwing sticks and hand axes, technology progressed to a range of specialized tools for woodworking, hunting, fire making, and cooking.
This program specifically examines the use of fire and various joinery methods in woodworking, and equipment evolution for hunting from jabbing spear to atlatl, to bow; fire making from hand spindle, to bow drill, to pump drill; and cooking from stone boiling, to stone pots, to ceramics. The use of different regional materials in these technologies is discussed.
Hands-on activities can be added such as making cordage (string), using
the atlatl and bow, or friction fire
The Way of Peace and the Iroquois Confederacy
(Ages 3rd through Adult)
The Iroquois Confederacy was also known as the "League of Peace" and Power". Founded hundreds of years ago, the Confederacy initially consisted of five tribes: the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca tribes, which were known as the Five Nations. A Sixth Nation, the Tuscarora, was added in the early 1700’s. The Peacemaker, who
brought The Great Law of Peace, united these warring nations to form the Haudenosaunee, the People of the Longhouse.
This representative form of government not only inspired the US Constitution, but continues to be relevant today. Learn the story of the Great Peacemaker and the symbols that are reminders of the Way of Peace.
This program can be presented in a “Readers Theater” format upon request.
Wondering About Wampum?
(Ages 6th Grade through Adult)
Although shell beads have been around for thousands of years, the cylindrical white and purple beads we recognize as wampum were mainly produced after European contact. Steel tools facilitated drilling the long, small diameter holes. These beads held more value than their beauty. Colonists used them as currency. Native communities used them to commemorate important events or send messages.
This program lays out the history of wampum use and production. The historic and current significance of well-known belts including the William Penn Belt, the Hiawatha Belt, and the Two Row Belt is covered.
Hands-on activities can be added such as belt weaving on a bow loom using the one- or two-needle techniques, and drilling shell beads using a pump drill with a stone bit.
This program can also be part of a workshop. Participants would make a one-row bracelet using buckskin and glass wampum. Add $10 materials fee / person.