Fun from Fort Ouiatenon

As a way to complement our standard, to describe prehistoric and historic Native American Indian cultures in Indiana and explain the effects of European contact and settlement upon these cultures, our 4th graders took a field trip to Fort Ouiatenon located just south of Lafayette, Indiana. European settlers established this first settlement because of the area's abundant buffalo, beaver, and other fur-bearing animals. For Ouiatenon served as a trading post and stopping point for the travelers from Quebec. French voyageurs annually traveled to Wabash to trade their goods for furs, trapped by the Native people. Between 1720 and 1760 the settlement continued to grow and prosper. The Feast of the Hunters' Moon is an annual re-creation of the fall gathering between the French and Native Americans at Fort Ouiatenon in the mid-1700s. This is the festival which all fourth graders attended in October. The grounds stretch across more than 30 acres along the banks of the Wabash River and are filled with all types of vendors for that era such as crafts, fur trading, blacksmiths, games and sporting events, and food vendors. We even got to see a marching parade!