At this time more than ever, we are at risk of losing the understanding of indigenous ways of life and what they stand for. The impact of funding cannot be over-stressed in its ability to help. Your contribution provides to us the support necessary to enable the educational development for both art teachers and students and provides the means of preserving a heritage valuable to all. Contributions are 100% tax deductible for this 501(c)3 Non-Profit Initiative.

​Educational Celebration of Art in Nature™ and Indigenous People and Culture  Hosted by Art in Nature™ with Sanctuary on the Trail™ and the Village Montessori School in Bluemont, Va. 

​Photos by Chris Anders and Peter Thornton | PJ Photography

Volunteer!  
Contact renewhite64@gmail.com  or www.HarvestGathering.org.  

When the village opens this fall, the general public will be surprised to find out how many things they do not know about Native American Indian people. This initiative is also an opportunity for children and volunteers to be ambassadors for this underrepresented group and their culture.

The target audience is 45 Montessori school children of ages from 2- to 12-years old, along with seven teachers.  The children will participate in building a wigwam/yahkin, erect a tee pee, build and paint drums, learn to cook food over open fires, and much more. Later in the fall, the children will open the Indian village to the public during a ribbon cutting ceremony at the Bluemont Fair on Sept. 17-18, 2016.

Leading the construction for the dwellings is Chris White, CEO of Sanctuary on the Trail™, a class-A general contractor and self-taught engineer. Mr. White is of Cherokee descent and a wood and stone artist.
Debbie Johnson-Conti of the Sauk & Fox Nation will assist Mr. White with developing the blueprints and obtain appropriate materials for building the yahkin or wigwam. It was common for women to actually build the structures on the east coast, according to Powhatan oral histories and eye witnesses’ accounts recorded by early settlers in Virginia.   ​

“At this time more than ever, we are at risk of losing the understanding of indigenous ways of life and what they stand for,” Mrs. White said, explaining that she took to her oath in the military to protect and defend to heart. “The impact of funding cannot be over-stressed in its ability to help us.  It provides to us the support necessary to enable the educational development for both teachers and students.  It provides the means of preserving a heritage valuable to all.” 

“Native American Indian people have a rich heritage in the arts, but also in science, technology, engineering, and math or STEM,” said Michael Gress, VMS owner. “Indigenous contributions to the globe affect what we eat today, influence ecology, and inspire sustainable living. We are excited for our children to participate in this innovative program.”

VMS utilizes a unique prepared environment, indoors and out, which utilizes the sensitivity that children have to take in impressions and organize them through their senses. The approach is hands-on and child-centered.

“The Montessori-way recognizes and values the human spirit in the development of the whole child – physically, socially, emotionally, and cognitively,” said Toby Gress, head of VMS.  “Our students will embrace the experience of this collaboration which mirrors and supports our current method of instruction.”

The team’s goal is to raise $27,850 for the artists, materials, and supplies needed to bring this program to Loudoun County. With Ken and Julia’s contribution of $7,500, the team still plans to raise $20,350 through community contributions and other grant opportunities.

ther sponsors, partners, and donors from the community are invited to support and participate in this cultural education program. This is a 501(c)3 non-profit initiative and all contributions are tax deductible.

More than 100 volunteers help the Whites field-test Art in Nature™ and Sanctuary on the Trail™ activities outside the classroom to ensure they are well-received by students, teachers, families, and the public alike.

Last year, commuters may remember seeing a tee pee while driving along US Highway-7 between Leesburg and Winchester at Clermont Farm on the corner of Berryville Main Street. Mr. White designed the structure with help from a Navajo/Dine artist who plans to drive from New Mexico to participate in this program.

Additionally, the team hosted “The Gathering 2015” an educational celebration of agri-culture held last fall at the Clarke County fairgrounds. Close to 5,000 people attended the Native American Indian harvest festival. Next year, “The Gathering 2017” is expected to draw 20,000+ people on Oct. 20-22, 2017.
 
This Indian village project would not be possible without the support of Jen Stone and her Bluemont family who have volunteered their private property to create the village, the Bluemont Citizens Association, and the Bluemont Fair Committee, who incorporated the grand opening of the village into the 2016 Bluemont Fair.
 
“We’re thrilled to have the Indian Village as part of our rural, historic Bluemont Fair,” said Bluemont Fair Co-Chair Cynthia Morris (with Jen Stone). “The Native American heritage of our area has been underrepresented in the past. This is an exciting opportunity to remind people of those who were here long before the events that we usually talk about when we reference local history. The Indian Village will be an exciting addition to our Fair—everyone is invited to join us in Bluemont on September 17 & 18, 2016, and experience it for themselves!”
 
To volunteer or contribute visit www.HarvestGathering.org, email info4TheGathering@gmail.org, call René at 540-554-8730 or visit www.BluemontFair.org.

CLARKE COUNTY, VA – Kidz Harvest Fest is a school-day event for public, private and home-schools designed by non-profits to help supplement Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs) and offer hands on learning about Native American culture Friday, October 30 at the Clarke County Fairgrounds in Berryville, Va. 
    Save-the-date and initial registration information for faculty and teachers of 2nd and 4th grade students is available online at HarvestGathering.org under "Register."
     Space is limited for groups and available to the teachers and schools who register first.  Efforts are being made to accommodate as many schools and students as possible.
     “The Kidz Harvest Fest school-day event brings the experience of traveling through Native American humanities to life,” said The Gathering Executive Director René White (photo right). “After summer break when schools reopen, The Gathering web site will offer lesson plans and instructional resources to help teachers align their classroom instruction with the standards and complement studies taught about Virginia’s First People past and present.”
     The Gathering web site will offer downloadable “passports” that help teachers and students move through different modules at The Gathering.  
     Teachers will have the option to download passport material, photos, historical information and coloring book pages to help students get the most from this educational event.
    During the Kidz Harvest Fest, children will meet Virginia Indians, participate in gourd art, listen to Native American storytelling, hear Native American flutes played, dance to Native American drums, smell grains harvested by local farmers, see live horses & sheep and much more.

      Kidz Harvest Fest is part of The Gathering, “an education celebration of agri-culture” and is featured in the May 2015 Clarke County’s local newspaper The Observer.
     To obtain save-the-date and registration information or volunteer to be part of this event visit www.HarvestGathering.org or email renewhite64@gmail.com or call René Locklear White (Feather) at (540)554-8730.
      Virginia’s SOLs are expectations for student learning and achievement based on a curriculum framework that includes studying Native Americans through classes on writing, culture, history, social science, fine art, performing arts and agriculture etc.

We are not seeking to recapture the spirit of the first Thanksgiving. That was then. This is now. Hope you can jin us for Thanksgiving Oct. 30 - Nov. 1.

Kindergarten

K.1 The student will recognize that history describes events and people of other times and places by   a) identifying examples of past events in legends, stories, and historical accounts of Powhatan, Pocahontas, George Washington, Betsy Ross, and Abraham Lincoln; Grade Two

2.2 The student will compare the lives and contributions of three American Indian cultures of the past and present with emphasis on the Powhatan of the Eastern Woodlands, the Lakota of the Plains, and the Pueblo peoples of the Southwest.
2.4 The student will develop map skills by   c) locating the regions of the Powhatan, Lakota, and Pueblo Indians on United States maps;   d) understanding the relationship between the environment and the culture of the Powhatan, Lakota, and Pueblo Indians. Virginia Studies

VS.2 The student will demonstrate knowledge of the physical geography and native peoples, past and present, of Virginia by   d) locating three American Indian language groups (the Algonquian, the Siouan, and the Iroquoian) on a map of Virginia;   e) describing how American Indians related to the climate and their environment to secure food, clothing, and shelter.   f) describing how archaeologists have recovered new material evidence at sites including Werowocomoco and Jamestown;   g) identifying and locating the current state-recognized tribes. * The Essential Understandings, Knowledge, and Skills for Virginia Studies VS.2: Virginia's Native Peoples, Past and Present are listed below. From History and Social Science Standards of Learning Enhanced Scope and Sequence: Virginia Studies

VS.3 The student will demonstrate knowledge of the first permanent English settlement in America by   g) describing the interactions between the English settlers and the native peoples, including the contributions of Powhatan to the survival of the settlers.
VS.4 The student will demonstrate knowledge of life in the Virginia colony by   b) describing how the culture of colonial Virginia reflected the origins of European (English, Scots-Irish, German) immigrants, Africans, and American Indians; United States History to 1865

USI.3 The student will demonstrate knowledge of how early cultures developed in North America by   a) describing how archaeologists have recovered material evidence of ancient settlements, including Cactus Hill in Virginia   b) locating where the American Indians lived, with emphasis on Arctic (Inuit), Northwest (Kwakiutl), Plains (Lakota), Southwest (Pueblo), and Eastern Woodlands (Iroquois).   c) describing how the American Indians used the resources in their environment.
USI.4 The student will demonstrate knowledge of European exploration in North America and West Africa by   b) describing cultural and economic interactions between Europeans and American Indians that led to cooperation and conflict with emphasis on the American Indian concept of land.; World History and Geography: 1500 A.D. (C.E.) to the Present

WHII.4 The student will demonstrate knowledge of the impact of the European Age of Discovery and expansion into the Americas, Africa, and Asia by   d) describing the Columbian Exchange, including its impact on native populations; Virginia and United States History

VUS.2 The student will describe how early European exploration and colonization resulted in cultural interactions among Europeans, Africans, and American Indians.
VUS.6 The student will demonstrate knowledge of the major events from the last decade of the eighteenth century through the first half of the nineteenth century by   b) identifying the economic, political, and geographic factors that led to territorial expansion and its impact on the American Indians; Virginia Studies VS.2: Virginia's Native Peoples, Past and Present

Essential Understandings, Knowledge, and Skills

Skills (to be incorporated into instruction throughout the academic year)

• Identify and interpret artifacts and primary and secondary source documents to understand events in history.
• Determine cause-and-effect relationships.
• Compare and contrast historical events.
• Draw conclusions and make generalizations.
• Make connections between past and present.
• Sequence events in Virginia history.
• Interpret ideas and events from different historical perspectives.
• Evaluate and discuss issues orally and in writing.
• Analyze and interpret maps to explain relationships among landforms, water features, climatic characteristics, and historical events.

Content

• Know that American Indians were the first people who lived in Virginia.
• Know that American Indians lived in all areas of the state.
• Identify that there were three major language groups in Virginia.
• Know that Christopher Columbus called the people he found in the lands he explored “Indians” because he thought he was in the Indies (near China).
• Know that artifacts such as arrowheads, pottery, and other tools that have been found tell a lot about the people who lived in Virginia.
• Identify the following three major language groups of Virginia:
  • Algonquian languages were spoken primarily in the Tidewater region; the Powhatan were part of this group.
  • Siouan languages were spoken primarily in the Piedmont region; the Monacan were part of this group.
  • Iroquoian languages were spoken in Southwestern Virginia and in Southern Virginia near what is today North Carolina; the Cherokee were part of this group.
• Know that the climate in Virginia is relatively mild with distinct seasons—spring, summer, fall, and winter—resulting in a variety of vegetation.
• Know that forests, which have a variety of trees, cover most of the land. Virginia’s Indians are referred to as Eastern Woodland Indians.
• Describe how Virginia’s American Indians worked with the climate and the environment to meet their basic needs.
• Know that Virginia Indian cultures have changed over time.
• Describe the American Indians’ environmental connections by explaining how the kinds of food they ate, the clothing they wore, and the shelters they had depended upon the seasons. Use the following information as a guide:
  • Foods changed with the seasons.
    • In winter, they hunted birds and other animals and lived on stored foods from the previous fall.
    • In spring, they hunted, fished, and picked berries.
    • In summer, they grew crops (e.g., beans, corn, squash).
• In fall, they harvested crops and hunted for foods to preserve and keep for the winter.
• Animal skins (deerskin) were used for clothing.
• Shelter was made from materials found around them.
• Know that native peoples of the past farmed, hunted, and fished. They made homes, using natural resources. They used animal skins for clothing.
• Know that today, most native peoples live like other Americans. Their cultures have changed over time.
• Know that archaeology is another way to help people understand the past.
• Understand that archaeologists study all kinds of material evidence left by people from the past.
• Understand how recent archaeological digs have recovered new material evidence about Werowocomoco and historic Jamestown.
• Know that Werowocomoco was a large Indian town use by Indian leaders for several hundred years before the English settlers came. It was the headquarters of the leader Powhatan in 1607.
• Know that Jamestown became the first permanent English settlement in North America.
• Know that archaeologists have discovered the site of the original fort and that the recovered artifacts give archaeologists clues about the interactions of the English, Africans, and Indians in early Virginia.
  Know that American Indian people have lived in Virginia for thousands of years.
• Know that American Indians, who trace their family histories back to well before 1607, continue to live in all parts of Virginia today.
• Know that today, eleven American Indian tribes in Virginia are recognized by the Commonwealth of Virginia.  The  2010 Virginia General Assembly gave state recognition to three tribes:  the Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Tribe, the Nottoway Tribe, and the Patawomeck Tribe.