Day 3: Makah Tribe Indian Nation Reservation & Museum, Neah Bay, & Cape Flattery
the most Northwestern Point of the Contiguous United States
N
Us.
The day started with team-building games in small groups. During this one, students had to transfer a marble into a bucket......
YES!!! Success!
Tyler's Group (undocumented) embarked on a teleportable radio adventure where each member had to describe it's attributes & reasoning. Super fun and creative!
Next: A two hour charter bus ride out to the Makah Indian Nation.....
We could've stayed here all week. There is SO much to learn from the Makah and surrounding tribes.
This museum displayed hands-on replicas of what it would be like to live as a Makah.
This museum displayed hands-on replicas of what it would be like to live as a Makah.
The Makah people are quite wise. They kill only what they need, and they use all of it. For instance, the word "trash" is not in their vocabulary, because everything they sacrifice has a purpose. A special 56-year-old tribe member named Spencer spoke to HSE students about the Makah lifestyle in detail, including religion, war, marriage, home-dwelling, career, & present-day tribulations.
We were silenced by Spencer's knowledge, yet we were curious to learn as much as we could.
We were silenced by Spencer's knowledge, yet we were curious to learn as much as we could.
Ivy & Roxann
Whale bones & whaling canoes. Each canoe had a specific purpose.
What a Makah may see outside of their longhouse.
Celso & Hans touch real whaling canoes in the Makah Museum.
When there is SO much to see & do....lunch is SCRAPPY! Thank to our organized NatureBridge educators, they fulfilled browing a museum, listening to a tribe member presentation, allowing purchases to be made at the museum shop, serving lunch to 27 active humans, and packing up to stay on schedule for the latter half of the field day!!! I'm tired just thinking about it!
Photography is one of Ms. Scott's many hobbies. Combine traveling, teaching, & being...and she's in her happy place. Thank you to all who signed up to help Ms. Scott fulfill her dreams :) ........
After the museum we headed to "Cape Flattery Trail". This short, one mile hike lead us to the most Northwest tip of the contiguous US (the continental US, not Alaska nor Hawaii). It was a wet & wild boardwalk-driven trail.
Ms. Safara & Ms. Scott are so happy to be here experiencing this place with HSE students.
Celso & Felix.
Julian tell Ms. Scott how this reminds him of Lord of the Rings & The Hobbit. He feels like his is displaced from his real life, and existing within a fictional novel. Books make people come alive in different settings, science trips make it a reality!
Neah Bay is a location where many different jet currents stream about. NatureBridge provides the students each a "drift card" which gives information to the finder of the card specific directions regarding how to note it was found & where. This will help collect data to agencys such as NOAA (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration) & will create a sense of connectedness between all individuals able to collect this artifact.
I made a wish before I threw mine-that was a personal choice ;)
Ms. Safara & her sweet, independent wilderness women!
On point. Literally.
Chaperons bask in gratitude as they sink in this superb feeling on the most NW point. We all admitted that we could have stayed here ALL day, just sitting there on the point; Reading, watching the waves, watercoloring, jotting down the feelings of being in this sacred place. It was an emotional moment. We'd arrived.
Canada-over there!
At the end we devoured this trek we had made, the journey that we persued, this reasoning we hadn't quite determined. A sweet blanket of accomplishment fell over the group as we gathered and scurried to snap photos on that quaint overlook. Canada in the distance, Texas to far away-we breathed a sigh of compassion for all other species and all humankind. This was the moment I do these trips for. This was it.
We walked back in silence. Grasping for those unique, wild, final moments out there.
Evening Program:
NOAA (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration) speaker & interactive game
back at campus in ONP
Sue, Desiree, Roxann, Nayeli, Lizeth, Felix, Anna, & Julian look on between rounds during "Oceans in Jeopardy" game.
Our speaker was charismatic, to-the-point, and often positive while offering the facts on a sad & stressful situation: the potential defunding of crutial programs such as NOAA, ignoring data that proves humans are responsible for global warming & climate change, & the destruction of our precious oceans. NOAA representative explains the necessity of exploration & research for what she calls the, "NASA of the Sea". Only 5-7% of our oceans have been discovered!
The USA is currently considering removing important funds from vital administrations & programs such as NOAA. It is mind-blowing to consider just what else could take precidence over these uncharted territories, which may hold valuable cures & plentiful answers to our present-day, endless issues. Hopefully our HSE ocean activists will speak for the species who can not for themselves.
Exhausted, learned, & contempt.
Is it time for bed yet?!
Yes.
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