Fort Recovery Museum to host third annual Beyond the Battlefield Native Days

The Fort Recovery Museum and Monument will bring Native American history and modern Tribal cultures to the community during the third annual “Beyond the Battlefield: Native Days” event later this month.

Educational programming will be presented Thursday, October 22, and Friday, October 23, for fourth-grade students from Fort Recovery, Marion Local, St. Henry and Coldwater schools.

A free public event will follow Saturday, October 24, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Fort Recovery Elementary/Middle School, located at 865 Sharpsburg Road.

Fourteen Tribal citizens from the Wyandotte Nation, Miami Tribe of Oklahoma and Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma will interpret their history and share aspects of their cultures through seven hands-on stations.

Fort Recovery Museum volunteer Christine Thompson says activities will include lacrosse, beadwork, textiles, weaving, corn processing, corn husk flowers, Native games, music and dancing.

Wyandotte social dancing will be presented at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.

Representatives scheduled to participate include cultural preservation officers, educators, historians, museum staff and other citizens of the three federally recognized Tribes. Their ancestors played a central role in St. Clair’s Defeat in 1791 near present-day Fort Recovery.

Food and beverages will be available from Tin Cupboard, including free samples of fry bread and Three Sisters Stew.

Additional activities will be offered at the Fort Recovery Museum at 1 Fort Site Street. Admission to the museum will be free, and guided battlefield tours will begin at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Each tour is expected to last approximately one hour.

The museum’s Log Cabin, Tool Cabin and Fort Blockhouse will also be open. Zac Distel, curator of special collections for the Filson Historical Society, will host an information table.

All Native Days activities are free and designed for visitors of all ages.

“Beyond the Battlefield: Native Days” is partially funded by the Ohio History Fund, a grant program of the Ohio History Connection. The event is being offered in collaboration with the Wyandotte Nation, Miami Tribe of Oklahoma and Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma.