Ohio in Transition: 1803-1839
 

"We want people to realize that Native Americans are a
living people with a history, not just people from history"

Daryl Baldwin, Director of Myaamia Project at Miami University and
Natives & Newcomers Advisory Committee Member

Natives & Newcomers: Ohio in Transition is planned as a living-history experience telling the story of Northwest Ohio from 1803 to 1839. Covered with swamps and thick forests, this region of the state was one of the last to be settled by Europeans. Our settlement will depict the family lives of the many Native American nations who called this area home.

• Come and witness how they lived day by day, with each other and with the European trader.
   
• Smell the foods cooking and watch skilled interpreters crafting traditional utensils, clothing and household items. 
   
• Experience their lives through special demonstrations, hands-on activities and museum theatre pieces.
   
• Learn how their lives changed as we present this important little-told story of a people, state and nation in transition.

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Educational Opportunities

Are you a teacher? Check out how the Natives and Newcomers Experience is compatible with Ohio's new Social Studies Content Standards Curriculum.

Guests visiting the Natives & Newcomers Exhibit will: 

• Learn about the daily lives and interactions of the Native Americans and the European settlers who inhabited this region in the early 19^th century. 
  

• Understand the importance of the Maumee Valley River Corridor as the “frontier superhighway” – a major route of commerce and activity. 
  

• Appreciate the diversity of people who lived in this region during this time and how their lives and cultures intermingled.
  

• Grasp the significance of the natural environment and how the people adapted to it.
  

• Gather information to challenge traditional myths and stereotypes
  

• Discover what ultimately happened to the Natives in this region. 

     

The fur trader played an important role in the earliest interactions with the Native nations. His trading post was both his home and business. When the Natives brought furs to the trader, in exchange they received items ranging from guns and traps to needles and silver. On your visit to the Trading Post you might smell the trader’s dinner cooking over the hearth while you marvel at his silversmithing.

Native Americans farmed the land long before the Europeans arrived. Although they spent the winter months hunting, farming was their focus during the growing season. Guest will see how heritage and native crops were grown and used. 

These common Great Lakes region Native lodges called wigwams were built in a variety of sizes from materials found in the marshes and woodlands. You’ll be able to go inside these structures to see how native families made their homes. Sometimes you will even have a chance to help set up a conical wigwam.
 

The Natives and Newcomers Exhibit serves as a natural bridge to the Historic Sauder Village experience guests have enjoyed for years. We are extending our time line to show what happened in the daily lives of the Natives and Newcomers in this region prior to the first European settlement. That’s what we do best in the Historic Village and have been doing since 1976.

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Interested in supporting this project?

The Natives & Newcomers Exhibit is supported in part by a Legacy Grant from the Ohio Bicentennial Commission. If you would be interested in supporting this new and exciting venture, please call Claire Morton at 1-800-590-9755. Sauder Village is a 501c3 non-profit organization making your charitable contributions tax deductible. 

Look how far we've come!

Click here to watch how the building progressed from beginning to opening day of this exciting addition to Sauder Village. 

 

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