By By JAMES COLLINS / Niles Daily Star
NILES -- A group of Howard Elementary students got a chance to re-live our local history by traveling down the St. Joseph River as voyageurs from the 1700s.
Three fourth-grade classes made a field trip to the boat launch on Bond Street on Wednesday morning to go for a canoe ride in a 36-foot replica of a Montreal canoe, one of the largest canoes ever made.
The field trip and the canoes were facilitated by the Sarett Nature Center. Four naturalists came to Niles to teach the students a lesson in Michigan history and show them what it was like to be a voyageur traveling through our waterways to transport furs in the 1700s.
Fourth grade teacher Mike Frost, who has been a part of the field trips for the last four years, said this experience is a great teaching tool for his students.
Teacher Becky Palmer thinks the hands-on lesson is something that will stick with the students for a long time.
Naturalist and Sarett Nature Center director Chuck Nelson said the program is important because it touches on an aspect of Michigan history that is often overlooked by textbooks.
The fourth grade classes have been talking about Michigan history in school and the Sarett Nature Center's program builds on their historical knowledge and also throws in a few other important lessons including information on river life, tree identification and the importance of not polluting.
To point out the negative impact that pollution has had on our environment, Nelson tells the kids how voyageurs used to drink right from the river when they were thirsty and how that would not be a good idea today.
The two canoes used for the program are exact replicas of the 36-foot birch bark Montreal canoes that were used by French Canadian voyageurs during the 1700s.
The Sarett naturalists integrated some French language into the program by referring to themselves as the "l'avant" or the leaders of the canoes. The student paddlers were called the "milieux," or the muscle, and the teachers were called the "bourgeious," or the rich people, who just sat in the middle of the canoes.
Before the canoes were launched into the river, the students were given some background on how Michigan's natural resources have played a role in shaping our state's history. They are also given a lesson on canoe safety and the proper way to paddle.
The classes then go on an hour long canoe trip down the St. Joseph River. One of the canoes represents the Northwest Company, a leading French fur trader of the time, and the other canoe represents the Hudson Bay Company, one of the major British fur trading companies. They often finish up the trip with a race to the back to the launching area.
Sarett Nature Center has been presenting its voyager canoe program to schools for nearly 15 years in areas throughout Berrien County.