Published: January 13, 2008 10:49 pm         

Indiana group dedicated to American Indian heritage moving to Shakamak

TERRE HAUTE — Shakamak State Park may be getting some exciting new tenants in the next couple of months.

As part of a grant from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, the not-for-profit Piankeshaw Trails Educational Park, Inc. plans to relocate from its current home in Solsberry to Shakamak (in Jasonville, about 20 miles southeast of Terre Haute) in March for a nine-month trial period.

The group, incorporated in 2002 as a 501(c)3 organization, has been serving 14 southwest central Indiana communities with field trips and educational programs about native woodland Indian cultural heritage in Indiana through its outdoor living history museum.

Director Sheryl Hartman says the Piankeshaw group is dedicated to documenting, demonstrating and preserving the cultural arts and history of native woodland nations.

The move from Solsberry is intended to bring the activities and programs to a wider audience, according to Hartman.

It was difficult to get the community involved in rural Solsberry, she said.

“We needed to get a larger entity to help,” she said, which is why the group contacted the DNR. “This provides us with that, plus an infrastructure we didn’t have.”

Hartman, who is not herself of Piankeshaw ancestry, has been studying and celebrating the American Indians of Indiana for more than 25 years. A self-proclaimed lover of history with a degree in anthropology, Hartman believes that the public needs to understand and appreciate “a way of life that has since vanished right here in their own backyards.”

PTEP’s stated mission is to provide hands-on, interactive programs, using permanent on-site exhibits and skill demonstrations, combining the skills and artistry of native artists and historians to benefit underserved youth and citizens of the region while enhancing the image of southwest central Indiana.

Since 2001, the group has been staging year-round special events, such as “native rebellion” reenactments, primitive skills workshops, and music and dance demonstrations.

PTEP members are contacting area businesses to help with the costs of relocating their operations to Shakamak State Park. The anticipated budget is $8,500, including the labor costs to dismantle PTEP’s outdoor museum exhibits and educational equipment, moving truck and fuel costs, rebuilding supplies and in-kind contributions.

The first big event planned by the Piankeshaw Trails group at Shakamak is called School of the Native: A Journey Through Time, to take place April 25-27. The program will be open to school groups, individuals, college students, and families. Though details of the event are still being finalized, Piankeshaw Trails intends to provide dancing and drumming, flute-playing, children’s dances, Native American homes and architecture demonstrations, storytelling, flint knapping and pottery, archaic wood, bone, stone and copper tools and how they were made and used, finger weaving, hide-tanning, native woodland clothing samples and discussions, vendors and food.

Jessica Diemer-Eaton, educational director, said School of the Native is not a “powwow,” but a celebration of northeastern woodland Indian culture and history. Diemer-Eaton, an anthropology student at Indiana University, said, “a lot of stereotypes need to be taken out of the loop” regarding native lifestyles.

In promotional materials about the School of the Native program, Hartman wrote, “We hope visitors … will leave with a greater understanding of how the ancestors not only survived but thrived in their environment … Piankeshaw presenters will show our visitors some of those ancient and complex life ways.”

Hartman, who says she is very excited about the move to Shakamak, said, “We want to strike a familiar chord with people. We’re offering wonderful opportunities for kids when they come to the park that will become a fixture in the community.”

Anyone interested in learning more about the Piankeshaw Trails Educational Park can contact Steve Tucker, president of the organization at (812) 268-5670 or at sltucker97@excite.com.

Sheryl Hartman, director, can be reached at (812) 825-1234.

Deb Kelly can be reached at (812) 231-4254 or deb.mckee@tribstar.com.