MARQUETTE -- Students from Negaunee elementary got to experience the fur trade firsthand Wednesday morning. Students wore costumes and used locally-made replicas of items commonly traded in the Upper Peninsula in the 1700s. The Marquette Regional History Museum, along with the Marquette Community Foundation, use this program as a chance to make history come alive for area students.
"Programs like this get the kids involved--touching it, picking stuff up and wondering what it is, what it was used for. It's a hands-on lesson they learn, so much just in a couple hours. It's amazing," said Betsy Rutz, the Museum Educator.
The students broke into two groups. One portrayed the French voyagers while the others were the Ojibwa Indians. Once the groups met up, the trading began. They also used tools available in the 1700s to make quill birch bracelets and necklaces.
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forWLUC