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Feast of the Hunter's Moon Sampler

Last year I missed the Feast of the Hunter's Moon. I was quite disappointed because apparently it's the biggest thing in re-enacting to happen in Lafayette. I had planned on going this year, but turns out I will be out of town during that weekend. Fortunately, I was able to make it to the sampler version of the feast, which is less crowded and without the Colonial Tavern or other food. But the great thing about it is that I got to talk to all the different costumed individuals (because it was an assignment for my ethnography class). I found out lots of things about how the little children would make wool thread, blacksmithing, and the clothing needs of voyageurs.

This is how you make some wool thread. You take a clump of wool sheared from a sheep, and then you use these brushes to untangle it all. Then you spin it around a spindle. Little children would do this before they could even walk. I asked if they at least got to tell stories or hear stories during their hard labor, but the lady didn't know. Apparently, she had just learned how to card wool that morning. It takes muscles to card wool.

Apparently, you dye wool with onions and then you can make a delicious French onion soup for lunch. You can also use Elderberries and other berries and roots to dye wool.

Here are some ladies spinning (not the new kind of spinning but the Rumplestiltskin kind):

Activities for the whole family abound. The tykes can make their own candle or roll loops down the hill.

Join the ladies' lacemaking circle and catch up on all the village gossip!

Or stop by the blacksmith's and talk shop about anvils and ... other blacksmithing stuff. (Did you know you can buy an anvil on e-bay? Some fourteen-year-old was talking to the blacksmith about that.)

Don't forget to visit the Fort! Fort Ouiatenon was built in 1717 by French settlers as a trading outpost. Inside were furs and other goods - including totes and tee-shirts! - to further illustrate the bartering so important to the early economy of the area.

There are maidens wandering the feast.

There were also voyageurs camped under their boat. Decency doesn't allow me to post (or even take) a picture of these explorers. Apparently, trading hasn't been terribly profitable for the voyageurs because all they could afford to wear was a blousy shirt belted at the waste. No leggings or footwear. You might want to avert your eyes when the voyageur bends over to pick up the beaverskin. This also applies to the Wea Indian Tribe Village. When an old white man walks around wearing a skimpy loincloth flapping in the breeze, re-enacting has gone a little too far.