Hockinson man teaches elementary college students Native American way of life in teepee he created

Cade Barker / cade@thereflector.com

If one drove by Hockinson Heights Elementary School on Friday, Nov. 21, they could have observed a reasonably giant teepee on the varsity campus. 

The giant teepee was constructed by Nathanael “Woody” Hayford, of Hockinson, all the best way again to when he was 18 years outdated. Hayford first introduced the teepee to Hockinson Heights Elementary School when his son, now 17, was in second grade. 

“He’s a junior now and when he was in second grade, we heard they were learning about Native Americans, and we said, ‘Hey, we’ve got a teepee, and we’d love to bring it out and set it up,’” Hayford stated. 

Hayford and his spouse, Mallory, have been packing the practically 20-by-20-foot teepee with 27-foot-long poles nearly yearly since then to Hockinson Heights Elementary School. 

“It’s kind of like a free field trip,” Hayford stated. “It costs the school nothing. It requires no large amount of effort. They just have to arrange the schedule and let them know what’s happening and then I come and do it at no cost. I don’t get anything out of it other than just simply sharing and the kids get this experience.”

He stated they’ve even utilized the teepee throughout tenting journeys and household reunions. 

“It’s big enough that I can squeeze a class of 19, 20, 24, plus a couple of adults in there without it being incredibly crowded,” Hayford stated. 

Hayford stated he can be all for taking it to different colleges. If a college is , Hayford will be contacted by emailing nathanaelqhayford@gmail.com. 

To get thus far, lots of analysis was performed on an early web site and even a guide. 

“I went to an art school, the Vancouver School of Arts and Academics, and you had to do a junior project and a senior project,” Hayford recalled. “And I was interested in Native Americans, particularly the Comanche Tribe, and this is stylized after a Comanche teepee with a large, kind of headdress at the top.”

He purchased the canvas from an area sail store and sewed it collectively. Hayford then purchased the poles out of a spot referred to as Nomadics Tipi Makers in Bend, Oregon. He first assembled the teepee 24 years in the past. 

Hayford added that the Nomadics Tipi Makers had been utilized for the film “Dances With Wolves.”

“You couldn’t look up on the internet to find something like that then,” Hayford stated of looking for materials. “You had to go find some place and so I bought [the canvas] from a sail company that makes sails for sailboats and stitched it all together. It’s 21 feet from front to back and 19 feet across because it’s not round, it’s egg-shaped.”

Despite its giant measurement, Hayford and his spouse can assemble it in slightly below an hour, he advised elementary college students. 

“It takes the two of us about 45 minutes to set up the outer cover and the poles,” he stated. “There’s an inner cover that’s not set up. To set it up properly and have insulating value, the inner cover touches the ground, you know. The outer cover does not.”

As Hayford teaches the scholars concerning the Native American way of life contained in the teepee, he stated he would love so as to add animal hides and different objects that indigenous folks would have utilized. 

“My studies have mostly been about the Comanche Tribe, which is just of interest to me,” Hayford stated. “This teepee is stylized after a Comanche teepee.”

Hayford added that he hopes the expertise of being in a teepee as a second grader leaves an enduring impression on the younger scholar. He additionally joked that when the coed tells their dad and mom about how large the teepee is, they’re not exaggerating.