NAACS 2018

The BSA Order of the Arrow NAACS (North American Arts & Ceremonies Seminar) was held in Astoria the third weekend of January 2018.

We taught a morning class showing the scouts the pelts of over 115 animal species.  They also handled & viewed over 50 different items made of leather / fur, such as moose leather mittens & pony hair paint brushes.

The Wild Sheep Foundation supplied educational materials & bighorn sheep horns for everyone to inspect & see really how heavy they can be!

Participants played a matching game with leather gloves from 12 types of animals;
cow, goat, rabbit, moose, deer, elk, kangaroo, bison wool, sheepskin, pig, horse, buffalo - they picked out a pair of gloves and had to find the matching hide.

Para-cord bracelets from Cabela's were earned by those who completed a crossword puzzle / word search - used to reinforce what was taught in the class.

Comments from participants included;
- Cool - wow - this was lots of fun - I really like my bag - this is awesome - yes, I would definitely come to this class again - so many different pelts - this matching game is fun - really?  we get to make that medicine bag?  do you still have an open slot? - this crossword puzzle is hard but fun - cool to have the DVD about mountain men - whoa, hey come feel this fur! - this was great - I know I came to your last class, but can I join this one too? - Is that deer bag what we are making?  Okay, I'm in - Check out these bighorn sheep horns - whoa they are SOO heavy!  cool! - hey check this out! - excuse me, I heard you have an awesome collection and we can look at it & do a crossword and get a para-cord bracelet -  My bag is great, thanks - Wait, those are the mittens we can make?  Can I make a pair even though I'm an adult?  - Thank you for all the work you all did to put these classes together -

The afternoon schedule includes 2 workshops - these could not be possible without the 3 teachers - they did a fantastic job guiding, teaching & helping the scouts - Chuck, Bob & Stanwood.  These men are consistently patient and encouraging as they teach.

In the early afternoon we taught a workshop where the scouts made a leather medicine bag from cow leather & deer or elk hide.  13 bags were crafted.

We added some media this year to the workshop - - - 
Thanks to the Museum of the Mountain Man in Pinedale, WY the scouts learned about mountain man history as the Legacy of the Mountain Man DVD was part of the workshop. 

Bags made by the scouts

In the late afternoon we taught another workshop where the scouts made leather mittens from bison or deer leather.  This workshop was made possible by Peter Kiernan & Olympia Gloves of Elmsford, New York.  They donated 9 sets of high quality glove leather / bison leather kits to make mittens.  (And a sample pair of mittens!)  This enabled us to create additional "mitten kits" of deer leather.  This mitten class was the most advanced leather class at NAACS so far.

The "mitten" kit - three pieces of pre cut leather (back, palm & thumb) + tools;
scissors, magnetic disk, needle, pliers, leather punches, wood block, hand made awl, thread & hand made hardwood mallet (Osage orange & maple)

Three pieces of leather for one mitten + a partially assembled palm / thumb

Completed bison leather mittens!!! 

Not only were a number of tools & materials donated for these workshops, but several hardwood mallets were made so a dozen people could work at the same time;

 

The need for hardwood mallets for the leatherwork workshops led to the creation of another class at NAACS - woodworking.  The scouts have made hardwood mallets for the past 2 years - a joiner's style or rustic style. Hardwood Industries & Lakeside Lumber have both been generous donors to this workshop.

An amazing potlach dinner was provided Saturday night!!!  Bison / boar / lamb meatloaf & oysters & goat / yam dish & rice/oat/marionberry dish with salad.  The meal was delicious.  The chefs are fantastic!