AIS INDIAN ENCAMPMENT
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Replication of the Ais Indian Encampment will provide a historical and educational insight to the settlement of the Ais Indians in this region of the Indian River and will exhibit the style of structures that transcends from the Ais Indians to the early pioneer settlers.
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| An Ais Indian Chief's Long House
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A Bohios - an Ais Indian family house.
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The Encampment will consist of the Chief's Long House which will be approx.. 40ft x 25ft, constructed of log pole frame and thatched with palmetto fronds. The Chief's House may be used as an outdoor classroom and site may include a mock archaeological excavation site. The Family House (bohios) will be a round house of small flexible tree trunks stuck in ground and bent into the center, tied together to make a dome shaped roof. Sides will be covered with palmetto woven mats that can be removed for ventilation. The site may be a surface of land constructed of alternating layers of shell and earth to replicate a shell midden. This practice was done to raise encampments above the ever-changing rising water levels of the nearby river.
Exhibits of daily life may include firepits and food preparation of traditional dishes, "sweetgrass" basketmaking, weaving palm and palmetto mats, colorful Seminole patchwork and Seminole dolls made of cloth-wrapped palmetto fiber husk stuffed with cotton. Demonstrations and exhibits will include traditional methods of making dug-out canoes, tools and weapons. For special events and celebrations, traditional dance ceremonies will be performed along with playing of musical instruments as well as exhibits. Storytelling will also be an important part of the educational programs. It was a very important way to keep the legacy of the tribe alive and was performed by highly respected elders of the tribe and was told around campfires. They had the responsibility to retell the story as close to the original version that was handed down to them as possible.
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