RISING TRIBES

Becoming Artisans

Little friends of ours, two sisters, are turning 5 and 3 on the same day (yeah talk about sharp calculations).  I asked our 4 year old little friend if she would enjoy a pin~ata for their bday and if so, what kind.  She eagerly requested a unicorn.   Ceiba and I got to work a few weeks ago, and this is the process and final product.

I will add that this has been a learning highlight of our few days here at our Learning Tree. I got to dig in my bank of cultural memory and share stories with Ceiba about being a child in a place like San Cristobal back in the 80’s.  Specifically, we talked about the artisan dedication that is required to be a pin~atero/a.  I shared with her a story about the family that made pin~atas around the corner from our house, friends of ours, about what it was like to watch them work, and how it is through my observations while at their house that I remembered how to make them.

We worked on how to build a vision and design.  We looked for “realistic” images of unicorns, and we found a “real” picture of one.  We used the image  and one of their toy horses as a models, a great technique for her to learn observation, three dimensional design etc.  She saw and part took in the various steps required to build the structure.  She learn to appreciate each step, to learn to be patient as she waited for the next.  To respect the delicate art.  She even exploded with ideas as to how to make this pin~ata magical.   One morning she got out of her bed and came downstairs, and proceeded to gather all kinds of goodies, including pin~ata candy she got from another bday, and she made “pin~ata bags”.  She figured that if she divided equally all the goods and placed them in decorated bags, then everyone would be treated equally, and pain and unfairness would be avoided. She inspired me to make a set of draw string bags with recycled fabric and some of our beads.

I got to say though culturally, pin~atas are the training ground for fighting bullies..it toughened me up!

Presenting the Unicorn:

Megapode Learning Tree

Last night we read this book.

"Animal Dads" by Sneed B. Collard III inspired Ceiba to learn about Megapodes

And we learned about how Megapode dads make their nests.  So Ceiba asked “Tomorrow can we look for the pictures of the Megapodes nests?”  And this is  what we learned.

The particular species that is depicted on the book , is known as the Australian Brush-Turkey, which are found on Australia’s Gold Coast,

so with the help of Google Earth we were able to tag their location, add a picture that Ceiba found on google images (spelling ‘megapode nests’ on her own from the book),

and as she dictated, we wrote a description of our learning experience on our very own Megapode Learning Tree tag .

We used their toy measuring tape to see how the Megapode’s 60-70 cm size  compares to her own body.  We were  very surprised to know that the nest mound the males build to attract females can be as high as 1 m and as wide as 4 m! Which takes hours and hours of dedicated labor. The work doesn’t end there, they also have to keep the temperature at a whopping 33 degrees, which they determine by placing the soil/leaf matter they use for the mound into their bills, a perfectly created thermometer.  Ceiba loved this fact, and so did I, nature never ceases to amaze!

By they way, I found the book at our local Free Store (yeah, everything is free).  And its truly a beautiful account of  how dad’s behave in the animal world, and the illustrations are maginicent.

There is that hard working Megapode Dad