Junior Programs

THE LONGHOUSE PEOPLE (Standard Tour)

’The Longhouse People’ tour focuses on the interaction between the Huron Wendat people and the French missionaries. The impact of that interaction will be discussed in such areas as European technology, the introduction of disease, the effects of the fur trade, and the attempt by the Jesuits to convert the Huron Wendat to Christianity. This curriculum-based tour is an excellent opportunity for students to experience, first hand, the significance of the Huron Wendat people in the history of Canada.

THE WAYS OF THE WENDAT (Enhanced Tour)

Students are introduced to the culture and heritage of the Huron Wendat peoples, and explore their interaction with Ontario's earliest European settlers, the French Jesuit missionaries. Their experience includes a tour of the historic site, making Aboriginal projects out of clay, and a choice of either traditional Native games or Canada's oldest (and national) sport: lacrosse.

A DAY IN THE LIFE (Junior Focus)

FULL DAY Program

Spend a rewarding day with your class in the vibrant past of Ontario at the mission headquarters of Sainte-Marie. This experience includes an extensive tour of the site, and hands-on workshops that encourage interaction and understanding. Work with clay, play some of Canada's oldest games including lacrosse, and explore the related past in the museum. Your students will enjoy a day like no other.

WINTER IN WENDAKE (Junior and Intermediate Focus)

FULL DAY Program

The Winter in Wendake program at Sainte-Marie among the Hurons lets participants experience the interactions of the French missionaries and the Huron Wendat during the winter season. Students study the roots of the French Jesuit community, and learn about the contributions of Aboriginal people to the development of Canada. Students will use a Native invention to walk across the snow during a historical snowshoe hike, and participate in a number of hands-on activities.

MOON OF WINTERTIME (Junior and Intermediate Focus)

LIVE-IN Program – 24 or 48 Hours

Immerse your students in winter past! The Moon of Wintertime Live-in program offers an unforgettable 24 or 48 hour journey into winter in the 17th century at Sainte-Marie. Single classes enjoy their own curriculum-based historical visit. Teachers can work with the program staff to select activity workshops that provide take-home projects for every student. Enjoy a snowshoe outing to nearby Martyrs’ Shrine, and experience the magic of legends in the longhouse, by firelight! Sainte-Marie’s Education Centre provides sleeping quarters for up to 40.

Note: *Cost of programs does not include meals

WALK WHERE THEY WALKED

(Junior or Intermediate Focus) – FULL DAY Program
(This program is offered in co-operation with the Martyrs' Shrine)

Your visit to the Shrine offers your students the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of the Canadian Martyrs. The curriculum-based CD-ROM* provides an opportunity for classroom work prior to the actual visit. Your experience begins with an orientation video that tells the storey of the eight Martyrs in the historical context of 17th century Huronia. A teaching and group discussion, led by a staff animator in the Martyrs' Hall Education Centre, enhances the message of the video and leads to a variety of activities customized to the group.

While on tour at Sainte-Marie among the Hurons, your students will walk in the footsteps of the Canadian Martyrs, in the mission headquarters the Jesuits and their labourers helped to establish. A powerful focal point is a visit to the gravesite of two of the martyrs, Father Jean de Brébeuf and Father Gabriel Lalement.

We invite you to participate in a spiritual journey...and walk where they walked.

*An interactive curriculum-based CD-ROM is available from the Martyrs' Shrine upon request prior to your visit. For the CD-ROM, email the Martyrs' Shrine directly at: shrine@jesuits.ca.

WALKED WHERE THEY WALKED (Overnight)

Stay overnight in the historic Wye Valley!
Students talking part in the "Walk Where They Walked" program can extend their stay in historic Huronia. The Lalande Dormitory at Martyrs' Shrine offers simple and comfortable overnight accommodations for your students.

Stay overnight and enhance your experience when you combine curriculum related education programs at Sainte-Marie among the Hurons, Martyrs' Shrine, Discovery Harbour, Wye Marsh Wildlife Centre, and at the Huronia Museum and Huron-Ouendat Village.

Each of the rooms in the Lalande Dormitory sleeps four with separate washrooms and showers for a total capacity of 32. Rooms are available from mid-May to October. Email the Martyrs' Shrine at shrine@jesuits.ca.for more information about this unique accommodation opportunity.

Let your students experience an unforgettable evening in one of the most beautiful settings in Ontario.

Links with Grade 6 Curriculum

• Describe characteristics of pre-contact First Nation cultures, including their close relationship with the natural environment, the motivations and attitudes of the European Explorers, and the effects of contact
• Use a variety of resources and tools to investigate different historical points of view about the positive and negative effects of early contact between First Nation peoples and European Explorers

Junior Programs Booking Policy [PDF 107 KB / 2 Pages]