Education

Education & Children's Activities

Among the Creeks, the division of labor for men and women was not unlike that of many other cultures. Education for children was centered on 'learning by doing' the skills they would need to participate as adults in their society. This was incorporated in the children's many hours of play.

From an early age, boys began developing the physical and mental skills they would need by learning to make and use weapons and tools. From the elders boys learned the ways of the wild animals and how to use this knowledge for successful hunting. Competitive games provided the means to develop hunting skills.

Likewise, girls learned the skills they would need by playing and working alongside the older women of their mother's clan. This might include gathering and learning about the various wild plants used for food, seasoning and medicine as well as the many other tasks assigned to women such as gardening and food preparation, tanning hides, sewing garments, basket and pottery making.