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Read & Write Workshop: Ancient People of the Lake

A writing workshop incorporating local archaeology (and a free book)!

This program is best suited for ages 3rd-5th grade, and children under 10 must be accompanied by a caregiver. 

Local author Eileen Tannich Gose shares her "Read & Write" book: Ancient People of the Lake, inspired by a local archaeological site! Participants will learn to create a five sentence story using the book, and take home a copy for free! 

Ancient People of the Lake is a Read & Write book based on archeological information from an ancient Early Holocene site inside Newberry Crater at Paulina Lake, Oregon. The Paulina Lake site was a temporary summer camp where foragers processed food and plants, as well as obsidian for tools. The Paulina Lake site is especially important because archaeologists uncovered remains of a 9,500 year-old dwelling, one of the oldest houses in the United States. Later, the remains of the Paulina Lake site were fairly well preserved by two feet of ash from the explosion of Mt. Mazama 7,500 years ago.

A Read & Write Book shows how to create a five sentence story. The five sentences alone make a complete story, including the character(s), setting, problem, and solution. Then, by adding a few more sentences under each introductory sentence, the story becomes more interesting, and a five sentence story can transform into a five paragraph story.

Eileen Tannich Gose has a bachelor's degree in anthropology and a master's degree in education. She is a member of the Archaeological Society of Central Oregon and the Deschutes County Historical Society. In the past, she was involved in the Colorado Archaeological Society and was selected for several education grants from the Colorado State Historic Fund, the Colorado Historical Society, and the American Rock Art Research Association.
In the areas of scholarship, she developed a teacher's guide for classes in archaeology and historic preservation, co-authored a guide to historic preservation of architecture and archaeology, and created educational hands-on trunks to educate the public about archaeology. Additionally, she created children's activity books that teach about archaeological sites.

Eileen has participated in many archaeological excavations including precontact and post-contact sites in Colorado and New Mexico. Supporting her education and classroom experience, Eileen has traveled extensively in Europe, seeing many of the most important archaeological sites, including Paleolithic painted caves in France, Stonehenge, Pompeii and other Roman sites, passage tombs in Ireland, and even the Classical sites in Greece and Egypt.  Her passion in life is to use her education and experiences to inspire others to appreciate and protect our past. 

Ancient People of the Lake review:

Grounded in archaeological information from a site in Newberry Crater, the author weaves a compelling story about three boys who live along Ancient Paulina Lake, Turtle, Badger, and Gray Wolf, as they spend a day in their family’s summer camp gathering roots and berries for their mothers. Although they long to be hunting with the older men, the boys are keenly aware of how important their work is for their people. Through their eyes, readers gain an understanding of the hunting and gathering habits of their people, the tools they use, and especially the foods they gather for winter storage. Although the book is written for children, I found the material to be very engaging, in that it underscores not only the deep history of humans on this continent, but also the importance of the archaeological work that help us to understand who these people were and how they lived. Detailed illustrations and photographs serve to enhance its ability to engage the reading audience. As an added bonus, the author includes interactive exercises that further stretch the audience’s imagination. This refreshingly original approach makes this book both entertaining and intellectually stimulating. 

Review by Dr. Robert David

Robert David is a member of the Klamath Tribes and a graduate of Portland State University (MA) and the University of California Berkeley (PhD). In both programs, he focused his research on Klamath Basin rock art. He currently teaches courses at Portland State University and works as an archaeological contractor. At present, he is working on two projects that involve Petroglyph Point, Lava Beds National Monument. The first is a book based on research on the monument over the past seven years and the second is a film documentary, which is a community-based effort with the Klamath Tribes, Lava Beds National Monument staff, and members of the general public.

Questions? Contact elsah@deschuteslibrary.org, 541-312-1062