Maritime expansion

Museum plans upgrades to contain new exhibits

A professional exhibit designer is working on the project, she said. The displays will include six dioramas that show life in the 17th century. The dioramas are intended to teach people about the differences in appearance, clothing, language and resources among the tribes, Persson said.

Museum officials are inviting living history interpreters to step into the scenes, she said.

One diorama will depict a Native-American trading ceremony, where representatives from several regional tribes have gathered with their wares, Persson said. The diorama will show the differences in appearance, language and resources among the regional tribes, she said.

Another scene will show life in a Susquehannock village. The scene will include women working in cornfields, cooking on open fires, scraping deer hides and mending wigwams, she said. Children will be depicted practicing with the bow and arrow, and playing physical games. And men will be shown burning dugouts and fishing in the river. One scene will portray the meeting between the tribes and John Smith and his crew, she said.

"We want people to know how the English would have looked when they stepped off the boats," she said. "And it will show the tribes as they were."