The Trading Coy ( C^oy being an 18th century abbreviation for Company)
is the sutlery (store) that we operate at selected events and to handle
all funds for all the sites associated with the Den to
Help Support our work with the Boy Scouts/Order 0f The Arrow &
Provide for the Special Needs of the Stroke Survivors that are affliated with our company.

The "Den" is for Boy Scouts, Order of the Arrow Members, Reenactors and anyone interested in
Eastern Woodland Indians and the Shawnee, their history and culture and how to portray them.

This Front Page leads to the study of - INDIANS, AMERICAN INDIANS, NATIVE AMERICANS, INDIGENOUS PEOPLE, ABORIGIONAL AMERICANS, 1^st NATIONS. What Ever You Choose to Call Them No People has So Many Others Wanting to be One of Them. Europeans and those of European dissent have often thought that somewhere in the world must dwell a noble race, remnants of that golden age before man became corrupted by civilization. As reports of Indians filtered back to Europe, a distinguished French philosopher of the late 16^th Century, Michelle de Montaigne concluded that the Noble Savage has at last been found, in the American Indian. "Words that import a lie, falsehood, treason, covetousness, envy, detraction, were not heard among them." Michelle de Montaigne. This Front Page will lead you to all kinds of information on the Eastern Woodland Indians. No Indigenous People have ever captured the imagination of other people, all over the world, as the American Indian. A great many misconceptions, half truths, out and out lies, and every once in a very great while, a few tremendously insightful truths have been put forward about the American Indian. Like the Huns, Mongals, Vikings, Cossacks and Zulu, the American Indian has been honored and praised and at the same time feared and vilified. In all of history, I know of none, other than the American Indian, that most people, everywhere, want to be.
On this Front page and throughout this site you will find the words of Tecumseh. His appeal to other tribes to join his confederacy were repeated from the Alleghenies to the head waters of the Mississippi. From the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. "We must be united. We must smoke the same pipe. We must fight each other's battles. And more than that, We must love the Great Spirit." 
The Den deals with Native American/American Indian History, Religion & Culture. Particularly as it relates to the Eastern Woodland Indians and especially the Shawnee.
Its purpose is to educate the public at large, provide information to assist the Boy Scouts of America, Indian Lore Merit Badge and the Order of the Arrow and to provide the Living History - Re-enactment community with much needed information. It also serves as my Resume' and statement of my personal beliefs.
The Front Page introduces you to Big Bear's Trading C^oy ( C^oy being an 18th century abbreviation for Company.) The Company Store produces 18th century reproductions and sells them at period events up and down the Eastern seaboard.

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