"Be a Kid Again...for the First Time"

The Huawni Program begins with simple, uncomplicated, wholesome fun. It builds on the active nature of the schedule by creating an environment where kids and counselors get to know each other. They play together, succeed and fail together, share feelings, and hug and laugh a lot.

The daily schedule is a balanced combination of outdoor activities and sports events. It can be as simple and natural as playing in the creek at the Carving Trees or as intense as a multi-station relay race known as the Huawni Derby and Run for the Roses.

Most days are divided into six activity periods, three in the morning and three in the afternoon. A camper, along with his or her activity group, is scheduled in a different activity for each period. Then, in the evening, a camp-wide event is held that usually involves the entire camp. Evening events include sing songs, skits, counselor shows, truck rides, campfires, marshmallow roasts, and storytelling. Throughout the session, special event days add a break from the routine – the camp comes together for Phantom’s Playday or Huawni Uprising or Camptown Races. Tribal Competition during the two week sessions provides a spirited tradition of Indian games and team bonding.

Outside of the scheduled activities, much of a camper’s experience at Huawni is intended to be unplanned and spontaneous. A relaxing walk down the camp road and conversation with a friend after supper can highlight an action-packed day. A particularly clear night can initiate a discussion of the “Big Dipper” constellation in the middle of a sing song on Flagpole Hill. Camp Huawni encourages its staff to always be alert for these special moments.

The Huawni Program is really all about kids ---- and contributing positively to their growing up experience. If, at the end of the day, a child or teen feels better about who he is or smiles about the day she has just lived, then Huawni has succeeded. Spirits are encouraged and hearts are made to laugh. And if Huawni strings some of these life-moments together into a necklace of memories, they can be relived over and over long after the last sing song. That is what Huawni is about. When the Huawni Program clicks just right, it’s fun, it’s friends, and it lasts a while...

...sometimes it lasts a lifetime.