Hello friend. Glad you dropped by my site. My name is Clabert Menard and I'd like to tell you a bit about my family, myself, and my site.

My wife, Cyndie, and I have been married for over 25 years now! She is a member of the Cherokee Nation. She graduated from the University of Houston-Clear Lake in May of 2000 with a Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies and has been teaching 1st grade in Dayton ever since. We have two grown children, C.J. (Clabert Jay) and Cassidy Danielle. C.J. and his wife, Laura, were married August 17, 2003. C.J. is in the Air Force and is currently stationed at Offut AFB in Nebraska. On January 30th, 2005, C.J. and Laura blessed us with sweet little Clabert Lochlainn Menard - our very first grandchild. He is completely perfect in every way and makes his G-Daddy and G-mommy so proud. Just a short 15 months later on May 9th, 2006 they blessed us again with our second perfect grandson, Jhonen Alexander. Cassidy graduated from Dayton High School in May of 2006. She also graduated from San Jacinto College with her certificate in cosmetology. She married Jeff Johnson on June 24, 2006. Jeff is also in the Air Force. They are stationed at Altus AFB in Oklahoma with our two granddogs Edelweiss and Ziegenboch. Cyndie and I have lived in a small town east of Houston, Texas for as many years as anyone cares to remember...

We are very involved in living history and trekking, me personally since 1978. One time period we study is the French and Indian War 1756-1763. The reason we chose this time period is that I am French/Choctaw, both of whom were very active in this part of the U.S. during this time period. There is a reconstructed French fort a few hours drive from here, in Natchitoches, Louisiana, called Ft. St. Jean Baptist. This fort is where many middle 18th century reenactors from the surrounding states come together. Our personas for F&I are based on our true family histories. I portray a mixed blood Courier de Bois married to a Cherokee woman.

I also dabble a bit in buckskinning and have become "obsessed" with Cowboy Action Shooting. I had the opportunity a couple of years ago to work as an extra in Disney's movie Alamo. I started Primitive Artisans in 1991 with my fishing kits and hooks because, after years of research, I had found no one offering a correctly made hook. The business just took off from there. To date I have made over 60,000 hooks, one at a time, completely by hand.

As you can see, we don't offer everything a person needs to get into this lifestyle. The few things that we do offer are completely researched and of the highest quality.

There are other things that we dabble in from time to time. Some of these are powder horns, shooting bags, quillwork, flint knapping, beadwork, wampum, and trade silver.

We will add these to the site on a first come first serve basis. These extras are way too much for the two of us to do in any sort of volume! Drop by from time to time and see what we've been up to.