If the basket weaving, Boy Scout Indian...

If the basket weaving, Boy Scout Indian dances, nature walks, and Indian fry bread and beans seem low-key and low-tech, it’s intentional.

The fourth annual Nature’s Child Outdoor Cultural Event at the San Dimas Canyon Nature Center teaches simple values. On a weekend when many zip along interstates in fully stocked RVs, families at the center will be learning about ecology, wildlife and Indian values.

“It’s very simple and it’s not fancy,” center docent Marilou Doepke said. Sioux Indians will dance, children can get their faces painted and make bead headbands, and the center museum, gift shop and Gabrielino Indian wickiup, or grass dwelling, will be open.

The docents chose the homespun approach for Memorial Day weekend because “so many people want small events close to home.” It is also a fund-raiser for the center, which cares for injured wildlife.

Operating on a corner of the 28-acre San Dimas Canyon Park, the center depends on donations to feed about 17 animals kept there year-round. Bambi the mule deer, James Dean the bobcat and a variety of hawks, raccoons and coyotes will be displayed this weekend. Each was injured, abused or removed from the wild and must depend on human care, Doepke said.

The Nature’s Child event is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the San Dimas Canyon Nature Center, 1628 N. Sycamore Canyon Road, San Dimas. Admission is free.