week eight response

This week I have been spending a lot of time gathering supplies and planning for my plant journal. Though I know a fair amount about PNW native plants, I feel like the information gained through Keeping it Living and our other texts has been invaluable to so much -- this course, the particular project, but also how I approach and think about plants in my day to day life.

When thinking about my experiences with plants, this course, and Keeping it Living, I keep going back to Philip Drucker's work; particularly, his introduction of the idea of ownership and privilege. Up until this point, I had been thinking about the Earth (and its inhabitants - plants, animals, etc) in separate systems -- an "us vs. them" perspective. I think it is so important to critically examine why I was thinking that way, and why many non-Indigenous people instinctively feel that way as well. When I actually go out into the field to collect the plants for my project (I need them to be fresh, so it will be closer to the due date), I want to be prepared to interact with the environment on a fluid level. I want to rid myself of the European concept of "the plants are there because they are there" entirely. Everything interacts, and everything that has happened in the formation of this land has contributed to the way that the canopy, the forest floor, and everything in between exist now. I feel like this may be common sense, but it is something that I honestly never considered past face value until this course. I think that this may be the most important concept that I've drawn from the course, and I want to explore it in a deeper manner in my final reflection.

week seven response

This week I really enjoyed the film, literature, and discussions surrounding Indigenous youth. I have read several books, both nonfiction and novels, about youth in Indigenous cultures, so it was interesting to see them speak on the film we watched on Tuesday. I am a Dream Project volunteer and work with some Native American teens, so it was very beneficial for me to gain another perspective on what else is possibly going on in their life and culture, outside of what is discussed regularly at school.

I have actually already read "We Have to Take Care of Everything That Belongs to Us" before, for another class. I've actually found that I've already read many of the required texts, and already owned some of the required books. Regardless, I am rereading them for this class, because it is interesting to read them through again through a different lens. I am particularly looking forward to working with the Pojar text again while working on my herbarium project -- I have already started, and I am eager to finish and share with the class.

week 6 response

I missed my reflection last week -- oops. This quarter has been very hectic with family activities and taxes, and I work in accounting. Though I am missing class today, I feel connected to the group in knowledge, because we are all consuming the same material. I feel that this is integral in utilizing all aspects of education. In addition to the information the instructor provides, I also receive information from speakers, texts, videos, and other forms of media. This inspires me to go on and do my own further research, whether it be by going out in the field and looking at plants, or by doing a quick google search on attributes of the Pacific Northwest region.

In addition to these tools of knowledge, my peers play a huge part in this class in particular. Working with a group last week to make posters of the last 20,000 years was hugely beneficial and I hope to do more group work like that.

For my plant journal, I will be collecting plant specimens while hiking either Twin Falls or Rattlesnake, whatever is flowering best when I go out. I hope to invite several classmates along with me, for companionship or to gather specimens of their own.

Robert's visit to the class was very interesting to me. I think the topic that interested me the most is how the water treaties were interpreted by the Indigenous population as they would be able to with their background knowledge, a kind of knowledge and worldview vastly different from what is taught in American schools. I think this is the underlying issue in so many relations between Indigenous peoples and non-Indigenous peoples. I look forward to learning about this further this week.