Building sustainable and kind world starts with paying attention to the small gifts that surround us daily and feeling a sense of gratitude and reciprocity in receiving those gifts. This idea is supported by Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer; author, professor, and Macarthur Fellowship Award winner who visited Salamanca High School on March 4. Organized by SCCSD NACT(Native American Curriculum Team), the journey for Dr. Kimmerer’s visit began two years ago and only became a reality with the work of teachers, students, administration at all levels, BOCES, the Title VI Indigenous Parent Committee. The wait was well worth it as Dr. Kimmerer proved to be as kind and compassionate as you would hope her to be after reading her books. On March 4, she began the day with SCCSD 8th graders. After a presentation to the whole school that was open to the community, Dr. Kimmerer spent the afternoon with teachers to discuss the framework of integrating Indigenous history and culture into the mainstream. For many students and staff, it was a powerful experience.
8th grader Paxtynn Kerswill wrote:
“Dr. Kimmerer's visit on Monday made me start to notice the earth around me. I think it was very influential to see somebody truly caring about the earth and doing something to educate people on the beauties of it. I think her way of viewing the world, both from a cultural and scientific lens, makes her words and her points resonate greatly.”
Last summer, the 8th grade teachers read Dr. Kimmerer’s book, Braiding Sweetgrass, and worked to find themes from which to build a cross-curricular unit. The themes they chose were “gratitude” and “reciprocity” that permeate Dr. Kimmerer’s work. The teachers then worked to create lessons around those two themes. In English, after starting the year with a presentation and lesson about Ganö:nyök, students not only read chapters from the book, but also did gratitude autobiographies. In History, they focused on what happens when there isn’t gratitude and looked at boarding schools and westward expansion through the eyes of indigenous people. In Math, they graphed what they were grateful for. In science, they used excerpts from Dr. Kimmerer’s book to learn the scientific method. Gym is planning a spring mindfulness activity that connects students to the earth and asks them to settle themselves and listen to what the earth is saying. Finally, in Seneca Language, the course is largely designed around speaking and Ganö:nyök which expresses gratitude for natural world around us. As a capstone, Dr. Kimmerer gave a beautifully woven presentation to the 8th grade that connected parts of her life story with the gifts that we are given and our responsibility as humans that comes with truly feeling gratitude. This was followed by a question and answer from the students and a book signing. Each 8th grader was given a book to keep provide by the Indigenous Parent Committee and was able to get a little time with Dr. Kimmerer. The 8th grade students represented SCCSD in a way that should make everyone proud.
8th Grader Eden McKune wrote:
“. . . My favorite part of her speech was when she talked about our gifts. I’d never hear anyone interpret gifts how she did. Gifts being able to be anything or be anything just really made me think. Dr. Kimmerer's speech sat with me, a lot of it but none like this chunk. . . “
And Drew Clayson wrote:
“. . I liked when she said that she didn't fit in at the college that she went to but didn't leave it. I feel like a lot of kids could relate to this…”
After the 8th grade presentation, Dr. Kimmerer presented to the entire high school student body and many community members who attended. That was followed by a two-hour professional development session for teachers in the afternoon. All of the teachers who attended the professional development had read her book and done work to integrate Braiding Sweetgrass into their curriculum. After Ganö:nyök by Rachael Wolfe and a moving introduction by Gabriele Papa, she began presenting a framework for integration. Dr. Kimmerer fully understood the task at hand and, among other things, asked the teachers to think of a three sisters garden as an example of how to integrate indigenous wisdom into the PreK-12 curriculum. The corn, beans and squash are all different and all serve a purpose to create an integrated whole that is not only good for each of the plants, but also for the soil, the air and for the humans that planted them. They don’t grow this way naturally, but with the help of what she called the “fourth sister”, human beings, all of them will work together to make each other stronger. In the same way the indigenous view and the western view can work together to create a stronger understanding of the world for students. The professional development ended with a gift from the Salamaca High School Native Arts class. It was a black ash basket made by the entire class with each student weaving a strand.
Aiden George summed up the visit nicely writing:
“I had very interesting reaction when it came to Dr. Kimmerer's presentation on Monday, March 4. She said a lot of the things I thought she would say and she said many topics I thought she would never say. Like her experience in college and how she was always interested in plants and nature itself. Personally, I've been interested in plants too. I always wondered how they worked and how my ancestors used them for medicinal purposes. But she addressed how nowadays, people just take from the Earth and don't give anything back. I understand that we have to use these resources for our own benefits and lives, but if you’re going to take something from something that cares for you, you should at least leave a thank you or give something back. That's another thing she talked about, Gratitude. Gratitude just doesn't apply to giving back to the Earth, but to giving back anything. Like having gratitude for people, animals, and life itself.”
Finally, Dr. Kimmerer said in a conversation at the end of the day, “I speak a lot to a lot of different groups, and I rarely feel fulfilled. Today I feel fulfilled.” Nya:wëh Sally High and to all the people who made this visit possible.
To see testimonials from our students on Robin Wall Kimmerer’s website, go to https://authorsunbound.com/robin-wall-kimmerer/
