Tag Archives: Indigenous voices

Tribal Sons and Evergreen Workshop: Plant Teachings with Kendra Aguilar 

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in collaboration Education Health

SPP recently had the honor of collaborating with Evergreen Native American and Indigenous Studies Faculty Kendra Aguilar to offer the first of many cultural workshops at Washington Corrections Center. The workshop was hosted by the Tribal Sons, a group of Indigenous incarcerated individuals at WCC. Tribal Sons was created to “promote the wellness and rehabilitation of [Indigenous] people through healing with Indigenous ceremonies and traditions.” We were joined by cultural leader Carolyn Hartness, Evergreen Tribal Relations Liaison Lyn Dennis, and DOC Director for Person Centered Services Megan Pirie.  

After introductions and a welcome led by Carolyn Hartness, Kendra Aguilar facilitated the plant teachings workshop. Students were able to touch and hold different native plant cuttings as Aguilar spoke about the social-emotional skills that can be learned from each plant. In recognizing the strengths that different plants possess and what they contribute to their environment, students were encouraged to apply those skills to their own lives as well. During a break, visitors got to hold some baby chicks from the Sustainable Practices Lab (SPL) too! 

The workshop concluded with a song and a tour led by Tribal Sons. SPP looks forward to expanding opportunities for cultural workshops in the future! 

Carolyn Hartness, Indigenous cultural leader and artist. Photo by Emily Passarelli.  
Cultural objects made by Tribal Sons members. Photo by Emily Passarelli.
SPP Coordinator Anneke Wilder and DOC Director for Person Centered Services Megan Pirie look at lichen during the plant teaching workshop. Photo by Emily Passarelli.  
A workshop student holds a rosebud. Photo by Emily Passarelli. 
 Lyn Dennis and Carolyn Hartness learn from a Douglas fir clipping. Photo by Emily Passarelli. 
Workshop leader Kendra Aguilar holds two baby chicks that are being raised in the Sustainable Practices Lab (SPL) at WCC. Photo by Emily Passarelli.
Workshop student and SPL member Juan Hernandez shows SPL’s vermiculture system to Kendra Aguilar and Lyn Dennis. Photo by Emily Passarelli. 

Incarcerated Individuals at Washington Corrections Center Connect to their Ancestral Traditions with the Tribal Sons Medicine Garden

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in Environmental Justice Gardens Incarcerated Voices

Nourished by the compost processed on site and tended to by caring hands, the gardens at the Washington Corrections Center (WCC) are impressive bursts of color against the green Pacific Northwest landscape. In the summer the beds are filled with marigolds, cosmos, sunflowers, poppies and more, and they are a source of pride for the incarcerated gardeners.

Flower beds at WCC. Photos by Emily Passarelli.

One garden in particular offers not only an opportunity to learn gardening skills, but a way for indigenous gardeners to connect to their community and culture. The Tribal Sons Medicine Garden is home to medicinal and culturally significant plants such as sage, lavender, and cedar trees. Creation of the garden was spearheaded by indigenous community members, and it now provides a place of solace, growth, and connection.

A sign created by incarcerated individuals for the Tribal Sons Medicine Garden. Photo by Emily Passarelli.

Some of the herbs grown in the garden are used for ceremonies performed by tribal members in the facility. Since Native Americans are incarcerated at roughly 3.6x the rate of white people1, it is crucial to provide opportunities like the Tribal Sons Medicine Garden that allow them to continue stewarding their ancestral lands.

An incarcerated contributor to the garden was recently quoted in a King 5 article regarding his experience of the healing powers of the medicine garden: “This is harmony, this is peace, this is serenity,” he said. “This is healing, this is restoration, this is rehabilitation.”

Medicinal herbs recently planted in the Tribal Sons Medicine Garden. Photo by Emily Passarelli.

During a recent Foundations in Composting class meeting, students performed a soil test in the medicine garden with the help of composting expert Sally Brown. Halfway through the test, the chunk of test soil dropped suddenly back to the ground. “They wanted it back,” one of the indigenous gardeners joked, “the ancestors wanted the soil back.” 

 

1 Vera Institute of Justice. ​ (2019). Incarceration Trends in Washington. ​ Retrieved from http://www.vera.org/state-incarceration-trends. ​