What can we learn from Indigenous cultures?

This morning we had Laura's reading facilitation that discussed Indigenous education, rituals and its similarities and differences with modern education. Through Venn Diagrams we talked about how Indigenous education focuses on life skills compared to modern education, which at times can seem to be filled with arbitrary and objective facts.  Indigenous cultures and rituals use storytelling to connect to children and help them to retain the lessons. We also got to do something that I haven't done in a very long time: paint with watercolors! Laura read us a poem and we then had time to paint a picture about the poem. It was so relaxing and a great way to incorporate art into the classroom.
Last night we went to a presentation at the Portsmouth Public Library by Mark Morey titled Nature, Culture & Building Resilient Communities. And wouldn't you know it, he talked about Indigenous cultures and rituals, specifically the use of storytelling to engage students and the use of adolescent initiation rituals. It was a great presentation where he talked a lot about what it means to be resilient and how environmental education can help our children to become more resilient. By given our children the opportunity to be in somewhat uncomfortable situations (being cold, in the dark, hungary, dealing with bugs), they learn how to deal with these stresses and will help them when they find themselves in other situations of stress they are able to draw on these experiences and rather than panic they are able to stay calm and find a solution. It was inspiring to hear about his daughter who climbs trees, runs around with no shoes and thinks nothing of heading out in the dark in search of woodcocks. If we raised more children to have such a close connection to nature and such a deep sense of self, how different would our world look?

Jumping back to yesterday afternoon, we finally decided on our projects.  I will be in a group of Kim, Sam, Betsy and I and will be investigating the community of organisms that surround the black gum tree (remember from the tracking day) Here's a picture to jog your memory:

We will be setting up wildlife cameras, searching for animal tracks/scat/midden piles, and collecting data on the trees surrounding the black gum tree. We are also going to do some research into black gums to try to establish how it got there (it was the only black gum that we saw in the area) and why it was spared when the area has been extensively logged.  As we look for signs of human interaction, we may find our answer.