artistic concepts<\/a> show a small area that could work for a drum circle, the statue, and a lodge with images depicting Native American history from past to present because today there are Native American doctors, astronauts, lawyers and all kinds of professions. They\u2019re not gone as the statue may imply, and they still engage in traditional lifestyles. The garden will also function as an outdoor classroom. We\u2019ve been collaborating with faculty and departments to find out what they\u2019d need to take a class to the Indigenous Learning Garden for a period.<\/p>\nAaron:<\/strong><\/span> We\u2019ve heard from the Sustainability department that it would be interesting to plant native plants, and the Biology department has said it would like to see medicinal herbs. The THAD department has said it would be really amazing to be able to perform tribal dances in the space around the lodge because they currently don\u2019t have an outdoor space for that. Also, we\u2019re calling it an Indigenous<\/em> Learning Garden, so it\u2019s a place to celebrate indigenous cultures from wherever they may be from and that includes our international students.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nWhy did you want to work on the Indigenous Learning Garden Initiative?
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nAaron:<\/strong><\/span> It started when I went to Dr. Ripley\u2019s CLASP presentation about whether the End of the Trail statue should be treated as artifact, so there isn\u2019t such a responsibility to teach about it, or if this is art and we should have curriculum to contextualize the sculpture. He made some very valid points, and the discussion got pretty heated. Now, I grew up with the statue\u2014it was always on the shelf at my grandma\u2019s house, in my house\u2014and it was not a negative thing for us. My grandma always said it\u2019s a reminder of how far we\u2019ve come and that we\u2019re still here. Some people find it very offensive and want to chop it into a thousand pieces and throw it to the bottom of the Mississippi. Others wanted to put a sheet over it and keep it in storage, but I commented that if we put it in storage, then in 10-15 years they\u2019ll think \u201cOh why are we hiding this!?\u201d and we\u2019ll start this problem all over again. To me, the other Native American artwork on campus is just as upsetting because different cultures are mashed together but not distinguished at all and the University could expand upon these gifts and develop a curriculum. People don\u2019t understand how difficult it is to see dominant society just take art or artifacts\u2014 there\u2019s just no respect. Where there\u2019s no respect, there\u2019s no understanding, and if that doesn\u2019t exist there\u2019s no growth, no forward momentum as a society. Our goal is to educate people about where this land comes from, how we\u2019ve gotten to this point and where we can go in the future so we don\u2019t repeat mistakes from the past. That\u2019s why I feel this garden is important.<\/p>\nAlex:<\/strong><\/span> I do a lot of social justice work and I identify as queer. One of the things that makes me able to live my life as I am now is the work of allies. But I can\u2019t just expect people to be allies\u2014 I have to be an ally for them too because it\u2019s not a one-way street. This is my way for showing up for other marginalized groups. We can find solidarity within mutual oppression, meaning that all oppressed groups should be fighting to end each others\u2019 oppressions so we\u2019re less oppressed as an enormous oppressed group.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nWhat is your favorite part of this project?
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nAlex:<\/strong><\/span> For me, it\u2019s all the people I get to meet. It\u2019s an excellent way to meet people who aren\u2019t necessarily engaging in indigenous rights but are trying to improve the world in other ways and you can clearly see those intersectionalities. Everything\u2019s connected and that\u2019s why this garden is really important because it furthers others\u2019 goals too. For instance, we\u2019re both sustainability minors and environmentalists which is actually a really strong component of this project.<\/p>\nAaron:<\/strong> <\/span>I agree, and besides that it\u2019s amazing to hear how many people thank us for doing this. I\u2019ve been calling the tribal nations\u2014just to ask for guidance, not money\u2014and they have been overwhelmingly thankful and supportive. We\u2019ve gotten thanks even from professors on this campus and students too, and you don\u2019t realize how much that means until you start talking about it. I think it\u2019s huge to do something that means so much to someone else, and we didn\u2019t realize that it would.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nHas the Indigenous Learning Garden Initiative influenced your career goals at all?
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nAlex:<\/strong> <\/span>Oh yes! My major is TESOL and there are many people who argue that the proliferation of English is a form of colonialism, but I am also coming at it from the teacher side where English has become a lingua franca as there are more second language speakers in the world than first language speakers. So I don\u2019t know exactly what I want do with my life anymore because this project has brought into question whether a TESOL career really corresponds with my values. At the same time, this project has strengthened my belief that it\u2019s important to be supportive of cultural pride and culture practices\u2013engaging and honoring students\u2019 heritage and encouraging them to speak their native tongue at home to retain that heritage\u2014which is something I\u2019ve read in some ESL literature that I think is really powerful. Basically the field is open again\u2014everything was settled and then this project shook the pot.<\/p>\nAaron:<\/strong> <\/span>I am a non-traditional student, so in that break from UW-Milwaukee to enrolling at WSU, I decided to go into retail to give myself some time to figure out what I wanted to do when I grew up. In retail, everything comes in plastic\u2013every t-shirt comes in its own plastic bag through the back door and they go out the front door in a different plastic bag. I was horrified by this, but needed the paycheck. However, when I started seeing those bags in the ditch outside the mall and in the waterways come spring, I figured out that I want to work in bioremediation of waterways because I know there are plants out there that can metabolize plastics, lipids and heavy metals. But since working on this project and paying more attention to the cultural side, I\u2019ve started thinking about being a liaison between the DNR or Department of Interior and tribal nations because there are a lot of issues with treaty rights and waterways\u2014things that I wanted to work with initially, but I might have a bigger impact this way. So my plans have changed a little bit, but I think whenever you take on something new it challenges you and you grow from it. How can your plans still be the same after that?<\/p><\/blockquote>\nWho has influenced you the most?
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nAlex:<\/strong><\/span> I\u2019ve had so many people who have influenced me, but right now Mr. Alexander Hines in the Inclusion & Diversity Office is one of the most influential. He\u2019s always been there as a really strong mentor and role model for me personally. Sometimes I\u2019ve found myself in situations where I was unsure how to conduct myself but went through it anyway and he\u2019ll tell me if I did something problematic or if I was spot on and he\u2019d have done the same thing. There is also Jouapag Lee, a 2014 alum, who was a big influence on my college career. I was going in a different direction when I met her, but our friendship allowed me to grow and experience things I wouldn\u2019t have otherwise because I had a very narrow mindset when I arrived at WSU. For instance, I am heavily invested in the KEAP Center and Jouapag is the main reason because she was inspirational as she basically made the KEAP council what it is now, and I would argue, she did it almost single-handedly. I\u2019m often told that I drop maxims of wisdom, but those maxims are usually variations of things she said to me.<\/p>\nAaron:<\/strong><\/span> Of course, I look up to my parents and family members, but there is also Mrs. Osmond, my high school advisor who helped me graduate early. She didn\u2019t just wave me through; she met with my parents and made sure that this was the right thing for me. I think that the reason that she was such a big influence is because it was a rare thing in my high school to have someone so invested in you and she wasn\u2019t somebody I was expecting to take an interest in me because for the first three years it had been \u201cYeah, ok grades are good.\u201d But that last year I needed a little extra help and she was really supportive. I think that she was really impactful because, like everyone is when graduating high school, I was unsure of myself and so to have someone else be so sure that you will succeed is really amazing.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nIf you could invite anyone to sit on\u00a0this bench\u00a0and have a conversation, who would it be and what would you talk about?<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\nAlex:<\/strong><\/span> I would say my Grandma Joanie because she died before I got a chance to really know her like I\u2019ve had the fortune of getting to know my other grandma. My grandma Joni was a very strong woman\u2013a single mother of seven children living on a waitress\u2019s salary who owned a house here in Winona yet never learned how to drive. There\u2019s so many things that I feel she could have taught me, but I never asked because she died when I was in middle school and I was still very internally focused. I think it\u2019s important to have a strong foundation in your past and the people who brought you forward, and my heritage is something that I really value.<\/p>\nAaron:<\/strong><\/span> Because of this project I\u2019ve been asking my family more questions and it\u2019s making me more aware that if I don\u2019t take the time to learn or write it down I\u2019m going to forget it. My Potawatomi name is Kewenkwe, which means \u201cReturning Thunder Woman,\u201d and I was named after my great-great aunt. All I know is that she was this extraordinary lady who lived in Kansas and worked like a man and ran her own ranch, an uncommon profession for women at the time. To meet her and compare her stories to my life to see if there are any similarities or see if there are more ways I do my name justice is something I can\u2019t ever learn out a book.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nInterviewed and Edited by Elizabeth Meinders ’15<\/span> and photographed by Anna Rae Butler ’15<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nTo nominate someone in the WSU\u00a0community \u2014 faculty, staff, student, alumni or friend of WSU \u2014 for Warrior Way<\/em>, or if you have other\u00a0feedback to share, please email Mollee Sheehan, director of web communications: msheehan@winona.edu<\/a>
\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”on” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|desktop” admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”3.22″ custom_padding=”0|||” custom_padding_tablet=”50px|0|50px|0″ transparent_background=”off” padding_mobile=”off” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on”][et_pb_fullwidth_portfolio include_categories=”8,9,10,11″ admin_label=”Fullwidth Portfolio” _builder_version=”3.0.48″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” auto=”on” auto_speed=”4000″][\/et_pb_fullwidth_portfolio][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a0Alexander Paulson ’16 & Aaron Camacho ’17|\u00a0Integrating Past & Present Alexander is a Student from Baraboo, WI TSEOL & Spanish Education Major and Sustainability Minor Aaron is a Student from Fountain City, WI Environmental Biology Major and Sustainability Minor “Where there’s no respect, there’s no understanding, and if that doesn’t exist, there’s no growth, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":502,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"project_category":[819],"project_tag":[],"class_list":["post-247","project","type-project","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","project_category-student"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/improving-our-world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project\/247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/improving-our-world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/improving-our-world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/project"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/improving-our-world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/improving-our-world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/improving-our-world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project\/247\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4057,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/improving-our-world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project\/247\/revisions\/4057"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/improving-our-world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/improving-our-world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"project_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/improving-our-world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project_category?post=247"},{"taxonomy":"project_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/improving-our-world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project_tag?post=247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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