Smoke Signals 7
DECEMBER 15,2011
PemsicaaOtiiiaire classes (Damning to Tirolbo
Registration Form For Winter 2012 Fermaculture
Design Certificate Course at Grand Ronde
Name:l
Address:.
Phone:
E-mail:
Interested in Course Credit:
If you have questions about the course or registration, please
e-mail Tao Orion at taoaprovecho.net for more information.
It
Please send registration form to Aprovecho tt 80S74 Hazclton Rd. j j
Qottagc Grove, OR, 97424 aWslao Orion ' Xf (
Program will strive for
indigenous sustainability
By Ron Karten
Smoke Signals staff writer
At the Aprovecho.net Web site,
classes are offered in sustainability
food production, shelter, natural
building techniques, forest garden
ing and home landscaping.
A tailor-made version of the
classes is coming to Grand Ronde.
"We're going to be working on
the site just north of Elders Hous
ing," said Tao Orion, co-director of
Aprovecho.
Orion, along with her husband,
Abel Kloster, and Portland State
University faculty member Judy
Bluehorse Skelton (Cherokee and
Nez Perce descendant) will lead
the classes.
"One of the things that's cool is
class members will have a chance
to design what they would like to
see," Orion said.
Advance work was done by the
Tribe's Culture Committee, with
committee and Tribal member
Perri McDaniel leading the way.
The first of two 10-week classes
will begin Saturday, Jan. 28, on the
Tribal campus.
In the first class, students will
evaluate areas to be planted and
plan a garden. The second class
will be dedicated to building the
structures and planting.
"Permaculture," said Orion, "is an
ecological design system for sustain
ability in all aspects of our lives: a
powerful tool for understanding the
interrelationships of food produc
tion, energy, shelter, water, social
and economic systems.
"Permaculture teaches us how to
build natural homes, grow our own
food, restore diminished landscapes
and ecosystems, catch rainwater,
build communities, take care of
waste and much more."
McDaniel has been a champion
of returning to natural and Native
food ways and sources for many
years. What is so attractive to Mc
Daniel about Aprovecho. she said,
is that its philosophy working
with nature rather than against
it, and relying on the teachings of
indigenous wisdom.
"We really want to bring back our
traditional foods, including camas,
tarweed, Indian celery," McDaniel
said.
Meanwhile, at the same time
that this project is getting under
way, the Tribe's Natural Resources
Department has been working on
the Tyee Project with Cultural
Resources and the Institute for Ap
plied Ecology. Together, they sup
plied and planted many traditional
foods on the newly designated Tyee
Nature Preserve, formerly known
as the Brown property, next to the
Tribal Housing Authority build
ing. Even Tribal kindergarteners got
involved, watching the planting
process.
"We're also looking for oppor
tunities over by the Rogue block
(formerly Bode and Thompson
properties) to create areas for Na
tive cultural plants," said Tribal
member Mike Wilson, manager
of the Tribe's Natural Resources
Department.
"It's just coming together so
great," said McDaniel. "I didn't
realize they were doing that. Ev
erybody's thinking the same thing.
Our hope is that our course will pull
it all together."
"One of the things we've always
pushed is adding the human ele
ment," said Tribal member David
Lewis, manager of Cultural Re
sources Department, "to the things
we use every day.
"When Europeans came and
found what they thought was a
pristine landscape, that landscape
was actually managed by Indian
people who were setting fire to it
and using the food and weaving
resources that came from it. There
isn't a pristine landscape without
Natives choosing to save certain
resources for daily use."
The Elder's site is "so close to El
der housing that people have an op
portunity to design gathering places
for the Elders to come together and
be with the kids," said Skelton. "So,
if we want to do an activity, a central
activity, there might be a fireplace,
an outdoor classroom to gather.
It is not just a garden or a design
of intensively planted edibles and
medicinal plants. It's also a space
for humans to get close to the plants
and interact. We may also have a
place to bake breads."
A question-and-answer session
and sign-up for the first course is
scheduled from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30
p.m. Saturday, Jan. 14, in Educa
tion Classroom 126. Lunch from
11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. will be
provided.
"One of the things we want in
this process," said McDaniel, "is
the input of Elders and others in
the community who grew up with
some of these methods, and can
teach us about them. They are all
encouraged to participate in the
process."
"Permaculture is a western word
meaning permanent agriculture,"
said Skelton, who teaches a num
ber of courses focusing on environ
mental education through Native
American perspectives. "And it's
the closest thing that I've run into
that suggests indigenous ways of
being on the land and being with the
land. It is something kind of new in
the last 25 years, but it's actually
very ancient for indigenous people.
It's about working with nature and
respecting the earth cycles.
"Indigenous permaculture is re
specting the intrinsic value of place,
of the land, and working with it,
so you are getting your food, your
medicine, your fuel, a sustainable
source of fuel, getting your fiber,
plants or animals. We call them the
five Fs (fiber, fuel, food, pharmacy
and fun).
"There are the rewards of people
working together, because you are
designing and imagining how we
would live here for what we would
call the seventh generation; living
in a respectful, responsible way,
so in seven generations, the people
will be living just as well; not just
to survive but to thrive."
Skelton also is wrapping her new
senior capstone project, required of
all Portland State seniors, around
permaculture and its many at
tributes. Portland State students
working on this capstone will par
ticipate with the Grand Ronde
community to bring ceremony and
community into the work.
The course will be accredited
by Humboldt State University
in California and credits may be
transferrable from there. Classes
are payable through the Tribe's
Education Fund.
A natural question is whether
these ideas will lead to self-reliance
at the local level.
"That's an interesting question,"
said Orion. "To me it's really about
a community and a network, like
a spider web. I think we're moving
beyond the ideas of self-reliance
and on to mutually supportive
relationships. A real sustainable
culture is one working together
and sharing our strengths when
appropriate."
c
v lit
1 1 1 .
i i r "v t
v
V- VtM lM.r- '.'l-sl flj- "it'll
If you have any questions, contact
Brian Krehbiel at 503-879-4639
Ad created by George Valdez
EDdeirs' CDiiriisttnnias
Partly sett floor Dec. 1 6
The Elders' Christmas Party will be held starting at 3 p.m. Friday, Dec.
16, at the Elders' Activity Center.
The event will start with snacks followed by dinner served at 4 p.m.
In lieu of a gift exchange this year, Tribal Elders will accept blankets or
lap blankets for needy Elders, or toys, hats or mittens that are unwrapped
for the Willamina Tree of Giving.
The party is for Tribal Elders 55 and older.
For more information, contact Tribal Elder Linda Brandon at 971-267-0918.
B