CAMPUS GARDENS ARE A HUGE SUCCESS

 

 

This year the College of Menominee Nation (CMN) expanded campus activities through the practice of gardening. In spring, the Sustainable Development Institute, Department of Continuing Education, and the GB/Oneida campus all planted gardens. While each garden is different, they all answer the basic question, “Where does our food come from?” In addition, all of the gardens provided the opportunity for hands on learning for students, faculty, staff, and community members.

  

The Sustainable Development Institute started their garden project last December by hosting a series of Community Food Sovereignty gatherings. These meetings allowed for input, identified need, and explored ideas. From these listening sessions, the concept of creating a garden in the shape of a turtle evolved.

 

 

A 75’ x 50 ft. oval garden was formed with the help of the CMN maintenance department, students, faculty, SDI staff, and community members. Within the outer perimeter, 13 garden plots were installed signify the 13 cycles of the moon that are represented on the outer shell of a turtles back. The individual plots were then adopted by campus student organizations, individual students, high school and college interns, faculty, staff, and community members. The head of the turtle was planted in strawberries, and the 13 garden plots were developed and planted dependent on the desires and needs of the plot manager. 

 

 

 

In addition to the turtle garden, the Department of Continuing Education planted a seed saving garden at the Keshena campus. This garden is an open pollinated heirloom garden with the goal of obtaining a community supply of well adapted seeds. Menominee youth along with staff planted and took care of this garden. The next step is to harvest the seeds and provide seed saving workshops at both campus locations. 

 

During the summer both of the Keshena campus gardens flourished. Beginning in September, on Friday mornings the ripe produce is gathered and taken to the newly formed Ketekanak (Farmers Market) in Keshena. Staff and students participate in Ketedanak activities by collecting and preparing campus produce, overseeing campus sales, market set-up, and overseeing the other market vendors. In addition, advertising and marketing for the event is a collaborative effort between the Sustainable Development Institute, the Department of Continuing Education, and the Menominee Boxing Club.

 

At the Green Bay/Oneida campus, staff took on the challenge of planting a Three Sisters raised bed garden. The three sisters are corn, beans, and squash, and the plants are grown together to benefit one another during growth. The corn supports the bean, and the beans add nitrogen to the soil. The leaves of the squash plant cover the ground to prevent weeds and soil erosion. The bed box, constructed by Craig Fox, Trades Program Coordinator, is set outside of the campus building near an entrance so that it can be viewed by everyone.

 

  
 

 

 

 

SUSTAINABILITY LEADERSHIP COHORT HOSTS YOUTH SPEAK EVENT

The USDA P.O.S.O.H. Project recently sponsored the Oskēh-Mamāceqtāwak Kēketōwak: Youth Speak Event hosted by the College of Menominee Nation’s High School Sustainability Leadership Cohort (SLC) to showcase different opportunities for area youth and provide a platform for young people to have their voices heard. On Friday, Dec 6, 2013, about 100 people gathered to celebrate these youth voices, which took various shapes and forms.

Menominee High School Singers

Menominee Prayer by Forrest Madosh Jr.

Dr. Patty Loew, a UW-Madison professor who hails from Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and focuses outreach efforts on Native youth and digital story-telling, introduced the video/action research panel. She emphasized the importance of youth being at the heart of the storytelling process and the power they had in speaking to many sustainability issues we face. She facilitated a group of Bad River youth in creating the appropriately named film, "Protect Our Future". It spoke to the environmental and cultural threats from the proposed taconite mine in the Penokee Hills near Bad River’s Reservation in Northern Wisconsin.

A packed house in CMN's Cultural Learning Center

watches the student's video presentations

“Your parents and grandparents may remember fighting mining issues with the Crandon Mine…Now we are facing another threat.” Dr. Loew said, noting the intergenerational commonality of the mining issue for tribes in Wisconsin. After viewing the student video, Mr. John Teller, Assistant Dean of Continuing Education and Menominee Language Liaison at the College of Menominee Nation commented, “That [Protect Our Future] video should be shown everywhere.It should get out far and wide. They showed some clips of other taconite mines in Minnesota, and it’s just ugly.”

Head of the Sustainability Leadership Cohort, Kate Flick,

introduces the 2013 Cohort for a Q&A Session

SLC Student Jacob Schwitzer fields a question from the audience.

The SLC high school students from Menominee Indian and Shawano High schools also introduced and showed their action research projects. Dylan Enno, Jaime Oshkeshquoam, Chelsey Haberl, and Susan Webster filmed, produced, and edited a film about obstacles to Menominee athletes reaching their full athletic potential called "Work Hard Play Hard". Brandon Reiter, Mylia Olson, and Jade Oneil constructed some garden beds over the summer and showed pictures of their project (as well as serving tea from the dried plant leaves). Jacob Schwitzer, Nicholas Schwitzer, and Ania Smith created a film "Nama’o: The Ancient Story Teller" on the sturgeons’ relationship to the Menominee people in the past, present, and future.

SLC Student Dylan Enno humorously answers a question

The SLC fielded a variety of questions from the audience on their projects: what’s next, what were your greatest challenges and accomplishments, will you create more films, where are you sharing the films, etc? Though the group had bumps along the way, it was clear they had formed a unique bond and appreciated the rewards of project-based learning. Dylan Enno summed it up when he said, “We had our share of challenges…but in the end, we are like family.”

Members of the 2013 Sustainability Leadership Cohort and their Mentors

(From Left: SLC Students Dylan Enno, Jacob Schwitzer, Nicholas Schwitzer,

Jaime Oshkeshequoam, Mylia Olson, Chelsey Haberl, Brandon Reiter, Susan Webster,

SLC Leader Kate Flick, SLC Mentors Cherie Thunder, Connie Rasmussen, and Lloyd "Boobie" Frieson)

CMN Plants Trees for Arbor Day

This morning College of Menominee Nation planted two trees near the Sustainable Development Institute. The trees were gifted from Walmart in honor of Arbor Day 2013.

Shown from left to right: 
Nancy Holtz - Community Involvement Associate. Walmart
Dr. Verna Fowler - President, CMN
Dennis Jolin - Store Manager, Shawano Walmart
Schyler Martin - Interim Sustainability Coordinator, CMN SDI
Gary Besaw - Dean of Student Services, CMN
Lloyd Frieson - Student, CMN
Dean Fellman - Director, CMN Center for First Americans Forestlands
Julie Edler - Social Media Coordinator, CMN SDI
Chris Caldwell - Director, CMN SDI
Patrick Waukau - Multimedia and Outreach Specialist, CMN SDI
Joel Kroenke - Facilities Director, CMN
Melinda Cook - Executive Administrator, CMN

Nancy Holtz, Community Involvement Associate for Walmart, gave a few words about Arbor Day and CMN staff and students planted the trees.

"Some people may ask 'Why are we getting a tree, we've got a million trees here,' but it's one more tree," said Gary Besaw, "We're all related. We always need to remember to be humble and good and gracious when a gift is offered." 
Thank you for the trees!

SDI Intern Studies Ecological Recovery and Environmental Disasters

Last month SDI Intern Lloyd Frieson visited New Orleans to study ecological recovery and prevention of environmental disasters. Here he learned about harnessing science and building social resilience. As a College of Menominee Nation student, Lloyd plans on using this knowledge in Sustainable Development Institute programming. Hear from Lloyd himself on some information he'd like to share with you:

"In this photo I'm standing by a levy which stands only ten feet high and is the only defense the community has for protection against storm surges. The storm surge for Hurricane Katrina reached 21 ft. high. The community was completely under water. Some roof tops were visible and many homes floated away. Behind this wall was a forest of Cypress trees but due to the development of progress, the government thought it would be beneficial to build a canal for easier transport of sea export and import. By creating such a canal, saltwater was released into bayou where the Cypress trees lived and completely wiped them out. The forest acted as a buffer for wind and storm surge. Now the area behind this wall is known as the Ghost Forest."

"One day we did some community engagement work and visited the New Orleans lower 9th ward. Here I learned that Brad Pitt donated millions of dollars to the hard hit area of the lower nine ward in New Orleans, LA. He founded an organization called “Make It Right”. Mr. Pitt held a contest for young architecture students and chose three to design the houses to be partially sustainable. Each home has a large solar panel on the roof and a rain harvesting system to purify the water. These homes were given to the people who had homes before Hurricane Katrina. Most homes in that terrible storm were destroyed or washed away. A person can request a home that is raised six to eight feet off the ground for flooding precaution.  These homes are built to withstand 160 mph winds."

Lloyd visited New Orleans as part of ESA-SEEDS. According to their web site, SEEDs is an education program of the Ecological Society of America and their mission is to diversity and advance the ecology profession through opportunities that stimulate and nurture the interest of underrepresented students to not only participate in ecology, but to lead. 

SDI Puts on Middle School Night Hike and Lock-in Activity

On February 8, twenty-four Menominee Indian Middle School students participated in an overnight lock-in at the College of Menominee Nation Keshena campus. Students explored astronomy through hands-on night activities and participated in scientific, sustainable, and cultural programming.  “Nothing like this had been done on the CMN campus before, but we knew it could be done,” said Kate Flick, event organizer and SDI Education Coordinator, “It turned out great! Primarily it was to have fun, but it’s always nice when you can do fun events and teach and learn at the same time.”

Paula Fernandez, Cultural Resource Specialist for Menominee Indian School District, guided students in stories and emphasized that the group respect the night-time. Paula shared that Menominee people traditionally do not go out at night; this is the time for the sprits. Students were particularly respectful while they looked at the stars and participated in night time activities.

Students hiked on the CMN walking trail and gathered in a clearing where they identified the seven sisters/seven brothers and told the story of how those stars came to be. The stars were exceptionally visible and it was especially dark –a new moon cycle was about to begin. Students were able to match start color to their temperature and “temperament.” (As Kate described it, “The bright blue-ish/white stars are the ones burning hot and fast like hyperactive youngsters.  Yellow are a little mellower, not as hot and burn a little slower, like middle-aged people—and red stars are low temperature and burn slowly, like grandparents.  It's kind of like fire.“)

Later, around a fire, students and staff told stories. “They are very impressive story tellers!” said Kate. Musician Wade Fernandez provided the group with a performance where he played the flute in the wintry night air. Students told more stories and made s’mores before heading inside. Students slept in the CMN Commons Building where they watched movies, played pool, and got a little sleep.  

Participants woke up to a magical snowy morning where snowflakes hung on tree branches like crystals. Participants went for a morning walk—which turned into outdoor games a snowball fight! The students had a great time and the event was a big hit. Programming supplemented student’s in-class learning where they are currently learning about astronomy, stars, and the universe. SDI sends a huge thank you to all the chaperons who helped during the event.

SDI Participates in Federal Outreach and Science Planning Meetings

SDI Director Chris Caldwell (right)
Photo property of http://necsc.umass.edu

Sustainable Development Institute's Involvement in NECSC: 

Chris Caldwell, College of Menominee Nation Sustainable Development Institute Director, and Dean Fellman, Director of the Center for First Americans Forestlands, recently attended two regional stakeholder meetings for the Northeast Climate Science Center (NECSC). NECSC is part of a federal network which provides scientific information, tools, and techniques to assist managers and other institutions interested in land, water, wildlife, and cultural resources to adapt to climate change.

Both regional stakeholder meetings took place in January 2013, the first at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, MA, and the second at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, MN. Chris Caldwell gave presentations at both meetings on Science -  “ Impacts of Climate Variability and Change on Cultural Resources”. Chris also facilitated small group discussions on this theme. Dean Fellman used the small group sessions to emphasize the importance of forests in the geographic region covered by NECSC, their vulnerability to climate change, and thus the need to include them as a priority resource for continued research.

Dr. Bill Van Lopik and Dr. Mike Dockry also participated as members on the CMN team to the consortium, and attended the Minneapolis meeting to participated and share their input.

Read an article about the NECSC stakeholder meeting here from the NECSC website.


Below is more information about the NECSC, partnerships, and grant and funding information:

“The Northeast Climate Science Center (NECSC) is part of a federal network of eight Climate Science Centers created to provide scientific information, tools, and techniques that managers and other parties interested in land, water, wildlife and cultural resources can use to anticipate, monitor, and adapt to climate change."

Recognizing the critical threats and unique climate challenges and the expansive and diverse
nature of the NE region, no one institution can provide the region-wide expertise on all critical
levels. Thus, the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass), College of Menominee Nation
(CMN), Columbia University (CU), Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL), University of
Minnesota (UMN), University of Missouri Columbia (UMO), and University of Wisconsin-
Madison (UWI) have formed the Northeast Climate Consortium (NECC) to host the DOI
NECSC, providing the USGS with deep and diverse resources for successfully meeting the
regional needs for climate impact science assessment, education and stakeholder outreach
throughout the NE region. In addition to the host institutions, the NECSC will include several
resource management partners, including Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs) that
exist, in part or whole, within the NE CSC bounds.” (More information about the NECSC can be
located on their website at http://necsc.umass.edu)

All of the domestic climate science centers are currently funded through grants from the Department of Interior (DOI), through initial 5 year awards which can be renewed. The NECSC is the most recently formed unit of the network and is in the process of developing a strategic science agenda to reflect evolving partner needs. The agenda essentially consists of seven “Science Themes” which will be validated through a process of review and input which includes regional stakeholders. Once validated, NECSC will produce an annual science plan that outlines the research goals for each fiscal year. These goals will then reflect priority research areas which will be used to select specific proposals offered via the consortium members for additional funding.