Progress 09/01/16 to 08/31/17
Outputs
Target Audience:In simplest terms, White Earth Tribal and Community College (WETCC) Extension Service's audience is the youth and families of the White Earth Indian Reservation. In practice, we interact with this audience primarily through direct programming and through resource sharing partnerships with other youth-serving agencies and organizations on the White Earth Reservation. These include: White Earth Land Recovery Project White Earth Boys and Girls Club White Earth Youth Initiative Consortium White Earth Food Sovereignty Initiative White Earth Tribal Health White Earth Community Farmers' Market White Earth Child Care Program (Early Childhood Family Education) Tribal 4-H, University of Minnesota (UMN) Mahnomen County 4-H, UMN The Mahnomen School District and Indian Education Circle of Life Academy (COLA) Naytahwaush Community Charter School Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?WETCC Extension continues to be active participants in regional gatherings such as the annual Red Lake Food Summit (RLFS) and the Indigenous Farming Conference (IFC). As Anishinaabe people, we are striving to share and learn our traditional knowledge that has been lost or fragmented by historical events. Conferences such as these, provide an opportunity for WETCC Extension staff to expand their knowledge in traditional teachings and practices as well as network and teach. This past year, the Special Projects Coordinator taught a session on Traditional Teas to participants of the IFC. She also held a youth cooking session with students from the Circle of Life Academy and the Naytahwaush Community Charter School. Traditional Native food ingredients were used to make nutritious snack. The Extension Director held a session on the Anishinaabe women's teachings for water and provided Ojibwe language support for the 13 moons curriculum session. Additionally, two WETCCEXT staff were able to attend a deep Winter Greenhouse workshop offered through the University of Minnesota. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Detailed monthly reports of Extension Activities are given to the WETCC Council of Trustees on a monthly basis. Additionally, the Extension Director reports weekly to the President's Cabinet, a committee that serves as the leadership entity for the College. Extension Activities are also reported to outside constituents such as: The White Earth Tribal Food Sovereignty Initiative (WEFSI), the White Earth Tribal Council, via the WETCC Presidential quarterly reports. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue forward with the development of the Youth Asset Map that was started. This map will be a living document that will keep evolving as more and more resources and people are identified. We will also work with Gizhiigin Arts Incubator to update the Traditional Practitioners Cohort (TPC). TPC are potential teachers, and elders of traditional arts and skills in the region. These two activities will take us to the final expenditures of grant funds.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
WETCC Extension has determined that the most successful way to create positive health and nutrition outcomes on the Reservation is through small group skill-building activities for youth in cooking and gardening. Our model of weekly Cooking from the Garden activities has proven that when youth taste, cook and create recipes around new foods, they embrace new ways of eating and thinking. Kale and berry smoothies and kale chips are examples of some of the new foods the youth have come to appreciate. In fact, kale became a big hit and is one of the most requested by the youth. One of the original goals of the grant was in response to community demand for more traditional outdoor activities such as archery, snow snakes, canoeing, snowshoeing etc. Our programming has been successful in meeting critical needs and responds to family and youth feedback by offering these activities in our daily programming and seasonal camps. The community garden at its inception was co-designed by members of the Boys and Girls Club. These youths also came up with the name of Mashkiki Gitigaan (Medicine Garden). To date, the garden has involved over 271 youth and 49 volunteers. This has resulted in a sense of ownership and pride on the part of the participants and their families. Our youth-driven/youth-centered gardening and local and traditional foods planning has resulted in several ongoing programs such as the Seasonal July Berry Camp that draws participants from White Earth, Leech Lake, and the urban Native community in the Minneapolis/St. Paul Metro. This program, entering its 6th year, involves over 74 youth and has grown to over 9 partnering agencies. The two-day event has included: Cultural activities - Participants learn about the Anishinaabe cultural teachings centered around traditional harvesting practices and cultural norms. Tribal Elders taught a number of topics that included male and female roles within the tribe, young women teachings, connection to the land and cultural norms. Participants were also taught berry words in the Ojibwe language. Picking and preserving berries -Participants learned about the environments that are typical for certain berries and were taught traditional harvesting practices. They also participated in canning process of jams and jellies, which exposed them to a full process of picking to preservation. Outdoor skills and cooking camp meals- Participants were given the opportunity to learn how to start a fire using different methods, fire safety, and cooking bread on the fire. Children shared meal prep responsibilities, learning how to follow recipes that included measuring skills. Traditional teas - Participants learned several plants that are widely available for harvest to make teas traditionally used by the Anishinaabeg on a daily basis for health and wellness. Lacrosse, Canoeing and Archery- Participants were encouraged to engage in physical activities throughout the two days. Lacrosse was led by a young man from the Leech Lake reservation, who emphasized the cultural teachings that accompany the sport. Students from Bemidji State University taught participants canoe safety and general canoeing techniques. Archery was taught by a Tribal 4-H educator who provided the gear and taught about safety practices and techniques. Arts - Both traditional arts and conventional arts were taught at the camps. Participants enjoyed beading, painting, felting, and making parachute rope bracelets. Another successful partnership has been with the University of Minnesota - Mahnomen County 4-H. Photography has shown itself to be an invaluable tool for the development of leadership skills and participant learning and retention by engaging youth and sparking their creativity. Four of the 10 eight-graders, who have participated in the Mahnomen Photo Club since its inception in 2016, have continued to direct the activities' focus and lead participant recruitment. Youth voice has led to the incorporation of video to this year's week-long Photo Camp and based on club member recommendation and encouragement, a younger sibling and friend joined the group. Their individual work was collectively exhibited at the local farmers' market, allowing the youth an opportunity to showcase what they had learned and to connect with the community. Cooking for each other and experiencing the world around them through photography and video has led to a strongly knit group who continue to hangout outside of club activities. A new partnership between WETCC Extension and the Tribal 4-H Program at the University of Minnesota has focused on developing youth leadership simultaneously with health and healing activities. Youth Forum Days have taken many forms through this collaborative effort. Over 122, White Earth area youth and Minnesota 4-H'ers participated in the leadership retreats, summits, seasonal camps and civic programs. Another new WETCC internal partnership was a collaboration between the Culture Department and Extension.The two departments offered cultural workshops that were in high demand from the community.A highlight of the collaboration was the Snowsnake story and teachings event at WETCC for Staff, Faculty, Students during a day session.In the evening, a session was provided for the greater community as well as an after-school program for the Mahnomen Public School.Between these two sessions there were 45 participants. Another original goal for this grant was to create a map of individuals and organizations that are resources for youth development work and programming. It would also identify keepers and potential teachers of traditional crafts and skills in the region. First and foremost, this has been achieved organically through exposure to collaborative partnerships. Youth have made meaningful connections with respected elders, reservation entities such as the White Earth Reservation (WER) Tobacco Coalition, and WER Diabetes project as well as more regional partners. Additionally, at the November 2017, Cross Cultural Leadership Summit, a combined 15 Native youth and Non-Native youth (grades 6-12th) came together to build new insights and begin a Youth Assets Map. Guided by a respected Elder, cross-cultural Anishinaabe students made connections to their community and beliefs from the teaching such as Debwewin, the sound of the Heart (truth). This Youth Asset Map formulated at the Youth Summit has created a base of success and input from which youth and 4-H and WETCC Extension are collectively building on. Ongoing resource sharing and collaboration are also key ingredients to the success of our regional partnerships, such as those with the Leech Lake and Red Lake Reservations, surrounding behaviors around nutrition. Not only do we co-host youth programming, but we also act as a learning community to share our collective traditional and seasonal Ojibwe food knowledge around topics like whole food, the critical needs of soil health, and the healing practices that come with gardening and outdoor activity.
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Progress 09/01/15 to 08/31/16
Outputs
Target Audience: In simplest terms, our audience is the youth and families of the White Earth Indian Reservation. In practice, we interact with this audience primarily through partnerships with other youth-serving agencies and organizations on the Reservation. These include: White Earth Land Recovery Project, White Earth Boys and Girls Club, White Earth Tribal Health, White Earth Child Care, Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge, The Mahnomen and Waubun School Districts, and Mahnomen Head Start. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?WETCC Extension Coordinator attended the "Growing Your Community Network" event sponsored by the Minnesota Farmers Market Association where she received the training required to accept EBT cards on behalf of the producers at the Farmer's Market we host. She, along with one of our local producers, also participated in two days of online Community Access/Professional Development training sponsored by UMN Extension. The WETCC Garden Intern and Special Projects and Extension Coordinators all presented at and participated in the Indigenous Farming Conference held on White Earth in March. They expanded their network of contacts from Reservations across the country while exchanging information on gardening, seed libraries, and work in nutrition and traditional skills. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Extension goals, activities, experiences, and plans are shared with our partners during regular meetings. These include the Meeting of the Minds (MOM's) group, the Mahnomen Garden Club, University of Minnesota 4-H, White Earth Community Farmers' Market, White Earth Land Recovery Project, Mahnomen Local Advisory Team, and White Earth Boys and Girls Clubs. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We plan to continue to offer the workshops, seasonal camps, and youth forums/leadership activities as outlined in the proposal. The activities and specific topics of each may differ from those reported above, but they will be designed to achieve the same overarching goals we have identified for the WETCC Extension Service. We also plan to continue to work with our partners to refine the new White Earth Math and Science Summer School model, so that we can continue to provide that opportunity for our youth. In some sense this activity is beyond the scope of our original proposal, but the students that participate in it are our target demographic and the activities address most, if not all, of our goals. It is very much an example of how synergy allows us to accomplish more than we planned.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
We continue to be successful in offering high quality programming that attracts our constituents. Workshops and Seasonal Camps have been attended by between 6 and 75 participants. Youth Leadership events happen on a weekly basis through to our collaboration with the Boys and Girls Clubs (BGC's) on the White Earth Reservation. This is well above the targets set in our proposal. Five practitioners of traditional skills and crafts had the opportunity to pass on some of their expertise through these activities. Collaborations with local schools continue to expand with new spring workshops at Circle of Life Academy (COLA) on spring wild edibles and making plant-based salves with 11 youth. In all of these areas we have met our expectations for the grant period. Our collaborative work with other organizations, agencies, and Reservations has created a number of opportunities for additional, grant-funded youth development work around the themes of traditional skills and foods. These include a Bush Foundation supported project to teach youth how to prepare traditional foods that also resulted in an intertribal cookbook generated by the participants. Finally, the WETCC Community Garden continues to provide community members with access to fresh, healthy food. Eighteen individuals, families, or organizations have at least one garden bed where they are growing a wide variety of vegetables. In addition, we have a communal squash patch and five potato towers that are shared among a number of participants. ?
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Progress 09/01/14 to 08/31/15
Outputs
Target Audience:In simplest terms, our audience is the youth and families of the White Earth Indian Reservation. In practice, we interact with this audience primarily through partnerships with other youth-serving agencies and organizations on the Reservation. These include: White Earth Land Recovery Project White Earth Boys and Girls Club White Earth Tribal Health White Earth Child Care Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge The Mahnomen and Waubun School Districts Mahnomen Head Start Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?WETCC Extension Special Projects Coordinator, Garden Intern, and Librarian were invited to present on the Nanaandawigitigaan: Our Healing Garden at the Great Lakes Culture Keepers Institute Conference. The event was held in April at the Mille Lacs Museum in Onamia, MN and attended by over 40 librarians, museums and archivists. The Extension Special Projects Coordinator organized a 16-hour Serve Safe Training in December that was attended by Extension Coordinator. Six other WETCC staff attended the training led by Indian Health Service personnel and all participants completed the Serve Safe Exam. The WETCC Garden Intern, Special Projects and Extension Coordinators, and Extension Director all presented and participated in the Indigenous Farming Conference held on White Earth in March. They expanded their network of contacts from Reservations across the country while exchanging information on gardening, seed libraries, and work in nutrition and traditional skills. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Extension goals, activities, experiences, and plans are shared with our partners during regular meetings. These include the Meeting of the Minds (MOM's) group, the Mahnomen Garden Club, the Teachers Professional Development Committee for Mahnomen ISD, Early Childhood Initiative, University of Minnesota 4-H, Mahnomen Farmer's Market Group, and White Earth Boys and Girls Clubs. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We plan to continue to offer the workshops, seasonal camps, and youth forums/leadership activities as outlined in the proposal. The activities and specific topics of each may differ from those reported above, but they will be designed to achieve the same overarching goals we have identified for the WETCC Extension Service. We will also plan to continue to work with our partners to refine the new White Earth Math and Science Summer School model, so that we can continue to provide that opportunity for our youth. In some sense this activity is beyond the scope of our original proposal, but the students that participate in it are our target demographic and the activities address most, if not all, of our goals. It is very much an example of how synergy allows us to accomplish more than we planned.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
We continue to be successful in offering high quality programming that attracts our constituents. Workshops and Seasonal Camps have been attended by between 6 and 35 participants. Most events have filled to capacity or nearly so. Youth Leadership events have occurred on a weekly basis due to our collaboration with the Boys and Girls Clubs (BGC's) on the White Earth Reservation. This is well above the targets set in our proposal. Five practitioners of traditional skills and crafts had the opportunity to pass on some of their expertise through these activities. In all of these areas we have met or exceeded our expectations for the grant period. Our deeply collaborative model for engaging the community (particularly the youth) in gardening and food preparation, traditional uses of natural resources, traditional arts and crafts, and youth development continues to bring new opportunities to achieve our goals. In particular, our relationships with the BGC's, the White Earth Natural Resources Department, and the University of Minnesota (UMN) Extension allowed us to develop a collaborative model for offering the White Earth Math and Science Summer School in June of 2015. No funding was available for the program in spite of its seventeen-year history and record of success. The partnership pooled its resources and offered a somewhat scaled down version of the program. As a result over 40 Middle School students spent two weeks on the WETCC campus participating in culturally-relevant math and science enrichment activities. Topics covered included: Science and Mathematics: transportation, forestry, wildlife, fisheries, prairie restoration, and water quality monitoring. Traditional physical activity: Lacrosse, canoeing and other outdoor activities, scavenger hunts and GIS geo cache for traditional foods game. Nutrition: 6 nutrition lessons were covered with emphasis on fruits and vegetables and traditional foods. The students prepared and tasted kale chips, a salad and berry vinaigrette with ingredients from the WETCC community garden, trail mixes, fruit bowls, and veggie wraps. They also practiced filleting and cooking fish. Finally, the WETCC Community Garden continues to provide community members with access to fresh, healthy food. Eighteen individuals, families, or organizations have at least one garden bed where they are growing a wide variety of vegetables. In addition, we have a communal squash patch and five potato towers that are shared among a number of participants.
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