Progress 09/01/23 to 08/31/24
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for the Nez Perce Reservation FRTEP are the Nez Perce Tribal youth and families residing within the reservation borders. Indirect audiences include the families and youth from other tribes and non-native community members living both on and off the reservation. It is the intent of this program to help unite Native youth and families with non-Natives, to extend the opportunities to improve relationships and promote equity, diversity and inclusion while providing education and support using science based curriculum in formal classroom instruction and practicum experiences, development of curriculum; internships; workshops; experiential learning opportunities; extension and outreach. Changes/Problems:This past year has been a year of change, adaptation and resilience. In October 2023 I lost staff due to budget shortage as another grant ended. I was able to take up the slack and continue to move forward with the help of my office program assistant. Fortunately many of our program partners seen the hard work we had been doing and the wonderful outcomes we were providing so they wanted to partner with us. These new partnerships provided shared resources that continued to elevate both programs and create more interest from outside entities. Our land grant university colleagues also saw the growth and provided added support to allow for a summer AmeriCorps member to come onboard to help with planning and implement STEM education. So, while our program faced some adversities, we were able to navigate the rough times and still provide the community with positive outcomes. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Danielle Scott, PI/Extension Educator attended: 1. The Northwest Intertribal Agriculture Conference and provided a presentation on what we have been doing on the Nez Perce Reservation 4-H project 2. A STEM Workshop with Sshwietzer Engineering Laboratories 3. First Face for Mental Health Training 4. Norwest Intertribal Food Sovereignty Coalition Gathering in Coeur d'Alene, ID 5. Northwest Weavers Conference to learn about more forms of Traditional basket weaving to teach the youth and families on the reservation 6. Intertribal Agriculture Conference and Federally Recognized Tribal Extension Program (FRTEP) Day in Las Vegas 7. FRTEP PD at the University of Michigan 8. Women's Leadership Conference 9. Palouse-Clearwater Food Summit 10. Women's Wellness Conference 11. Think, Make, Create STEM Training 12. ION Youth Ambassedor Train the Trainer 13. Northern District Faculty Training and took a workshop on improving my teaching skills How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?I make regular postings to our social media and attend general council meetings for the Tribe. I also provide updates to my advisory board. I share information with Tribal Leadership and Circle of Elders. I also attend all the regional and statewide extension meetings to provide a report on what we are doing within our program. Additionally, I meet with community partners to share what we have been doing and inquire what areas they would like to see more programming. I also share through digital measures all of the information needed for reporting to the University of Idaho for 4-H. This information is shared by the university with county chairs and state officials and this year the reports were sent to me to share with the Tribal leadership. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next reporting period, I plan to continue to provide as many culture is prevention/culture is connection workshops as I can. These workshops have provided a boost in cultural presence and cultural appreciation. I also plan to continue with the outdoor survival skills training with the youth as this project was proven to be very valuable in empowering the youth to take care of themselves in case of emergency. As a co-chair on the HIPT Food Alliance, we are planning our 8th Annual/2ndRegional Intertribal Food Sovereignty Summit in spring 2025. I will continueworking on a mushroom curriculum for youth and adults that will focus on some of our traditional foods. The curriculum will also be used as we offer the youth track at the upcoming regional food summit. As always, we will add Nez Perce language, history, culture, and traditional information to the current 4- H curriculum. This task will be elevated with the donation from Apple Corp. giving our program 93 IPads.In this next cycle I will also have a stronger focus on the research and scholarly work needed to meet the needs of my new position as Assistant Professor. I have been a part of rewriting the Idaho 4-H Know Your Government curriculum to include Tribal law. I have also been invited to implement a newly developed Freeze Drying with Youth 4-H Curriculum written by a colleague.I will continueworking with a U of I colleague to put together a culturally sensitive money saving, spending, and sharing curriculum to be used in school systems. I will also be working on the development of more 4-H Clubs and promoting our Nimiipuu Youth Salmon Protectors group.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The overall quality of life was improved on the Nez Perce Reservation by our extension program delivering culturally responsive, science-based information that has enabled people to make practical decisions that facilitate rural prosperity and economic development through the following objectives: 1. Positive youth development: Provide trauma resilience programs for youth and families. We have delivered numerous intergenerational cultural workshops on the reservation that have provided an opportunity for youth and adults to learn together. We provided a total of 83workshops/events/conferences over the last twelve months,most with an intergenerational learning environment to encourage families to be together in learning and sharing knowledge. Over the last twelve months we have had 4357participants in our program. Most of these learning opportunities included eating together as a family and discussion about the history of the local Tribal communities, the Nez Perce language, and traditions. We have been diligent in providing space for families to come together in a communal setting for networking and feeling a sense of belonging while also learning about their heritage through the cultural arts. It is our intent to build in healing to trauma by learning about the culture and feeling empowered by learning skills with like minded people. We have seen great outcomes with this method of teaching and learning. The adults and elders have expressed appreciation for teaching in this way that resembles how it used to be in the past with the elders coming together to teach the youth the traditional life skills. 2. Native Agriculture and Farming: Provide culturally responsive food sovereignty and healthy eating education. We have intertwined opportunities to learn about our Indigenous foods by providing healthy food at our workshops and discussing how we gather and forage during the different seasons. We have also included workshops on fishing and foraging as part of our outdoor survival skills project. We have taken youth out to teach them fishing skills on the lake, how to forage for food sources and how to forage for medicines in the forest. Youth learned about the importance of being good water stewards and how important it is to the salmon. One of the biggest accomplishments to date is organizing our Nimiipuu Youth Salmon Protectors Group. Our goal with this group is to provide education and hands on learning about the life cycle of the salmon, climate change and its impact to the salmon, and how we can make changes in our lives to help with salmon recovery. As part of teaching about our Indigenous foods, we participated in two Native Food Sovereignty Summits each with a youth track. Both events were very successful and we had great feedback about the impact of these events. Our program is also part of a $55 million grant that encourages farmers to try greener methods to improve the soil through crop rotation, cover cropping, biochar and other similar methods. 3. Native community development: Support and contribute to economic and workforce development, provide financial and life skills programs, and support NPT culture and language preservation. I assisted in planning for the the National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals Conference 2024 in Texas.I was able to be the voice for Indian Country and encourage collaboration with the Tribal nations. I worked collaboratively with the Nez Perce Tribe CDFI to provide a Spending Frenzy workshop with the high school senior class of 2024 and participated in organizing and implementing the 2024 Financial Confernce. I have also worked with the Nez Perce Tribal culture department and language departments to provide additional language and culture education on all our educational projects. One in project that has been of great interest is developing a new keyboard that will include the symbols needed for writing in the Nez Perce language.
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Progress 09/01/22 to 08/31/23
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audiencefor the Nez Perce Reservation FRTEP are the Nez Perce Tribal youth and families residing within the reservation borders. Indirect audiences include the families and youth from other tribes and non-native community members living both on and off the reservation. It is the intent of this program to help unite Native youth and families with non-Natives, to extend the opportunities to improve relationships and promote equity, diversity and inclusion while providing education and support using science based curriculum in formal classroom instruction and practicum experiences, development of curriculum; internships; workshops; experiential learning opportunities; extension and outreach. Changes/Problems:We are still working through the impacts of COVID, but we are seeing more engagement from families and youth in our programs. Some of the challenges at the beginning of this grant cycle included finding staff to meet the needs of our growing program. We were able to find some additional funding to help support the two full-time staff. However, it was not until late into the year. Another change was in my job title/position as well as myjob description withthe University of Idaho. In October 2022, I was advised that the U of I had decided to change the Extension Educator for the Nez Perce Reservation position to a Promotion and Tenure track. This meant that I needed to reapply and reinterview for the position. In December 2022, I interviewed and was later offered the job asAssistant Professor with an increase of salary. This increase in salary meant changes and further strain in the already established budget. However, the University made the decision to provide state funding to cover the difference in salary. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Danielle Scott, PI/Extension Educatorattended: The Northwest Intertribal Agriculture Conference and provided a presentation on what we have been doing on the Nez Perce Reservation 4-H project Risk Management training with UI 2 Food Sovereignty Tours that included parts of Washington and Montana Norwest Intertribal Food Sovereignty Coalition Gathering in Oregon to learn more about the food sovereignty work Tribes are doing on or near the Oregon Coast Northwest Weavers Conference to learn about more forms of Traditional basket weaving to teach the youth and families on the reservation Intertribal Agriculture Conference and Federally Recognized Tribal Extension Program (FRTEP) Day in Las Vegas FRTEP PD in Florida with the Seminole Tribe as hosts Women's Leadership Conference Palouse-Clearwater Food Summit Women's Wellness Conference Five for Five traian the traine workshop Northwest Harvest Roundtable Discussion and farm tour Northern District Faculty Training and took a workshop on improving my teaching skills How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?I make regular postings to our social media and attend general council meetings for the Tribe. I also provide updates to my advisory board. I share information with Tribal Leadership and Circle of Elders. I also attend all the regional and statewide extension meetings to provide a report on what we are doing within our program. Additionally, I meet with community partners to share what we have been doing and inquire what areas they would like to see more programming. I also share through digital measures all of the information needed for reporting to the University of Idaho for 4-H. This information is shared by the university with county chairs and state officials. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next reporting period, I plan to continue to provide as many culture is prevention/culture is connection workshopsas I can. These workshops have provided a boost in cultural presence and cultural appreciation. I also plan to continue with the outdoor survival skills training with the youth as this project was proven to be very valuable in empowering the youth to take care of themselves in case of emergency. As a co-chair on the HIPT Food Alliance, we are planning our 7th Annual, but first regional intertribal food sovereignty summit. I will be working on a mushroom curriculum for youth and adults that will focus on some of our traditional foods. The curriculum will also be used as we offer the youth track at the upcoming regional food summit. As always, we will add Nez Perce language, history, culture, and traditional information to the current 4-H curriculum. In this next cycle I will also have a stronger focus on the research and scholarly work needed to meet the needs of my new position as Assistant Professor. In the next cycle I will be working with a U of I colleague to put together a culturally sensitive money saving, spending, and sharing curriculum to be used in school systems. I will also be working on the development of more 4-H Clubs.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The overall quality of life was improved on the Nez Perce Reservation by our extension program delivering culturally responsive, science-based information that has enabled people to make practical decisions that facilitate rural prosperity and economic development through the following objectives: 1. Positive youth development: Provide trauma resilience programs for youth and families. We have delivered numerous intergenerational cultural workshops on the reservation that have provided an opportunity foryouth and adults to learn together. We provided a total of 94 workshops/events/conferences over the last twelve months, most with an intergenerational learning environment to encourage families to be together in learning and sharing knowledge. Over the last twelve months we have had 4063participants in our program. Most of these learning opportunities included eating together as a family and discussion about the history of the local Tribal communities, the Nez Perce language, and traditions. We have been diligent in providing space for families to come together in a communal setting for networking and feeling a sense of belonging while also learning about their heritage through the cultural arts. It is our intent to build in healing to trauma by learning about the culture and feeling empowered by learning skills with like minded people. We have seen great outcomes with this method of teaching and learning. The adults and elders have expressed appreciation for teaching in this way that resembles how it used to be in the past with the elders coming together to teach the youth the traditional life skills. 2. Native agriculture and farming: Provide culturally responsive food sovereignty and healthy eating education. We have intertwined opportunities to learn about our Indigenous foods by providing healthy food at our workshops and discussing how we gather and forage during the different seasons. We have also included workshops on fishing and foraging as part of our outdoor survival skills project. We have taken youth out to teach them fishing skills on the lake, how to forage for food sources and how to forage for medicines in the forest. Youth used binoculars to find food sources such as duck, geese, cattails, grasshoppers, grubworms, and crickets as well as pansies and other foliage. We also hosted our 6th annual food summit with over 100 participants taking part in the two sessions. 3. Native community development: Support and contribute to economic and workforce development, provide financial and life skills programs, and support NPT culture and language preservation. I assisted in the National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals conference planning. The conference was held in North Idaho, making it easier for me to participate and attend. I was able to be the voice for Indian Country and ensure that land acknowledgement statements were made at the start of the conference for the Nez Perce Tribe and the Coeur d'Alene Tribe. I worked collaboratively with the Nez Perce Tribe CDFI to provide a Spending Frenzy workshop with the high school senior class. I have also worked with the Nez Perce Tribal culture department and language departments to provide additional language and culture education on all our educational projects. One in project that has been of great interest is our Kaya Club where we use the American Girl Kaya, a fictional Nez Perce girl from 1764 as a vehicle to teach Nez Perce history, language, tradition, and culture. We provided five learning opportunities in that curriculum that included two field trips to significant Nez Perce Historical sites.
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