Communal Care and Wellness

• Read: "Indigenous Environmental Education for Cultural Survival" — Leanne Simpson discusses how traditional environmental practices sustain cultural identity.
• Watch: Gather (dir. Sanjay Rawal) — A documentary on Native American food sovereignty, resilience, and environmental activism.
• Listen: "Seeds of Our Ancestors" (Toasted Sister Podcast) — An episode from Toasted Sister Podcast that delves into the importance of seed preservation in Indigenous communities.
• Experience: Take a walk around campus, notice how many different plants and animals you notice. Do you know their names or types? Revisit the same plants over time to build a relationship.
  • Document your observations: What patterns emerge? How might this practice of attention become a form of personal ecological archiving?
• Make: Design a Three Sisters Garden Plan, incorporating the traditional Native planting of corn, beans, and squash.
  • Research the significance and agricultural methods.
  • Create a layout that follows companion planting principles.
  • Develop a seasonal care guide and document Indigenous agricultural wisdom.
  • Consider: How is agricultural knowledge preserved and transmitted? What is lost when these practices are not documented or practiced?

 💬 Reflection Prompts:

• On your campus walk, which plants could you name, and could you name any in a language other than English? What does that gap tell you?
• The Three Sisters grow by supporting one another. Which human relationship in your life works that way, and which does not?
• Who in your community holds ecological knowledge that is not written down? How would you learn from them respectfully?

• Read: "American Indian Religious Freedom Act: 40 Years Later" — Reflections on the act’s legacy and its impact on spiritual practices.
• Watch: "Indigenous Healing: Mindy, Body, Spirit” (National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center)— A documentary exploring holistic wellness approaches within Indigenous communities.
• Listen: "Whole Family Wellness" (All My Relations Podcast)
• Experience: Attend a workshop on traditional medicines facilitated by an Indigenous healer, focusing on the role of balance and holistic well-being.
• Make: Start a personal wellness journal inspired by Indigenous perspectives on balance.
  • Noting daily practices or reflections that foster mind-body harmony.
  • Consider this journal as your own archive: What patterns do you notice over time? What knowledge are you preserving about your own well-being?

 💬 Reflection Prompts:

• Dr. Stewart’s work treats homelessness through culturally based mental health. What changes when “home” is defined by relationships and land, not only a housing unit?
• The American Indian Religious Freedom Act protected practices that had been suppressed. What does it mean that ceremony needed a federal law to be protected?
• Mainstream wellness often sells individual self-care. Looking at your map, where do you rely on others, and where do others rely on you?

• Read:
  • "Race, Colonialism, and the Politics of Indian Sports Names and Mascots: The Washington Football Team Case” —A critical analysis of cultural appropriation in sports.
  • Northwestern Library’s curated resources on Indigeneity and sports – A collection of materials on the cultural, social, and political implications of sports in Indigenous communities.
• Watch: Spirit Game: Pride of a Nation (dir. Peter Baxter) — A documentary that highlights the cultural significance of lacrosse for the Iroquois Nationals and their journey in international competitions.
• Listen: Indigenous athletes are reviving an ancient sport in San Diego
• Experience: Make it a watch-and-learn party! Host a watch-and-reflect gathering with friends. Provide prompts for everyone to write down reflections after the documentary.

 💬 Reflection Prompts:

• Medicine Ball traces basketball from boarding schools to a source of pride. How can a game imposed for assimilation become a game of resilience?
• Lacrosse began as a Haudenosaunee game with spiritual meaning. What is gained and what is lost as it spreads into global and Olympic competition?
• What would it take for mascot debates to center the people being depicted rather than fans’ feelings?

• Read: "Indigenous Food Systems: Concepts, Cases, and Conversations," Liza Grandia — Explores various Indigenous food sovereignty initiatives and traditional foodways.
• Watch:
  • “Cooking With Indigenous Ingredients: A Day With The Sioux Chef” (America’s Test Kitchen)
  • “Native American Food Sovereignty Explained” (A People’s History, PBS)
  • “What Is an Indigenous Kitchen” (Sovereign Innovations, PBS)
• Listen:
  • "Food Sovereignty" episode from Native America Calling
  • “Food Sovereignty: A Growing Movement” (All My Relations Podcast)
• Experience: Attend the Mitchell Museum’s Benefit Gala on November 16th with Chef Sean Sherman! Visit a local Indigenous farmers market or food sovereignty project to learn about traditional ingredients, or talk with vendors about their work in food sovereignty.
• Make: Try a traditional recipe, such as:
  • Strawberry and Wild Rice Tartlets
  • Wojapi (Dakota Berry Sauce)
  • Popped Wild Rice
  • Document your cooking process and reflect: How do recipes function as archives of cultural knowledge? What stories does food tell?

💬 Reflection Prompts:

• Who grew, harvested, and sold the ingredients you cooked with? What did tracing one teach you?
• Food sovereignty is about who controls a food system, not just what is on the plate. Where does control sit in your own food system?
• Which Indigenous-led food initiatives exist in Chicagoland, and what do they ask of supporters?

• Read:
  • "Indigenous Struggles, Environmental Justice, and Community Capabilities,” David Schlosberg, David Carruthers — An analysis of how Indigenous struggles for environmental justice reflect broader community values and capabilities.
  • *As Long as the Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, from Colonization to Standing Rock,* Dina Gilio-Whitaker — Chronicles historical and contemporary Indigenous environmental justice movements, focusing on sovereignty and resistance.
  • “Re-centering Indigenous Knowledge in Climate Change Discourse,” Jessica Hernandez — Explores the importance of integrating Indigenous knowledge systems into climate change discussions and policy.
• Watch:
  • Awake: A Dream of Standing Rock (dir. Josh Fox) — A documentary on the resistance at Standing Rock and its impact on the environmental justice movement.
  • “Rise: From One Island to Another” — A poetic encounter between Indigenous activists from the Marshall Islands and Greenland, spotlighting the shared impacts of rising sea levels.
  • Indigenous Artists Use Technology to Tell Stories About Their Ancestral Lands — Indigenous artists use tech to illustrate climate resilience and cultural heritage.
• Listen: “Jason Baldes on Buffalo and Land Rematriation” (For the Wild Podcast)
• Play: “Thunderbird Strike: A Lightening Searing Sidescroller” — In this 2D sidescroller, embody the mythological Thunderbird, flying from the Tar Sands to the Great Lakes to protect Turtle Island with searing lightning and challenge extractive industries.
• Make: Follow one fight. Choose one Indigenous-led environmental campaign, such as bison rematriation, a pipeline challenge, or a water protection effort near you. Follow it all month through the organization’s own channels. At month’s end, write what changed and what the organizers asked of supporters, and do one of those things.

💬 Reflection Prompts:

• Thunderbird Strike casts you as a protector of land. How did playing change your sense of the stakes compared with reading?
• Rise pairs poets from the Marshall Islands and Greenland. What do climate struggles at opposite ends of the earth share?
• Indigenous peoples steward much of the world’s remaining biodiversity, yet are often missing from climate decisions. What would it take to change who is at the table?