Tend & Tell: Interpreting an Ethnobotanical Garden

This winter hybrid program is part of a yearlong mission to revitalize the ethnobotanical garden at the Longhouse and tell the garden’s 25-year story.Through both online and in-person class sessions, students explore the garden's history and Indigenous context to complete a website and interpretive signage. Through this, students learn communication skills emphasizing WordPress website construction and Indigenous methodologies. Students may also be active in the garden as winter moves into spring. Importantly, we pursue our studies with recognition that the land we occupy was stolen by European-Americans from the First People of this place and we commit to learn these difficult historical truths, support Indigenous leadership, and respect Indigenous sovereignty. In this spirit, we contribute our service-based learning to a living legacy that fosters environmental justice. Students from fall quarter are encouraged to continue in this program, and new students are invited to join. 

12-credit enrollment is available based on a plan for additional independent study. Submit a detailed letter of interest to faculty. Signature is required.

Background: The Evergreen State College is located on the traditional territory of the Squaxin Island Tribe. These and other Coast Salish Peoples have lived since Time Immemorial on the shores of Puget Sound –– now known as part of the Salish Sea –– and have traditionally spoken dialects of the Lushootseed language. In 1994, the Evergreen Longhouse -- s’gʷigʷiʔaltxʷ “House of Welcome” -– the first Longhouse on a State college campus –- was constructed; the mission of the Longhouse Education and Cultural Center is to promote Indigenous arts and cultures. Also, in 1994, an ethnobotanical garden was established around the Longhouse. In the intervening years, challenges, including Covid, have interrupted the garden’s development and care.