Braiding: Community, Collaboration, Civic Engagement

How do we braid the complex strands of our lives and learning? As we work to weave our understanding of the past, service in the present, and responsibility toward the future, students will focus on developing their personal, professional, and academic goals. This program is designed for students who are committed to fostering a collaborative learning community, exploring career paths grounded in civic engagement, social justice, cultural and arts education, the liberal arts, and working collaboratively with Indigenous communities and Tribes from Western Washington.

This historic program is a capstone initiative designed to coincide with the 30th Anniversary of the Evergreen House of Welcome. As part of our work, we will participate in events to celebrate the Longhouse, its history, and its relationship to local tribes and community grantmaking, arts, education, non-profits, and organizations. We will reflect on the historic role of The Evergreen State College, Native American studies, Indigenous arts, and basketry, and we will look ahead to develop a vision for the next thirty years. We will draw upon Native Studies pedagogy introduced by tribal elders, the Hillaire family, Gary Peterson and the River of Culture Template, and other Indigenous artists, scholars, and leaders.

As a dynamic learning community, we will pose essential questions to understand how Tribal people integrate Indigenous knowledge, skills, and experience into academic and creative work, language and cultural preservation, and as they develop meaningful careers. As part of an inquiry-based education model, students will ask questions about local and global challenges, how we can thrive as individuals and communities, and how we can work to understand and give voice to problems and propose solutions  Using the River of Culture Template, which highlights laws and policies that impact the lived experiences of American Indians, students will conduct research and develop writing, communication, and creative projects. Students will explore essential questions regarding contemporary issues that continue to deprive American Indians of land, economic opportunities, treaty rights, natural resources, religious freedom, repatriation, and access to and protection of sacred places. Together, we will delve into the history behind the headlines and track contemporary practices of resistance, resilience, and resurgence.

As we work, we will ask: How is reading, writing, research, and communication a type of weaving that helps us understand and reflect on the relationships between ideas and identity, culture and place, memory and meaning, and the role of narrative in our personal, professional, and academic lives? How do effective writers, speakers, communicators, and leaders braid ideas, information, and experience into stories, essays, podcasts, presentations, or other mediums of communication?

Through workshops, seminars, assignments, writing prompts, and other activities, students will practice the art and craft of writing and communicating with purpose as they address specific audiences and learn to write in diverse genres. They will do research, critical and creative writing, storytelling, learn to give effective presentations, and develop the ability to read, reflect, analyze, annotate, and synthesize diverse texts. Through a Writer’s Choice assignment, connected to their project, they will cultivate techniques for utilizing words, images, and language effectively, habits of organization, and work groups to give and receive feedback, draft, and edit writing. They will also develop an Academic Statement, a Weekly Journal of observations, photos, and artwork at their sit spot, and student editors will compile an Anthology , WordPress site, or Newsletter to document the work of this historic program.

Texts will include: Pedagogy of the Oppressed , Freire; An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United State s, Dunbar-Ortiz;  Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer; To Weave and Sing, David Guss; Women Wove it In a Basket; Teachings of the Tree People; Rights Remembered and A Totem Pole History , by Pauline Hillaire; and other articles, films, essays, podcasts, readings and resources

This program is coordinated with Greener Foundations for first-year students in fall quarter. Greener Foundations is Evergreen’s in-person introductory student success course, which provides first-year students with the skills and knowledge they need to thrive at Evergreen. Students expected to take Greener Foundations in fall should use CRN 10196 to register for a 2-credit Greener Foundations course in addition to this program for 14-credits. When using this CRN students will take additional steps to complete their registration, more information can be found at the Greener Foundations Registration Help Wiki.

First-year students who are not expected to take Greener Foundations or have been granted an exemption should use CRN 10195 to register for this program for 16-credits. Find more details about who isn't expected to take Greener Foundations on the Greener Foundations website.