In the Hands of Future Generations: Tribal Youth and UW Students Responding to Climate Grief through Restoration Action, Research, and Video Storytelling

Through a UW-Chief Leschi Schools collaboration of over two years, one of the central concerns that emerged among Puyallup and Nisqually community members was a recognition that their children were increasingly disconnected from Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), environmental stewardship roles, and opportunities to support health and wellness. This project, a collaboration between the University of Washington, Chief Leschi Schools (CLS), Nisqually Cultural Center, Department of Natural Resources, and Nisqually Land Trust, aims to reconnect Puyallup and Nisqually youth with TEK and addresses health and wellness surrounding climate resilience and traditional foods. This project also emphasizes the importance of non-Tribal students learning how to work collaboratively with Tribal communities, understanding how to honor treaty rights and respect Tribal sovereignty. By fostering these partnerships, the project brings people together to share experiences, build meaningful relationships, and take collective action that supports community well-being and ecological restoration.

This project builds off of ideas that surfaced in student-created digital stories made in 2022-2024 in collaboration between CLS and UW students and faculty members, with support of the UW Center for Human Rights and other financial supporters. These themes included culture, dance and language revitalization underpinning environmental stewardship, the centering of Indigenous rights, and youth collaboration that bridges divides.

These digital stories are available at:

In the Eyes of our Children: Canoe Journey

In the Eyes of our Children: Language revitalization

In the Eyes of our Children: Dance

In the Eyes of our Children: Overview

Through the next leg of this project we hope to nurture future generations of climate leaders by engaging students in the creation of two traditional plant food forests, one on the campus of CLS and one at the Nisqually Cultural Center. Food forests are multi-story cultivated areas that use native plants to restore ecological function, promote food sovereignty, address cultural significance, and foster a connection to a place. In contrast to a garden or other typical cultivation spaces, food forests are designed to enhance biodiversity and mimic the natural structure of a forest, providing a variety of edible products, such as bulbs, berries, fruit and shoots, but also a variety of cultural products, such as medicine and bark for weaving. The higher ecological complexity and biodiversity will serve to increase the climate resilience of these areas. Furthermore, the food forests are conceptualized as spaces for education, community gathering, and cultural revitalization, including the transmission of TEK and the promotion of the Lushootseed language. 

Public planting events at CLS and the Nisqually Cultural Center, and interviews with participants, will be recorded to create a film about intercultural collaboration and community-driven restoration efforts. These events will highlight the integration of TEK and modern ecological science, demonstrating how collective action can address current environmental challenges while promoting health and wellness for future generations. 

Ultimately, we believe such efforts can aid in fostering health and wellness by catalyzing intercultural collaboration between Tribal and non-Tribal students, shaping shared understandings of the challenges before us, and ensuring a lasting legacy of cross-cultural environmental education and effective communications capacity. These food forests–by intertwining cultural knowledge, traditional food access, and ecological restoration–serve as a model for climate resilience and tribal and food sovereignty, strengthening the interconnectedness of all.

OBJECTIVES

Tribes play leading roles in restoration efforts in the Puget Sound. This project has been designed to support Tribal sovereignty, treaty rights, Tribally-led environmental protection and restoration policies, and ultimately the recovery of the Puget Sound by:

• Reconnecting Indigenous youth with their cultural heritage and TEK.
• Enhancing mental health and resilience among Indigenous and non-Indigenous students.
• Increasing community support for Tribe-led environmental initiatives.
• Improving ecosystem health and biodiversity through traditional land management practices.

We believe that in fulfilling these objectives, we will not only strengthen the voice of Washington Treaty Tribes, but also create a blueprint for expanding engagement to include other tribes and the general public, bridging the communications gap between Tribal and non-Tribal communities, and anchoring a robust collaboration for the recovery of the Puget Sound.

METHODOLOGY  

We will accomplish our objectives by building on a history of successful intercultural communications and social research projects, and working with established partners, Tribal partners, and UW.

 

 

Supporting Ecological and Cultural Thriving: By engaging students in food forest creation and stewardship we hope to support and enhance existing Tribal health and wellness initiatives, particularly in relation to climate change; foster educational ties between Indigenous youth and elders; deepen understandings of native plants for medicinal, culinary, and other purposes; and braid Traditional Ecological Knowledge and science in plant and site selection. Monitoring protocols will be developed to evaluate project implementation from both ecological and cultural perspectives. 

Public awareness and engagement: Our project will disseminate digital stories and related project media through a strategic social media campaign. The project will also engage the public, and Washington Treaty Tribes and UW leaders with a series of events. A film documenting the creation of the food forests will be shown at UW, CLS, and Nisqually Tribal headquarters to raise awareness about Tribal leadership and the potential for intercultural collaborations.

A lasting legacy: The project’s legacy will be ensured by: 

• Creating a blueprint curriculum and institutional reform in UW environmental and international studies
• Creating a monitoring and management plan for long-term maintenance of the food forests
• The alliances created through the project
• The publication of an overall assessment of this process. The project impact will be measured qualitatively and quantitatively with interviews and focus groups.

Project Leaders

Student Researchers

*Banner (featured image at the top): UW students meet with Mr Kurt Nelson (Environmental Department Manager, Tulalip Tribes Natural Resources Division) at Qwuloolt restoration project. Photo credit: Jessica Rose.