July 13th

Always remember were you started and never forget the ones who helped you get there. Today was one of the best part of my trip so far.

Wenix Red Elk was our host for the trip in Umatilla. Our group drove over to the agency to talk about the meaning of their traditional foods. I learned something new.

Our longhouse goes by Salmon, Deer, roots, then berries. Umatilla is similar but instead of having the deer represent the meet they use Elk first. She presented to us that the plant they take care of, are off the reservation and to keep vegetation alive and healthy is to buy more land back and it’ll be in the tribes hand to keep their tradition going without having to lose their traditional plants and culture.

It is similar to the Yakama reservation because we have huckleberries on our reservation but not enough to feed Children, women, men, Hunter, fishers, and/or visitors. So when we have to camp 3 days picking our big sister (Huckleberries) or as Hilnú we have to go off the reservation. After learning how national resources is important to them, we drove outside the town to a small Plant Nursery. Gail Redberg the Native Plant Nursery Interim manager showed our group of students the plants she’s is growing organically without hurting the plants. Redberg explained that "plant production is important because one day climate change can change the way ALL plants grow". An example that I can know why her guess is starting to happen is because The Toppenish Creek Longhouse has feasts to honor the traditional foods that keep us healthy, open minded, and connecting back to Mother nature. Past years we know by January when our first root feast is. However for the past 2 years we could not determine when the roots are ready. In March we still had snow on the ground but that is usually when the roots are ready. Today’s activity was amazing and I do plant on make a garden for my home to keep in mind that the vegetables we buy at our local store are sprayed by toxins.