Tend and Tell: Developing and Interpreting an Ethnobotanical Garden

Working as a multidisciplinary team in a yearlong academic program at The Evergreen State College, students are engaging in hands-on work to transform a fledgling ethnobotanical garden at Evergreen's "House of Welcome" Longhouse by refining existing habitat and theme areas, and developing the sayuyay Sister Garden (a medicinal portion of the garden patterned after a project on the Skokomish Indian Reservation). Students are also collaboratively developing interpretive and educational materials, an important part of which has been beginning a poly-vocal book about the garden, its history, its habitats, and its potential for interactive teaching and learning.  Through this work, students are creating a valuable educational resource and contributing to multiple communities including Evergreen, local K-12 schools, local First Nations, and a growing global collective of ethnobotanical gardens that promote environmental and cultural diversity and sustainability.  This paper describes the project, its academic framework, and imbedded interdisciplinary and intercultural learning opportunities.