Elias Baer is a senior Exercise Science major from Tucson, Arizona. Here are his reflections on a guest presentation from an internationally-recognized expert on Native American spirituality and worldviews: Following a brief yet refreshing camping trip, our group was back in the classroom. However, virtually we were in Vermont with Dr. Damian Costello, PhD, an … Keep reading »
Indigenous Economies
A cultural perspectives course based on the Goshen College campus with the bulk of our time spent outdoors, student will explore the interactions between people, land and production in a Native American context.
Water Travel: Paddling at Chain O Lakes State Park
Alexandria Flores, a sophomore Business major from Goshen, Indiana, describes our time on the water: Before leaving Chain O’ Lakes State Park, we spent about an hour paddling around the lakes. Chain O’ Lakes has a total of eleven lakes, with eight of the lakes connecting to one another to form what looks like a … Keep reading »
Citizen Potawatomi Nation: Our Time with a Story Teller
This post is written by Gabriella Jantzen, a senior Biology major from Granger, Indiana: Earlier this week, the 15 students in our Indigenous Economies class began our first camping excursion. Before we left to set up camp, we made our first stop at Baintertown Park where we spent the day listening to the words of … Keep reading »
The Miami Nation: Journeys and Gender, Games and Giving
Ben Troyer is a Psychology major and senior from Kidron, Ohio. He writes about our visit with an indigenous elder at Chain O Lakes State Park: After waking up in our campsite at Chain’ O Lakes and having a little breakfast, we were joined by Diane Hunter, who is the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer of … Keep reading »
Adventures at Campsite 400
Aaron Lambert is a senior Accounting major from New Palestine, Indiana. In this , Aaron recounts our first camping trip of the term: We arrived at the Chain O’Lakes State campground on a May afternoon with the slight April chills still sticking around in the air around us. This meant the first order of business … Keep reading »
The Miami Nation: Migration, Rivers and Language
Harrison Gingerich, a senior from Canby, Oregon, is a Sustainable Food Systems major. In this post, he recounts key parts of a Zoom presentation by one of our indigenous speakers: Scott Shoemaker is a member of the Miami, a group of people that lives in Indiana, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Kansas. You may be wondering how … Keep reading »
Land and the Doctrine of Discovery
Ben Zimmerman is the author of today’s blog post. Ben is a senior Sustainability Management major from Archbold, Ohio. May has finally arrived as spring is in full bloom here in Goshen. We started the week off with a leisurely walk through the rain down the Winona Interurban Trail to see our guest speaker for … Keep reading »
Three Questions
Today’s post is written by Naomi Willis, a senior nursing major from Mishawaka, Indiana: We were honored to have a guest speaker, Rich Meyer, give our Indigenous Economies class some insight on the Potawatomi tribe and their land. Before we dove into the details of the Potawatomi, we talked about ownership. Ownership many years ago … Keep reading »
Serviceberries
Today’s post is written by Haylee Pennington, a junior nursing major from Wakarusa, Indiana: Serviceberries, from the local native Amelanchier arborea, have many varieties which are all edible and insanely delicious. We were able to visit the Reith Interpretive Center in Goshen and meet Aaron Sawatsky-Kingsley, Director of Environmental Resilience and Goshen’s first city forester. … Keep reading »
Opening Day
Our first day of the May Term was spent outdoors, hiking along the Elkhart River for several miles, learning about a plant called the Serviceberry with the director of Environmental Resilience in the city of Goshen, and wondering aloud what is meant to the words “indigenous” and “economies”. The course has several learning objectives, and … Keep reading »