Missoula and Pablo -- What a Place to Call Home !

What a place to call home, the northern Rockies! I sound like a nature writer already! I really enjoyed our time spent in Missoula and on the Flathead Reservation north of Missoula. Throughout college I spent a lot of time studying agriculture and working on different farms in northern Wisconsin, and I feel pretty passionate about the role food can play in fostering a positive environmental ethic, as well as the importance of reinvesting in rural America. In this vein, it was so wonderful to hear about the efforts of the Farm to College program, which is instituting major changes in how both the University of Montana (UM) and Salish Kootenai College (SKC) purchase food for its dining halls.

UM is currently spending 14.6% of their annual budget on local and regional foods, and available that day were cherries from Flathead, along with local chicken, tortillas, lettuce, tomatoes, safflower oil, salsa, honey, and regional beef, bread, and cheese. Products and produce from the state of Montana are considered local, and regional is defined as agricultural products grown or produced in Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota—which is a pretty huge region. The program is about 4 years old and focuses on the importance of local economy (cycling 14.6% of the total $3 million spent annually by the school within the region is pretty huge), the greater reliability of local food sources, along with the strengthening of community that comes with knowing where your food comes from and building local partnerships. And as Marc LaPoco (pictured at left), head of UM’s dining services put it, the research on the nutrition of fresh food is rolling in, and, as many have intuitively known, fresh food, and organic foods, are typically higher in nutritional value than conventionally grown foods.

Laure Pengelly Drake gives the riders a tour of UM's Native American Journalism program

Interestingly, one problem that both schools face is helping make it affordable and feasible for farmers to sell to the schools at wholesale prices, not prices found at farmers markets, the main venue for smaller market farms. Organized by Udall alumna Lauren Caldwell, the Farm to College Program at SKC in Pablo is in its second year and already the school is purchasing 10% of its food from local sources. At SKC, local has been defined as being from within the reservation. This is a pretty important difference between the two programs. While many of the growers living on the res are themselves not members of the confederated tribes, I hope that having a program like Farm to College can encourage new growers by providing a reliable place to sell their products. The Three Wolves cafeteria at SKC is more like a diner, where you can order individual items, and I wonder if this may make it easier to purchase local foods if there are fewer issues with waste, as it isn’t buffet style. At the same time, the vegetables found at most diner type places include salads, lettuce, and tomatoes, which are available for a few months in the year. We ate lunch at Three Wolves and most everyone, myself included, had an Indian taco, some for the first time. The frybread was made with regional flour and then topped with local beef, tomatoes, salsa, and cheese, among other fixings. It was definitely delicious (though I didn’t eat the beef…).

Riders and SKC students on Salish Kootenai College's campus

We did so much during our time in the northern Rockies, in addition to learning about the Farm to College programs. We toured the schools, learned a little about Native American Journalism at UM; met with two potential Udall scholars from SKC, the Marceau brothers, who told us about their work and gave us a tour of the biochemistry lab; we saw the art gallery at SKC; and the new and huge community garden. We picked up trash in a park along Flathead Lake before jumping in. Our alumni meet-up the night before was at a park in Missoula, where we were guests of the Bridges to Baccalaureate and Project TRAIN programs, both programs that provide research and internship opportunities for American Indians working in a wide range of science and health fields. We met lots of really cool people there and were the judges for a side-dish tasting competition (the winners got some fancy Udall t-shirts). All in all I thought it was a ton of fun and we learned so much about the different communities living in Missoula and in Flathead.


I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who made our stop possible. I’m moving to the Missoula area after the trip (having made the decision last February ;)) and I am nothing but excited to be there again.

By Jenny Vazquez

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“Bugles, Rules, and a Rich Gravy Diet”

It was a first in Kansas for most of the riders, and the college-town of Lawrence was a great introduction to this mid-western plains state. Our morning was divided between projects highlighted by KU’s Center for Sustainability (see Kayanna’s limerick about bio-diesel at KU), and tours of Haskell Indian Nation’s University. Haskell is a federally funded school, one of only a handful in the U.S., with enrollment open to members from federally recognized tribes and direct descendants. Originally started as a boarding school in 1884, Haskell has come a long way in controlling the type and experience of education students receive while at the school. We started our tour that day at the Cultural Center and Museum, where we were welcomed by Lori Tapahonso, Haskell’s Public Information Officer, who gave us a brief history of the museum and school and then let us loose to roam the exhibits. Organized in a circular pattern, the museum focuses on Haskell’s rich history, as told from the students’ perspectives.

“Bugles, Rules, and a Rich Gravy Diet”, was one display heading that caught my interest. Many of the bus riders had little knowledge of the role boarding schools played in institutionalizing assimilation and forcing changes in traditional lifeways. I think something else that struck many people, myself included, was the negative impacts the schools once had, especially on families.

Lori Tapahonso gives a tour to the Udall riders at the Haskell Cultural Center and Museum

The Cultural Center and Museum is also home to a collection of photos taken by Frank Rinehart at the Trans-Mississippi Exposition and Indian Congress, held in Nebraska in 1898 (many of the original glass plates are housed in the climate-controlled basement). The photos are quite striking and paint an interesting picture of the diversity of Native cultures attending the Expo. Many of these images have come to represent and stereotype much of Indian country today, though the beauty of these original photos still rings true. We also checked out the archival library and gathered around a few art pieces created by Haskell students and faculty. I really recommend checking out the website to get a little more information, see the different programs they have at the Center and Museum, and view a few examples of the Rinehart photos. It’s pretty amazing that Haskell started out as an Industrial Indian Training School if you look at it today.

After touring the rest of campus, looking at the medicinal gardens, and finding some shade with Haskell students in a traditional switch grass structure (busy campus), we headed back to KU for a great lunch with the Center for Sustainability and the Ecumenical Christian Ministries (ECM). It was appropriate to be talking about environmental justice, social equity, and diversity issues and education after touring Haskell. We also talked about the concept of Earth Ethics with Thad Holcombe, the pastor from ECM, all while eating a wonderful, almost entirely local meal prepared and provided by Community Mercantile, Lawrence’s long-standing health food cooperative. It was such a well-thought-out and kind meal that was so tasty, and the company was equally as wonderful. It’s amazing how much you can talk about in an hour!

Leaving lunch we headed back in the direction of Haskell, this time to the wetlands adjacent to the school. Originally an official part of the Training School grounds, the Wakarusa Wetlands, or the Haskell/Baker Wetlands, have long been a part of the school’s history. We learned quite a bit of this history in detail as we walked the land with Mike Caron, a member of Save the Wetlands and a handful of students from Haskell. During the settling of Kansas by Europeans (I kept imagining a bloody free for all), wetlands were viewed as unproductive land, and along the way, came to be federally-owned lands used for the school. In the 70’s different parcels of Haskell lands were sold off and Baker University, located about 30 miles south of Lawrence, bought the majority of the wetlands. This was interesting to me, given the cultural significance of the wetlands to Haskell students from the beginning of the school to the present day, where students still go to relax, pray, study the ecosystem and traditional uses of plants. Mike told us about a road, the “49 Road”, in the wetlands where students could get away to party, drum, flirt, and as a result learn about other lifestyles and cultures.

Mike Caron talking about the history of the Wakarusa Wetlands

There is currently a controversial proposal to construct an 8-lane highway through the wetlands. While we didn’t hear anything from the proponents’ side of things, it seems to me that the proposal presents a solution that is unnecessarily destructive in more ways than one. The issue, which has actually been in contention for over 20 years, has brought together diverse groups of people, from ecologists, environmental activists, and members from the over 135 tribal nations represented at Haskell, in an effort to prevent the highway from going through the wetlands. I can see this as a great success story, as this coalition of people have worked together to change something from happening in their “backyard”, to use a common phrase. While frustrating at times, I think this issue may also provide a great learning experience for a student; for example in how to handle her or himself while dealing with a large entity, or how to work within a coalition to try and create change. (This experience may also further illuminate issues that may have been potentially experienced within their own communities at home—I’d be interested to learn more). Personally, I hope the highway is built elsewhere, in lands less ecologically sensitive, and as equally important, in lands that are less culturally important.

By: Jenny Vazquez

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Ciao For Now . . .

After another great, long day we headed up to Whipple Dam State Park to hike, swim, and BBQ with Matt McMahon’s family. We were welcomed with open arms by Marge and Sam, Matt’s parents, along with his sister Cathy and her cute, water-loving puppy. Cathy is actually a caterer, and with Marge and Sam well-practiced in camping with large groups, we were greeted by quite the spread. I personally loved the olive tapenade and marinated grilled mushrooms. We definitely appreciated (ate) all of it after an afternoon of planting, repotting, weeding, and digging fence-post holes. Not to mention a great swim and a few hilarious games of sharks and minnows (that’s right). This was the last of many great days and nights which Matt, the “East Coast guru”, had put together for the tour. He left the park with his family, en route to the airport and New York City, where he lives and works as a restoration ecologist with Great Eastern Ecology. We all appreciated his hard work, great sense of humor, and especially his dance moves throughout the tour. He’s a big sweetheart, not to embarrass him or anything. We’ll all miss him, but the BBQ, thanks to both Matt and his family, was a great way to send him off.

By: Jenny Vazquez

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A Fisherman’s Life

Taking a welcome breath of fresh air, I looked up from my spot on the carriage road where I had been raking leaves out of the drainage ditch. A National Park like Acadia produces a lot of leaf litter, to use the technical term, which finds its way into the drains, and which subsequently requires a lot of manual labor to remove in order to maintain the bicycle and hiker-only roads. That day we made up 8 of the 3,000 volunteers who find their way into Acadia every year to offer their minds and bodies in order to help the park, in order to learn and experience something they can’t find elsewhere. Our group, being the inquisitive Udall scholars that we are, managed to put in a good 45 minutes of raking and carrying leaves before we got to talking with the Rangers and volunteer coordinators about all sorts of things. We discussed National Parks and wilderness ethics, and even heard a story about a man who was chased by a bear for an entire winter. And of course all of this got me to thinking—about the state of wilderness in the U.S. and the role of National Parks in preserving hopefully ecologically diverse lands.

National Parks are crunched for funding and staff right now, as we found out that 15 or more full-time positions are vacant in Acadia, for example. The number of visitors to the parks is dropping as well; though Acadia alone had around 2 million visitors last year (down from 3 million). What is the role of the tourist, in the park-lands user, in maintaining the parks themselves? We spoke about this often on the bus in the days after our visit.

Young participants in the Parks in Focus program take
pictures of a lobster boat at Acadia National Park

Obviously, having people on the landscape can be damaging, as roads and parking lots are built and maintained, people may wander off trails into protected areas, and too many people may be visiting an area. It wouldn’t exactly be quiet, scenic, regenerative, whatever, if all 2 million visitors were there on the same day. However, National Parks are supported by the Federal government, and therefore aren’t intended to rely on visitor dollars for their continued existence. But showing up always shows support.

And this is where Bob comes in. Bob and I were talking about the Eastern seaboard
and its ecology, its culture and people. Bob brought up the great point that many of these coastal towns traditionally have maritime economies. Today many of these communities have grown to include researchers and students, as well as tourism and the growing service industry that comes with both of these groups. This three-fold economy (I made that up) is evident in Bar Harbor, the major town bordering Acadia. Bar Harbor definitely benefits from families and groups visiting the Park and staying, eating, shopping, and recreating in the town. There still is a local fishing industry and this presence not only adds delicious food to restaurant plates, it adds a certain charm to the whole town. We tourists love this. Whether we’re from fishing towns ourselves, the suburbs of Chicago, or Philadelphia proper, it’s quite the experience to be a part of a cozy community. I don’t know how this affects fisherman or locals in general, especially in terms of how they use and define their surroundings, but I’ve spent many summers working in a tourist town and I know that it’s good money, even if it fluctuates unpredictably.

I’ll end there, but I’ll still be thinking about this, so I’d love to keep the discussion going. Thanks for reading; I really did have a good time in both Acadia and Bar Harbor.

By: Jennifer Vazquez

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