Teachers gain knowledge of watershed, Native American culture in 'River of Dreams' project

Aug. 17—GRAND FORKS — In Myla Inocian's mind, the miniature cedar canoe she held in her hand is a metaphor for one's journey through life.

The printed message on a sticker she had applied inside the 14-inch-long canoe read, "all this will pass, in our journey, despite challenges. If we keep moving, pushing forward, we can all realize our dreams."

"(The canoe) has my son's name on it," she said, along with a message encouraging anyone who finds it to remember that "whatever life throws at you, just keep going forward."

Inocian, who teaches kindergarten and first grade at Rock Creek Grant School in Bullhead, South Dakota, was among about a dozen teachers participating in a two-day professional development project conducted by the UND College of Education in partnership with the International Water Institute, based in Fargo.

During the Institute's "River of Dreams" project, each teacher received a canoe to paint, decorate and apply messages. They "launched" the canoes, dropping them from the Greater Grand Forks Sorlie Bridge, on Tuesday, Aug. 15, in hopes that whoever finds them will respond to the Institute's directions that also appeared written in the canoe.

Each canoe has a different number, along with the request to "track this discovery on the website, riverofdreams.org," said Taylor Lemieux, the Institute's monitoring and education specialist.

The person who finds the canoe can post, on the website, a picture and any notes about where, when or how they found it, Lemieux said. "Sometimes we get some really cool pictures from people who've found the canoes." That person is also encouraged to re-launch the canoe.

The person who initially created and launched the canoe can check online to see if their canoe has been found and the circumstances surrounding its discovery.

The "River of Dreams" project started about 20 years ago with five schools in Minnesota, and later "kind of fell through the cracks," Lemieux said. About 10 years ago, the Institute received federal funds to revamp and restart the program, "and it has grown from there."

This year, 42 schools are participating, she said.

The goal of the program is to increase awareness and knowledge of the watershed and place-based education and to broaden participants' understanding of Indigenous peoples.

"Everyone who's been involved really loves this project," Lemieux said.

It is estimated that 1,500 students each year are learning about the watershed through this program, said Joshua Hunter, UND associate professor of educational foundations and research, who was involved in leading a series of experiences about place-based education.

The program is about "giving them direct experience — learning about (place-based education) and engaging in it, and then providing that type of learning to their kids in their classes," Hunter said.

In Grand Forks, the teachers who participated this week in the Institute's "River of Dreams" project, funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation, are mostly upper elementary and some middle school teachers. They came from Rock Creek Grant School on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation; Thompson (N.D.) Public School; and Circle of Nations School at Wahpeton, North Dakota.

On Monday, Aug. 14, artist and sculptor Bennett Brien of Belcourt, North Dakota — probably best known for the now-retired UND Fighting Sioux logo and the buffalo sculpture that graces the North Dakota Capitol grounds — spoke with the teachers about Native American culture and his art, but also the meaning of different colors and symbols used in that culture.

Brien worked with the teachers on their individual canoes as they chose the colors, symbols and written messages they wanted to apply somewhere on the canoes.

"On my canoe is my flag — I am so proud of my country — and your country's flag," said Juvy Vacunador, originally from the Philippines, who began teaching fourth, fifth and sixth grade at Rock Creek Grant School in February, after moving to Bullhead from Las Vegas.

The message she applied on her canoe captured her gratitude, she said. "I am so grateful for the opportunity to be part of this project."

The canoes were carved out of white cedar and handcrafted by Asher Kingrey, of Bemidji, Minnesota, who serves as project specialist with the International Water Institute.

White cedar is waterproof and will continually float, Hunter said.

Bernadette Borja teaches science, math and social studies to seventh- and eighth-graders at Rock Creek Grant School. Although the school is physically located on a portion of the Standing Rock Indian Reservation that stretches into South Dakota, it adheres to North Dakota educational guidelines.

"As a cultural teacher, this project means a lot," said Borja, who will begin her fourth year of teaching at the school this fall, after relocating from the Philippines.

She and her colleagues "have learned a lot from this project, and we can apply this in our classes," she said, adding that she expects her students will especially enjoy the interactive aspects of the lessons she's learned and plans to incorporate into her classroom.

Hunter and his colleagues in the UND College of Education, will continue to work with this group of teachers for roughly the next two years, he said, meeting with them via videoconferencing and when they return for another similar workshop next summer.

In the next year, the teachers will also explore another aspect of learning through a program, North Dakota American Essential Understandings, which is "a collection of lessons and teachings that come from the different tribes that reside in North Dakota," Hunter said.

The overall purpose is to help the teachers learn more about "the natural world around us and how they can apply that to their teaching," he said, noting that these insights would be natural fit for teaching of the sciences, but also other topics, such as "geography and how watersheds change the geography of an area" as well as cultural history and art.