When we are at 果冻传媒, we are in the city of Seattle, which is the ancestral land and home of the Duwamish Tribe. The Duwamish people lived here for 10,000 years and still live here today. We at 果冻传媒 honor with gratitude the land itself and the Duwamish People.

This is the Land Acknowledgment that we have up in our classroom. A Land Acknowledgement is a formal statement that recognizes and respects Indigenous Peoples as traditional stewards of this land. They have become more and more common around the country, but it is important to note that Land acknowledgment is a traditional custom dating back centuries for many Native communities and nations. For non-Indigenous communities, it鈥檚 a powerful way to show respect and to honor the Indigenous Peoples of the land in which we live. From the Duwamish Tribe鈥檚 website;聽 鈥淎cknowledgement is a simple way of resisting the erasure of Indigenous histories and working towards honoring and inviting the truth.鈥�

Land Acknowledgements are so important but are simply not enough in terms of supporting our indigenous communities. It is an essential starting point and should be done in the hopes to inspire others to take action to support Indigenous communities. If you鈥檙e delivering a land acknowledgment out of guilt or because everyone else is doing it, it may be valuable for you to participate in some self-reflection.聽

So, What are some ways that you can take the important next step of taking action after your land acknowledgment? Here are two important next steps:

Amplify Indigenous Voices
Recently, following a land acknowledgment to kick off our Faculty & Staff meeting, a Faculty member shared an that centered on visual artist Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, creator of the 1992 piece I See Red: Target. Back in July 2020, the National Gallery of Art in DC bought a painting by an Indigenous artist for the first time. When asked about why it took so long for the National Gallery of Art to acquire a work from an Indigenous artist, Smith stated; 鈥�…Because of popular myth-making, Native Americans are seen as vanished. It helps assuage the government鈥檚 guilt about an undocumented genocide, as well as stealing the whole country.鈥� We must not let the erasure of Indigenous voices continue. Supporting Indigenous artists is a great way of resisting that.聽

Pay Real Rent/donate to Indigenous Organizations
If you are someone who lives or works in Seattle, then you are living and working on Duwamish land. The Duwamish tribe is one of 245 Indigenous tribes that are not federally recognized by the US Government, meaning that the US Government does not have just access to the resources of their homelands. Redistribution of resources is one concrete step towards justice. Real Rent Duwamish is an organization that calls on folks living and working on Duwamish land to stand in solidarity with the Indigenous peoples of this land by making monthly payments to the organization. All funds go directly to Duwamish Tribal Services (DTS) to support the revival of Duwamish culture and the vitality of the Duwamish Tribe. You can find out more about the program

Learn more from these resources:
Land Acknowledgement 鈥� What is it and Why is it Important?

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You can hear it when you walk through the front gate at ucds. It’s that subtle hum of聽playful energy聽that permeates everything we do. As we wind down from this year鈥檚 summer projects, we want to take a minute and THANK YOU for all of your support at the last two community auctions; your generosity inspired some incredible improvements to our Labyrinth playground!

Long before bids were placed or paddles were raised, our teachers, administrators and even聽kids聽were thinking about the new playground. Early Elementary students pondered playground enhancements in their Math Vitamins, teachers formed a cohort and began to study how our students play, and our admin team began combing through different catalogs of equipment.

This approach was intentional. Students and teachers had a voice in the process, creating a sense of collaboration and spirit of play around the playground renovation.

Students had collaborative conversations & learning experiences with teachers over the last few years to help create the new playground, including:

• Building a math playground聽during Math Vitamin
• Journaling and reflection鈥攕tudents wrote about their favorite parts of the playground and why they enjoyed them
• Collecting data鈥攕tudents surveyed their peers, asking them what they enjoy during play
• Starting a Focus Group鈥攁聽focus group of EE students explored play around the world by asking the questions: “What does a playground look like in different countries?” and “How might the environment influence play?”

Teachers also observed that our students loved running around and playing in open spaces; so we are especially excited for them to use the new turf spaces.

Today, the culmination of all of our work was so exciting to see! Happy students were so excited to play on the new structures鈥攁 highlight is the new slide that connects the upper and lower play spaces and the fun new climbing tower!

Below are a few images and videos that document the creation process鈥攁nd the happy results of a wonderful, community-wide collaboration.

Please check out the evolution of the playground construction with this cool time-lapse video:

The Ribbon Ceremony was a huge success鈥攈ere are a few highlights!

Your students are having a great first day!

-Elise

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