Garden Walk
Spring Unit

Families will identify weather patterns and cultural activities that occur in the spring and why they are important to the Tulalip people.

st̕əlǰixʷ - Medicine

ʔuhiʔhədəb - Spring

qʷuʔbačšəd - Rainbow

ʔəsq̓aƛ̕əb - Cloudy

ʔəsšəxʷəb - Windy

ʔuqəlb - Raining

ʔubaqʷuʔb - Snowing

ʔəsgəqəb - Sunny

cə̓ca̓ʔus - Thimbleberry sprouts

bubx̌əd - Horsetail fertile shoots

scə̓dᶻx̌ - Stinging Nettles

šəgʷaʔac - Salmonberry sprouts

stabaɬ kʷi dᶻəlpil - What season is it?

ʔəsčal tiʔəʔ sləx̌il - How is the weather?

stab tiʔəʔ - What is this?

___ tiʔəʔ - This is ___.

ʔuʔəɬəd čəɬ ʔu ʔə ti ___ - Can we eat ___?

stabaɬ st̕əlǰix tiʔəʔ - What kind of medicine is it?

1. Review vocabulary and garden identification cards before heading to the garden. Pack any necessary supplies for working in the garden (gloves, shovel, hat, etc.).

2. Tell the story how nettles save people shared by Roger Fernandes and sing the weather song. Now you are ready to pack up and head to the garden.

3. When you arrive to the garden, ask your ʔiišəd (family) ʔəsčal tiʔəʔ sləx̌il (How is the weather) they should all respond back using the Lushootseed weather words. Once everyone in your family has responded you can sing the weather song again.

4. Once we have established what the weather is like go and identify as many plants as you can that are on our scavenger hunt cards. You can ask each other, stab tiʔəʔ (What is this?) and respond ___ tiʔəʔ (This is ___) using the cards for help.

5. If you would like to help clean up the garden you can also pull weeds to help keep the garden in good condition for the rest of families to enjoy.

Family and intergenerational learning
The community garden is located at the Tulalip health clinic where there are parking spots nearby and a trail walking you straight to the garden so it is easily accessible for physically disabled or challenged folks; the whole family can enjoy this activity!

Local Place Connections
Walk your family around the health clinic garden to observe what’s growing with the plant identification cards and talk about the purpose of the garden and why it might be located in this place.

huyadadčəɬ:
Snohomish people paid attention to the natural signs of the world to know when the next season will arrive based off the appearance of animals and plants which is still practiced today.

The Cleansing/Smudging

Spring Unit

Families will identify weather patterns and cultural activities that occur in the spring and why they are important to the Tulalip people.

st̕əlǰixʷ – Medicine

sbadəš – tobacco

stabaɬ ƛ̕ax̌ʷdup tiʔəʔ – What kind of plant is this?

stab ɬuhəliʔtxʷ – What does it heal?

st̕əlǰixʷ ʔu ʔə ti ___ – Is ___ medicine?

Small Prayer

ʔu x̌aʔx̌aʔ šəq siʔab – Oh Lord / Father

ʔut̕igʷicid čəɬ dxʷʔal tiʔəʔ sləx̌il – We thank you for this day.

ʔut̕igʷicid čəɬ dxʷʔal ti sʔəsq̓ʷuʔčəɬ – We thank you for allowing our gathering.

gʷəhəliʔtxʷ čəxʷ ti luƛ̕luƛ̕čəɬ – Please bless our elders.

gʷəhəliʔtxʷ čəxʷ ti bədbədaʔčəɬ – Please bless our children.

gʷəhəliʔtxʷ čəxʷ ti sʔalʔalčəɬ – Please bless our home.

ƛ̕ub ʔəsʔistəʔ – So be it, Amen

• Tulalip Peoples use smudging to purify a person’s body, spirit and areas. Smudging is a ceremony in which you burn medicines (sweet grass, sage, cedar, tobacco etc.) to cleanse the body, spirit, and areas being worked on.

• Prepare the smudge bowl or bundle: materials needed will be an abalone shell, some form of medicinal herbs, lighter or matches. Take a couple pinches of your choice of herb and place it into the abalone shell and light the st̕əlǰixʷ (medicine).

• Smudge Our Bodies: When we smudge, we cover a few key areas: the mind (top of the head), ears, eyes, mouth, heart, back, hair, and whole being (push the smoke down the body towards the floor) and the feet. First, cleanse our hands with the smoke as if we were washing our hands. We then draw the smoke over all of those different areas with our hands.

• Once the smudge is completed it can burn out naturally. Some choose to bury the ashes or wash them away with water. Check with your Elders and knowledge keepers about their protocols for the ashes after a smudge.

• Smudge our Home: You can smudge your home at night or during the day. What’s most important is that you smudge your home when you feel it needs to be done, or if you feel negative, sluggish, anxious, or stressed.

• Start at the front door of the home and hold your smudge: Then, begin to move slowly around the home. If you feel comfortable you can sing a song or say a prayer during this time.

• Closing the Ceremony: When you arrive back at the front door, say your final prayers for the home and the people in it. Then speak your intention one last time to close the smudging ceremony.

Family and intergenerational learning
Move mindfully and with care, walking around the entire interior perimeter of the home. Be sure to allow the smoke to drift into even the hidden spaces, like inside closets, basements, and dark corners.

Local Place Connections
Our homes or long houses have always been a safe and spiritual place for many of the Snohomish people, it is always good to cleanse or smudge these areas since we spend most of our time there.

huyadadčəɬ:
Smudging is important to the Tulalip people because it is the bridge between mortal life and higher realms, bringing in good spirits and eliminating any negative, stagnant ones. This ceremony lifts away any sadness, impurities, anxieties, and remediates poor health, leaving nothing but peace and harmony for both individuals and the environment after the cleansing.

I spy (nature walk scavenger hunt)
Spring Unit

Families will identify weather patterns and cultural activities that occur in the spring and why they are important to the Tulalip people.

c̓əc̓aʔus – Thimbleberry sprouts

bubx̌əd – Horsetail fertile shoots

sc̓ədᶻx̌ – Stinging Nettles

šəgʷaʔac – Salmonberry sprouts

gʷədbixʷ – Wild blackberry

č̓alas – Bracken fern

ʔuləx̌əd – Gather from nature

swəwaʔdis – Dandelion

x̌iʔx̌isdaʔ – Colors

čəcil – Pink

č̓uɬəyʔalus – Green

hudalus – Orange

kay̓kay̓alus – Blue

pədixʷalus – Brown

šuk̓ʷil – Gray

t̕aqahalus – Purple

x̌ibəč̓ – Black

x̌ičəc – Red

x̌ʷiqʷac – Yellow

x̌ʷiqʷəq̓ʷ – White

• Print out color worksheet and decide where your family will do their scavenger walk at.
• As you go on the nature walk outside talk with your family about what you’re seeing and noticing in your environment. Think about these questions: What do you see? What do you hear? What do you smell? What do you feel? What are you thinking?
• Collect colorful samples from your walk to take home for observations. As Native people, we do our best to improve the environment we live in and do no harm. If you are not sure whether you can take something, ask your family members and elders.
• Explain beforehand that you would like your family to write down their observations during the nature walk and collect samples. Older family members can help younger children to write down their observations.
• During your walk ask open-ended questions to get families thinking about the weather and seasonal changes around them. Here are some examples:

• Tell me about the weather today?
• Is the weather always like this? Why or why not?
• Can you tell me more about the trees?
• Can you describe what you’re seeing?
• What do you notice?
• What do you hear?

• As you walk, you can sing “what’s the weather like today?”.
• Now go collect a colorful item fitting each color category on your chart. After collecting one of each color, take time to identify items we already know from our walk and identify any unknown findings.
• Reflect on your experience with questions like:What did you learn during your nature walk?

• How is this walk different from some of your outside experiences during the spring?
• Do you think that things will look the same later on in the year?
• Why or why not?

Family and intergenerational learning

During this walk, you may travel on unpaved, uneven trails for up to a mile so be sure to have a wagon or stroller for the youngest children and make sure there are chairs and such for breaks if anyone in your family can’t walk for long periods of time.

Local Place Connections

Snohomish people paid attention to the natural signs of the world to know when the next season will arrive based off the appearance of animals and plants which is still practiced today.

huyadadčəɬ:

Nature is an essential part of our Indigenous community, there can be no cultural integrity or justice without ecological integrity. Our people always cared for the land, we helped the land change seasons. We must still practice this thousand-year-old tradition and help mother nature change seasons.