today we left Umatilla, then we went to mcnary dam to check out the fish and ladders with the museum. then we went to do laundry. unproductive day today. down time :) this beaver was just funny looking to me.
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day 6: this morning we went to the hills close by to check out the huckleberries. they are green and tiny yet, they will not be ready for months still. we learned about the variety of huckleberry, there are at least 3 that we learned; a red tiny sweet huckleberry, regular ones, and ones that are sticky with extra sweetness. after this inspecting the berries, we went to a lake to eat lunch and swim for a bit. took awhile for anyone to hop in. seemed like everyone was preoccupied by feeding the ducks bread, even though bread is unhealthy for them. it was about 3 when it was time to head down the hills. we got to camp for a quick pitstop before going to do the powwow infused yoga. i wasnt sure how it was going to be but to the surpise of it being motivative, fun, and a very well planned work out. but to pay for a class might be out of the question. i might have to suggest to student life or HUNAC to pick up yoga classes for the school. then for dinner, we had a feast with traditional food...
day 5: we went to the governce center to learn about traditional ways, foods, and culture. i was really tired and felt like this topic was like the back of my hand. the yakama and umatilla ways are very similar. loss culture in umatilla had called on the wanapums from priest rapids to help guide culture back into the reservation. its crazy on how much people know my family from there. Micheal buck is my cousin and his family was the ones to help bring culture back to umtilla. its amazing on how natives from across the lands help each other. then we went to a greenhouse where native plants were being made to restore the natural landscape. i wasnt able to stay the whole time due to aises applications due. the greenhouse smelt of fresh sage. it was such a beautiful smell that i havent smelt forever
day 4: today we traveled from the national forest to pendleton to meet with a representitive of the cultural ways in Umatilla. she welcomed us into her yard, which had a nice fire pit with plenty of seats around it for everyone. they went over all the activities they do on their property, including glass working, powwow infused yoga classes, and gardening. we left late so arrived pretty late. the house shared their traditional knowledge of foods. we all ended up staying up until midnight talking about traditions, goals, and educational values. w we also stopped at a museum with lots of stuff on native people and rescue animals.
I Woke up at about 7 to cold cereal on a cold morning. It was good though. We ate, got together to play a game where we had to go to outer space and name a thing that starts with our name, it was like the type of game to get to know each others names... I guess, wasn't good at it. then rushed to clean up after making our lunches and gather gear together. We went to meet up with tom walker at soda creek. Here, we discussed stream restoration. Our class was split into two groups since there was 2 different career options to experience. Tom had 2 different for the class to do; remove damaged fences that protected willows planted along the creek, and gather fallen trees to place in the creek to allow it to meander the meadow. All I was able to do for the morning was remove the fences. It was a crazy work out to wiggle the posts out and using a screwdriver to undo the ties while there was pylers and cutters. It was no easy task but it was fun in its own way. There was so many geese the...
Woke up at like 6-8 ish. Some crews had to get more early to getting breakfast ready. I was in the lucky one, I wasn't assigned a morning chore. Went to the bathroom. Its a stank outhouse, but that's the usual as in a restroom in the middle of a national forest. I think I got an alright amount sleep on the trip to our destination, lava lake. We got to lava lake about 1030 ish. Meet up with the lead ranger, jim. He went over his duty in the park, and educational background. He then introduced amy, sarah, Simon, katie, Jeff, and Cassidy. Their occupations range from deputy director, motorized recreation, civil engineer, children's forest director, fire ecology, and speclist respectively. After we got to hear about the work they do and their origins stories, which are interesting to contemplate on such as a career in the field. We went up to lava crater. It was a nice view going up, even though it was like a 7 minute ride. It was bare due to the recent lava activity (within th...
First one: arrived at the school at about 8 in the morning. We got our personal gear together and waited for everyone to get there. Once everyone got there. We then got gear that was provided by the unversity. Once everyone has their gear together and the vans were evenly distributed with people, and food. We was off to biggs, Oregon. We got gas, and had a delay with a vehicle's trailer. The trailer floors insulation was falling off. Got it dealt with and got on the road to bend. after driving since 12 til about 6 at night. Once at bend. We got our tents set up, crewed up and got dinner cooking. After dinner. We got ready for bed after discussing what the game plan was for the next day. G'night. provided by the unversity. Once everyone has their gear together and the vans were evenly distributed with people, and food. We was off to biggs, Oregon. We got gas, and had a delay with a vehicle's trailer. The trailer floors insulation was falling off. Got it dealt with and got o...