Service Learning - Cultural Kitchen Cleanup and Repair

For my service learning project, I volunteered at the Cultural Kitchen on the EDCC campus for two hours on Friday, March 10th. The cultural kitchen is a space on campus that has the different tools that natives from the pacific northwest used to cook food. These include a cob oven, fire pit, cedar plank roofs and cedar seating. They commonly host salmon and clam bakes, which are foods that the natives commonly eat. There is also a canoe being being built by hand in this space, in a traditional manner of course. Some of these tools are wood and require sanding and cleaning, which is what we started with. We started with these sticks that hold salmon by snapping into holes in the ground near the fire, similar to these (I forgot to snap a picture!)

We first washed them with water and cleaned them using sponges. We then placed them by the fire so they could dry up a little. After this we were able to sand them down, as they must be very smooth to be able to hold the salmon properly. After this, we then weeded an area so we could plant some fern plants native to the area. We cleared the area of weeds and made sure the ground was proper and not muddy, and surrounded the area with rocks to indicate to people to stay off the ground. We then dug holes and inserted the fern plants. 

After this, the supervisor showed us how the cob and in ground ovens were used and what types of food were cooked in them. 

The goals that Juliene explained to us were mainly focused on having a place that pays homage to the native people of the area. She herself being native and growing up in a place heavily populated by the native people has given her a perspective of how important it is to preserve the way things used to be, and thought this was a great way to do it, and also present it to people like me who were unaware of most of this stuff. 

This volunteer experience really made me think about the importance of cultural preservation and diversity. Having places like this on campus can be very important to showcase other culture and contribute ideas for people of other cultures such as myself. It is our duty to help preserve these cultures as they have a very important impact on this area and maintaining these methods and ideas are extremely important. Volunteering for projects such as this is very important as the native people are very underrepresented in our population but have contributed so much to the history of this area. To be honest it's not something I would have considered or thought about but seeing and learning the history of Washington state through this service learning project has really made me see how much the culture of native americans is underrepresented today.

A connection I made to our Biology course is the benefit of having Annelida, or earthworms, in the soil while planting the ferns. Earthworms have an enormously positive effect on the soil, which improves plant growth. They convert organic matter and soil particles into casts by partially digesting and excreting it. Earthworm casts are five times richer in available nitrogen, seven times richer in available phosphates, and 11 times richer in available potassium, which is incredibly beneficial for the soil. 

Some questions this project raised:

1. What other foods did the native eat besides salmon and clams?

2. Did the technology in terms of food and tools differ between tribes in this area?

3. How long ago were these technologies used in this area/When were natives still the majority population?

4. How else can one experience the technologies and culture of the native people/Are there museums for this kind of thing? 

Contact Information:

Juliene Wall

Phone: (425) 640-1882

Email: juliene.wall@edmail.edcc.edu