THIS EPISODE CONTINUES DETAILING OUR STUDENT AND FACULTY COLLABORATION WITH THE ROUND ROCK COMMUNITY IN WESTERN NAVAJO NATION. IN 2014 THE REMOTE FARMING COMMUNITY LOST THEIR HISTORIC TRADING POST TO A DEVASTING FIRE. THE TRADING POST HAD BEEN OPERATING SINCE THE LATE 1800’S AND WAS ONE OF A FEW THAT WERE NAVAJO-OWNED AND RUN.
OUR TIME WITH ROUND ROCK RESIDENTS REVEALED THE COMMUNITY WAS GRIEVING FAR MORE THAN THE LOSS OF A BUILDING AND CONTAMINATION OF THE LAND AROUND IT. THE NAVAJO ARE EXPERTS AT RAISING SHEEP AND THEY’D LOST THE PLACE WHERE THEY COULD PROCESS AND TRADE LIVESTOCK, BUY GROCERIES AND JEWELRY-MAKING SUPPLIES, AND RECEIVE THEIR MAIL.
BUT THE BIGGEST SURPRISE TO US WAS THAT ROUND ROCK RESIDENTS REPEATEDLY SPOKE OF LOSING THE BENCH THAT SAT OUT IN FRONT OF THE TRADING POST. THIS WAS THE PLACE WHERE THEY FOUND OUT ABOUT CEREMONIES, AGRICULTURAL NEWS, HOW THEIR AUNTIES AND UNCLES WERE DOING. WE REALIZED RESIDENTS WERE MISSING THE HEART PLACE OF THEIR COMMUNITY AND THAT FACT INFORMED OUR FINAL RECOMMENDATIONS.
REMEMBER AS YOU LISTEN THAT INDIGENOUS WAYS ARE RELATIONAL WAYS AND STORY WAYS. INDIGENOUS DESIGN AND PLANNING ENGAGES GENERATIONS PAST AND FUTURE. WE RECOGNIZE AND RESTORE FOUNDATIONS THROUGH ROBUST, AGES-OLD WISDOM THAT IS VITAL IN THIS TIME OF UPHEAVAL – AND THIS CAN BENEFIT INDIGENOUS AND NON-INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES ALIKE.
WE BEGIN WITH AN INTERVIEW WITH DR. TONY FETTUS, PROFESSOR OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE FROM UNM. LATER IN THE EPISODE WE TALK WITH NAVJO NATION DELEGATE CARL SLATER AND ROUND ROCK RESIDENT AND ONE OF OUR KEY ADVISORS ON THIS PROJECT - KAYLA JACKSON.
Podden och tillhörande omslagsbild på den här sidan tillhör Dr. Theodore Jojola, Indigenous Design and Planning Institute. Innehållet i podden är skapat av Dr. Theodore Jojola, Indigenous Design and Planning Institute och inte av, eller tillsammans med, Poddtoppen.