Learning Through Listening: Native American Issues in Rural Oregon Communities
Ethnic Studies and Sociology 499/599
by Hillarie Champ
Class
Overview
Under the expert supervision and guidance of the course administrators Kurt Peters and Dwaine Plaza, a group of 20 Oregon State University undergraduate and graduate students headed to Eastern Oregon during the spring break of March 2006 to embark on a non-traditional journey of community discovery outside the classroom. The area of the Burns/Hines and the Burns Paiute tribal comunities formed the basis of this investigative case study. Over the time frame of only five days ES 499 students interacted with several community stakeholders and tribal leaders of the Burns Paiute reservation, trying to gain a basic understanding of the community structure and relations that identified this unique culture and diverse community.
The role of the students, and really the goal of the project, was to facilitate conversation amongst the various stakeholders to gain firsthand insight and wisdom into the issues that rural communities face. Learning through listening was how you might define the very nontraditional nature of this course. At various times during the five day period of the course, each student assumed the role of active listener, facilitator, recorder, presenter, and an overall collegial and sensitive member of the learning team for all activities. Overall, intellectual engagement and active participation was the most concerning aspect of this course.
In reviewing the course goals it is important to note that while our purpose was not that of defining circumstances and presenting a structured set of solutions, through our presence, I feel that we were able to cultivate discussion and unravel some threads that have entangled rural communities throughout America. The course was structured in a way that brought together diverse community members and fostered a welcoming environment with open discussion on the issues of gender, race, health care, economic development, drug abuse, law enforcement, education, entertainment, and natural resource concerns.
Through listening, analysis and collaboration with different community stakeholders including: cattle ranchers, youth corrections officers, school officials, human health and service providers, chamber of commerce, high school students, seniors, extension services personnel, law enforcement officers, and tribal leaders, the course participants have developed a better understanding of the complex issues facing rural communities trying to achieve sustainable development.
The Case for Natural Resources
Sustainability requires that communities find ways to meet the needs of the present while leaving equal or better opportunities for those of the future. Sustainable development must be socially responsible, economically viable, and ecologically sound. Many rural communities have become so preoccupied with raising economic capital that they have allowed the social and ecological capital of their communities to become depleted or worse unrecoverable. Economic development is rooted in social and ecological resources. Thus, ecological development cannot be sustainable without sustaining social and ecological development as well.
Protecting the natural resources of a community has many holistic benefits which include:
Today we must look at finding solutions that will meet the needs of our economy without compromising the ability of future economies to prosper. It is not an either/or world any more. The old approach of choosing between the environment and the economy is no longer a viable option. There is an abundant wealth of knowledge available to address the issues involved in natural resourc management and I encourage you to investigate some of the sites that I have included as links in the following section. Remarkably farmers, ranchers and concerned activist groups are taking the initiative and beginning to move forward and enter into an age of natural capitalism and land stewardship.
Links
Under the expert supervision and guidance of the course administrators Kurt Peters and Dwaine Plaza, a group of 20 Oregon State University undergraduate and graduate students headed to Eastern Oregon during the spring break of March 2006 to embark on a non-traditional journey of community discovery outside the classroom. The area of the Burns/Hines and the Burns Paiute tribal comunities formed the basis of this investigative case study. Over the time frame of only five days ES 499 students interacted with several community stakeholders and tribal leaders of the Burns Paiute reservation, trying to gain a basic understanding of the community structure and relations that identified this unique culture and diverse community.
The role of the students, and really the goal of the project, was to facilitate conversation amongst the various stakeholders to gain firsthand insight and wisdom into the issues that rural communities face. Learning through listening was how you might define the very nontraditional nature of this course. At various times during the five day period of the course, each student assumed the role of active listener, facilitator, recorder, presenter, and an overall collegial and sensitive member of the learning team for all activities. Overall, intellectual engagement and active participation was the most concerning aspect of this course.
In reviewing the course goals it is important to note that while our purpose was not that of defining circumstances and presenting a structured set of solutions, through our presence, I feel that we were able to cultivate discussion and unravel some threads that have entangled rural communities throughout America. The course was structured in a way that brought together diverse community members and fostered a welcoming environment with open discussion on the issues of gender, race, health care, economic development, drug abuse, law enforcement, education, entertainment, and natural resource concerns.
Through listening, analysis and collaboration with different community stakeholders including: cattle ranchers, youth corrections officers, school officials, human health and service providers, chamber of commerce, high school students, seniors, extension services personnel, law enforcement officers, and tribal leaders, the course participants have developed a better understanding of the complex issues facing rural communities trying to achieve sustainable development.
The Case for Natural Resources
Sustainability requires that communities find ways to meet the needs of the present while leaving equal or better opportunities for those of the future. Sustainable development must be socially responsible, economically viable, and ecologically sound. Many rural communities have become so preoccupied with raising economic capital that they have allowed the social and ecological capital of their communities to become depleted or worse unrecoverable. Economic development is rooted in social and ecological resources. Thus, ecological development cannot be sustainable without sustaining social and ecological development as well.
Protecting the natural resources of a community has many holistic benefits which include:
- allowing for a higher
quality of life to be enjoyed by residents who increasingly place a
high value in the ecological environment that they inhabit
- increasing the attractive
marketing of tourism and the added value of its revenue to the local
economy
- providing clean air, water, and soil that are indespensible and increasingly hard to come by
- investing in an avenue with which entreprenuers, farmers, and ranchers can diversify their business to benefit the local economy
- restoring the abundant capacity of the
natural and scenic landscape to provide habitat for native plants and
animals adding beauty & wonder to the community
- preservating the cultural
values and traditional needs of the native population
- sustaining an ecological system that will bring prosperity and enjoyment to future generations
Today we must look at finding solutions that will meet the needs of our economy without compromising the ability of future economies to prosper. It is not an either/or world any more. The old approach of choosing between the environment and the economy is no longer a viable option. There is an abundant wealth of knowledge available to address the issues involved in natural resourc management and I encourage you to investigate some of the sites that I have included as links in the following section. Remarkably farmers, ranchers and concerned activist groups are taking the initiative and beginning to move forward and enter into an age of natural capitalism and land stewardship.
Links
- US Dept. of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service
- Sustainable Development Department (SD), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
- OSU
Sustainable Rural Communities Initiative
- University of Washington Rural Technology Initiative
- University of Oregon Institute for a Sustainable Environment
- Washington State
University Center for Sustaining Agriculture & Natural Resources
- WWW Virtual Library of Sustainable Development
- Sustainable Table: The Issues
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