Parks for All Californians

The trips and activities provided in this previous year included the Indigenous arts and crafts, interpreting wildfire data with youth from the Karuk Tribe, Sacramento rafting trip with youth from the American Indian Summer Institute (AISI), and the summer (2023) camping trip. Throughout these activities and trips a number of educational teachings were woven through to provide students, not only outdoor recreation, but to emphasize the importance of education as it pertains to the arts, science, technology and higher education. Below is a breakdown for reach trip and activity and how it related to education as defined in the application guide.

Momi Nak Sa Summer Camping Trip: This year the camping trip written into the Momi Nak Sa Outdoor Program switched locations from Lassen National Forest to the Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve, due to the Dixie Fire that consumed a majority of the National Forest and potential camping locations. Main aspects of the camping trip were to provide an outdoor experience to youth that had never been camping before, while also integrating career pathways that youth could pursue in their futures, while also conveying the importance of environmental stewardship and the impacts to climate change. One component that heavily influenced the activities provided to youth on this trip was gathering native plants and foods found on the reserve and off the reserve. Some of the plants gathered included soap root, geophytes, mug wort, and identification of Native plants that were out of season.

The reason why these topics were focused on was due to (1) the BCCER employing students of Chico State to become land stewards to gain job experience and receive federally recognized certification while attending school and working at the BCCER, (2) understanding and identifying culturally important plants found on these lands was intended to foster a sense of duty to stewardship of the lands. While on the ecological reserves, staff from MIT also provided education on the land and how it relates to Tribal histories. The camping trip's goal is to facilitate a space for outdoor recreation, while also weaving in education/career pathways provided by the BCCER, cultivate land stewardship in youth, and learn tribal histories as it pertains to place based learning.

Sacramento Rafting Trip: The rafting trip's focus revolved around outdoor recreation and self-exploration when it came to rafting down the river. Educational standards that were emphasized on this trip were the alternation and engineering of the Sacramento River for agricultural throughout the years. Staff from MIT were able to identify locations on the Sacramento River that had been impacted by agricultural and changed the course of the river. Erosion was also identified throughout the rafting trip to show how human impacts have influenced the course of the river over time. A large portion of the education provided by MIT staff included the Tribal histories with the Sacramento River that identified construction of villages along the Sacramento, plant identification along the riparian zone, and lastly, career pathways that included working for the Tribes in cultural departments and outdoor recreation opportunities provided by the rafting guides. Rafting guides were able to share their experiences with outdoor recreation and the work with providing rafting tours. Interpreting Wildfire Data: This activity that focused on how to interpret wildfire data from prescribed burns involved youth from the Karuk Tribe who visited the BCCER. Youth from the Karuk Tribe were provided a tour of the BCCER to learn about prescribed burn operation that employees perform during the burn seasons. Youth were given firsthand experience of land recently burned by staff and the impacts fire has on the landscape. Land Stewardship was a focus of this tour along with educating youth on the historical impacts that fire has on the landscape and how California history has impacted prescribed and cultural fire on the landscape. Lastly Tribal youth were also provided with a tour and insight into being land stewards at the reserves and the duties that are associated with this job. The position of Land Steward is only available to those who are currently a Chico State student, which was emphasized by BCCER staff as a perk of applying and attending Chico State.

Indigenous Arts: hand game class: The hand game class primary focus was of the instruction in arts. The class was geared towards youth and their families, which facilitated cultural learning and bonding to create and learn how to play Games. Hand games is a Native American guessing game where two teams play against each other trying to guess which team is hiding a wooden Dowel that has a black mark on it. Two sets of dowels are handed to two team members, and they must hide the bone in each hand, while the opposing team must guess which and the marked (black) bone is in. Wooden Dowels were created to keep score. Youth were able to bead, paint, and Woodburn their downs with designs and favorite colors. Each team starts with five sticks and there are ten sticks in total. The goal is to get all ten sticks on your side. These classes lasted for 11 weeks, and each week youth and the families would cut, design, and learn how to play by staff from the BCCER and Four Winds. Youth and their families reported that this was their first time playing or that they had played when they were younger. Youth walked away wanting to play more even after the class had finished. Staff from Four Winds and the BCCER instructed youth on how to create their hand game sets, along with receive teachings on the importance of the game and its history in Native American communities. Chico State Vertebrate Museum: The Chico State Vertebrate Museum facilitated a learning experience for youth to self-explore a portion of the 13,000 Specimen housed in this museum. Planning from the BCCER, museum staff, and MIT chose a list of specimens to be displayed due to their cultural and biological significance. Students had the opportunity to view specimens up close, while also receiving biological education from museum staff. Additionally, the THPO for MIT was able to attend and provide insight on the cultural importance of specimens, while also telling traditional stories about specimens in the museum. The goal for the museum tour was to educate youth on the biological characteristics by museum staff, while also learning about Mechoopda uses of the specimen selected. Staff from the BCCER and the museum also emphasized the courses that were offered at Chico State's College of Natural Science.

Mechoopda Indian Tribe of Chico Rancheria - The Mechoopda Indian Tribe (MIT) has been a key partner in providing services to local Native American youth in Butte County. The Department of Environmental Planning and Protection and Tribal Historical Preservation Officer’s Department at MIT has been key players in assisting in planning and programming for the Momi Nak Sa Outdoor Program. Collaborations between the Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve (BCCER) and MIT have consisted of providing education to youth in the realm of science, Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), Tribal history, and cultural traditions. MIT has been a crucial partner in providing education and collaboration in all the trips and activities that have been provided and planned to be provided. Lessons learned from the beginning of the grant to the present is the importance of fostering and building relationships with the Tribes staff, but also the youth who participate in the trips and activities. Relationships fostered from this program have built trust among the youth and their families. One of the biggest activities that was planned for this year was a camping trip. The relationships created allowed for some families to feel comfortable allowing MIT and BCCER staff to take their youth camping. Some parents said that this was the first time they allowed their youth to participate in an overnight camping trip. Additionally, some parents also voiced that this was the first time their youth camped or even went fishing, which was one of the activities we included in the camping trip. The completion of the camping trip was a highlight of the trips that were completed for this year.

Four Winds of Indian Education, Inc. (Four Winds) is the grants home base and a key partner in all trips and activities provided in this grant. Four Winds provides services to Tribal youth and their families that include an after school program, community events, youth archery club, hand game club (Native American traditional games), cultural classes, and summer programs for P-12. Four Winds have been working in the community for many years and have the relationships and trust within the Native American community in Butte and surrounding counties. BCCER and Four Winds staff work very closely to provide trips and activities for Native youth within Butte County.

Youth were given an opportunity for exploration in the museum, while also receiving education on the many vertebrates that the museum holds. Youth also received cultural knowledge on how these specimens were used by the Mechoopda people, while also hearing additional stories from both Staff from BCCER and the Tribal Historical Preservation Officer (THPO) at the MIT. Office of Tribal Relations, California State University, Chico (Chico State) (OTR) at Chico State has been a crucial partner in providing outreach and trips/activities for the youth that this office serves. The OTR is a department located within the President’s Office that was created in 2018 to work with Tribes on a government-to-government level, provide outreach, recruitment, academic, and retention activities and support to Native students that attend Chico State and within Chico States service region. The OTR and the BCCER work together in providing updates and partnership with the Mechoopda Tribal council every month. In addition to OTR providing student services to college students attending Chico State, the OTR staff also work closely with Four Winds to bring Tribal youth to campus to facilitate an environment for youth to learn about and ask questions regarding attending college. This programming between Four Winds and the OTR staff has been named "Native Youth on Campus” Due to this Collaboration with the OTR staff and Four Winds, the BCCER staff also partner with these two entities to provide outreach to the Momi Nak Sa trips and actives and to also build upon relationships with the youth participating and their families.

Partnerships with OTR, MIT, and Four Winds allowed for youth to participate in trips and activities that facilitated education in the realm of social studies, career pathways, TEK, Natural Science, and cultural teachings. Lessons learned throughout this year have been the importance of collaboration and partnership between all parties and working directly with the community.

Tips and lessons learned from the activates and trips provided thus far include the importance of relationship building between partnering organizations and those being serviced, understanding and building trust among Native American Communities, Trust within the community, and working with the community.

Lessons learned while working with Four Winds and the families and youth that they service create relationship with the community. Cultivating relationships with the staff and community have been crucial to increasing the number of youths serviced for this grant. The partnership between the BCCER, Four Winds and the Office of Tribal Relations allowed for activities such as a tour of the Chico State Vertebrate Museum to teach youth about the specimen housed in this museum, the biological process that are associated with each specimen, and a cultural lesson to teach youth on the indigenous uses and traditional stories associated with specimen identified by MIT staff. Furthermore, accomplishments associated with the work with Four Winds included hand game making class for youth and their families that was 11 weeks long. Hand games is a traditional guessing game that is played in Native American communities throughout the United States.

Lessons learned from working with the OTR and Four Winds staff has been creating monthly meetings to discuss upcoming events and programming to see each organization can support each other. Communication is key. For instance, The Office of Tribal Relations holds a yearly weeklong event named the American Indian Summer Institute (AISI). The AISI goal is to bring high school students to campus to learn about all the types of colleges available to youth. This year the AISI program took students to UC Davis, Butte College, and Chico State to learn about programs and to tour the campuses. For the Chico State Visit, a rafting trip of the Sacramento River was planned by the BCCER and OTR, which included staff from MIT to take students on the Sacramento River to raft recreationally, but also to receive historical education of the Sacramento River and the importance of this waterway for both wildlife and the Indigenous people, the Mechoopda. Relationship building within the Native American Community has been the most crucial part of providing trip and activities to the communities and the Momi Nak Sa Outdoor Program has facilitated partnership between the three entities.