The Problem
The Gladstone Indian Education Program hopes to educate the community about the importance of water. Without water, there is no life. Without water there is no wildlife. Without wildlife there is no messengers for our native community who rely on the tradition of our messengers, which include the creepers, the crawlers, the fliers and the swimmers. It is the simplest of things to stop and take the time to realize what might be lost in the future. Our wish is to make everybody realize that when you see a living creature, big or small, four legged or two, it is only because of water that they are here to see.
Our Plan
The Gladstone Indian Education students will participate by visiting our own Lake Michigan as well as the nearby rivers and Bay. They will sit for a half hour and journal every animal and insect that comes to the water to drink. They also will have to look up the message that each of these animals bring to them. Since in the Native Tradition, it is said that each animal is a messenger and carry a message for those who come across it's path. Then, the students have to share their findings with their classroom, parents, and teachers. For their parents, this is a very important piece of information, since many of those parents, grandparents and great grandparents lost the traditions during the boarding school era. This is a message that needs to be delivered through our messengers, for the messengers. Water is Life. Take care of our precious resource. Chi-Miigwetch (Big-Thank You)
