On September 22, 2021, over a thousand Whitworth students, faculty, and staff participated in Community Building Day, Whitworth’s annual service event. For the university as a whole, Community Building Day means partnering with and giving back to our Spokane community. For students and faculty involved in the George Whitworth Honors Program, it is also an opportunity to live out the public-facing aspect of our mission to “develop the world as it should be.”
At 8:00 in the morning, buses packed with Whitworth students went out into the community to serve local non-profits. The Honors students, however, remained on campus to address a need much closer to home.
One group of Honors students gathered before a panel of three members of the Spokane Tribe of Indians, who shared stories of the discrimination and oppression the tribe has faced in the past and continues to struggle against to this day. They spoke of the need for strong legal action to restore and protect their rights, the importance of their language and of the vital work the Salish School of Spokane is doing to preserve and maintain it, and the importance of putting their stories and experiences into writing and art to promote change. The students got to hear firsthand the struggles that the tribe faces in the wake of the 19th and 20th century assimilationist Indian Residential Schools and the censorship and suppression that followed when protestors tried to push back against these abuses. The students also learned about the strong actions that these speakers are taking to halt the destruction of their culture and the ways that we at Whitworth can partner with them in their efforts.
These partnerships take the form of three initiatives undertaken by six of the HN 300 students working under the guidance of Dr. Ross Watts. Juniors Drew Lorenc (majoring in Political Science) and Aaron Slape (English and Secondary Education) are working to record tribal stories. Juniors Skye Gordon (Political Science) and Megan Rediger (Business Administration and Spanish Language & Literature) are researching the history of the acquisition of Whitworth’s land, which originally belonged to the Spokane tribe. Lastly, juniors Savannah Hayward (Strategic Communications) and Ethan Worth (Mathematics) are finding a place on Whitworth grounds that can be repurposed to allow members of the Spokane Tribe to practice rituals and express their culture and traditions.
On Community Building Day, Savannah and Ethan led a group of Honors students in brainstorming potential options for this space. They talked about the tribe’s practical needs—good ventilation, for instance, as the purifying ritual of smudging involves the burning of plants to create smoke—and the logistical issues that come with repurposing land on campus. Each small group of students toured the grounds and put together a presentation with their own proposal for the location of the space. They got to be a part of a much larger initiative, spanning multiple classes of Honors students and extending beyond Whitworth’s campus into the community. According to Savannah, “It’s really exciting to be a part of something so much bigger than myself, something that will impact our community and come to fruition in a visible way on campus.”
But their work isn’t done yet. Moving forward, Savannah and Ethan will review the suggestions produced during Community Building Day and formulate a single formal proposal, complete with a location, budget, and logistical plan for scheduling and maintenance of the space. In the spring, the proposal will be taken up by next semester’s HN 300 students for refinement and further development, and it could be presented to the board of trustees as early as April of 2022. The ultimate goal is to produce tangible, visible results on campus, putting action behind the sentiments expressed by Whitworth’s Land Acknowledgement Statement, which was created by past Honors students to honor the Spokane Tribe’s ties to the land. They hope that their work, once complete, will serve as another step toward reconciliation with the tribe and open up avenues for further collaboration with and appreciation for their vibrant community.
As these projects progress, we’ll continue to highlight the incredible work that Savannah, Ethan, and the other HN 300 students are doing, so keep checking the blog!