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SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL DISTRICT
Green Spine and Park Project
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APA El Paso
The team spoke at the American Planning Association Texas Chapter Conference Thursday, Oct. 20th in El Paso for their presentation titled: ‘Using Science to Manage Heat, an Evidence-Based Approach to Urban Design’.
In the photo, from left to right: SWMD Research & Strategy in Urban Green Health, Dr. Rose Jones, SWMD Program Manager, Lannie McClelen, and Brent Bucknum, Hyphae Design Labs.
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This month we not only say thanks to our partners, but also illuminate the value of indigenous knowledge and recognize the importance of its influence on modern design. Through modern stories of Indigenous persons impacted by development and climate, to poetic sentiment and solutions that rekindle the human relationship with nature, this month's newsletter is a tribute to the earth and the amazing humans that make it inhabitable. | |
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What is Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK)?
TEK refers to the evolving knowledge acquired by Indigenous and local peoples over hundreds or thousands of years through direct contact with the environment. This knowledge is specific to a location and includes the relationships between plants, animals, natural phenomena, landscapes, and timing of events that are used for subsistence, including hunting, fishing, trapping, agriculture, and forestry.
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TEK and Worldviews on Nature
Though fundamentally different from Western precepts of nature, tribal ecological wisdom can teach us a great deal about repairing damaged ecosystems, considering that many Indigenous tribes, particularly vulnerable to climate change, are taking action not only to protect this knowledge and best practices in conservation, but ultimately to preserve their way of life.
Read more
Image Credit: 'The Earth and I are One' on acrylic by Enoch Kelly Haney (1940 – 2022). Enoch grew up in Seminole, Oklahoma; son of a full-blood Seminole and Creek Indian, his grandfather was Seminole Tribe chief in the 1940s. Commissioned by the Oklahoma Arts Council and dedicated on Earth Day, 1990.
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Indigenous Biophilic Design & Equitable Access to Nature Planning
Biophilia, which utilizes humankind’s innate biological connection to nature in design, is a practice that has been used for centuries. Inherently Indigenous design, biophilic design practices too are shaped, formed and inspired by the earth’s materials, and their impacts on human health and wellbeing. To plan for inclusive biophilic urban spaces, it’s important to highlight the opportunities for reclamation of a lost connection to place and to nature, but also by considering both the equitable distribution and design of nature. Read more...
| Photo credit: The Cully Park Inter-tribal Gathering Garden in Oregon.Courtesy of Timothy Beatley and the APA Report Planning for Biophilic Cities. JD Brown and Helen Santiago Fink, Oct. 2022 | | | |
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Spirit of the Trees
Five-part documentary series co-produced, written,
and edited by Texas Trees Foundation CEO Janette Monear
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Texas Trees Foundation CEO, Janette Monear co-produced, wrote the narration, and edited the PBS documentary Spirit of the Trees. This two-time Telly Award winning series weaves together native voices, art and music from 40 indigenous tribes and nations from around the country. This remarkable journey with Native People gives you insight into the traditions of their spiritual practices, foods and medicines, art and music, shelter and land management – all inseparably connected to trees, forests and Mother earth.
Here is just one part of the five-part series, this features Southeastern tribes and escaped slaves who fled to the Southern Florida Everglades and its virgin forests and cypress swamps. The natural harmony they developed with the Everglades ecosystem ultimately sustained their survival, and today they thrive as the "Unconquered Seminole Nation". This segment shares the Seminole journey into the 21st century through stories, photos, traditions and current efforts to preserve cultural knowledge and natural harmony with the land.
Watch video...
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Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants
Robin Wall Kimmerer beautifully illustrates how ancient indigenous knowledge can be woven with western science in order to heal land and our relationship with it. “Knowledge should be coupled with the responsibility to use that knowledge wisely…If we’re going to bring science and traditional ways together, the holders of indigenous knowledge need to control how it is used, and it needs to be shared freely, not taken.” - Robin Wall Kimmerer.
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When Native Americans settled in Isle de Jean Charles, 45 miles southwest from what is now New Orleans it was surrounded by marsh and coastal prairie. By 1957, the island still covered 35 square miles, but by the time widowed grocer and member of the Jean Charles Choctaw Nation, Billiot, returned to the remote area in Terrebonne Parish 30 years after moving away, it was less than 1 square mile and nearly unrecognizable.
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Selected speeches, knowledge, and worldviews from Indigenous leaders around the world with editors, Wahinkpe Topa (Four Arrows) and Darcia Narvaez present 28 powerful excerpted passages including Mourning Dove, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Winona LaDuke, and Xiuhtezcatl Martinez. They emphasize our deep need to move away from the dominant Western paradigm of living without strong social purpose, or honor of the earth as sacred. Described as a holistic orientation that will lead us away from extinction toward an integrated, sustainable future, Restoring the Kinship Worldview is rooted in Indigenous vision and strong social purpose.
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The Sacred Balance: Rediscovering our Place in Nature
This special 25thanniversary edition of a beloved bestseller invites readers to see ourselves as part of nature, not separate. The world is changing at a relentless pace. How can we slow down and act from a place of respect for all living things? The Sacred Balance shows us how. In this extensively updated new edition, David Suzuki reflects on the increasingly radical changes in science and nature, he also reflects on what we have learned by listening to Indigenous leaders. The Sacred Balance combines science, philosophy, spirituality, and Indigenous knowledge to offer concrete suggestions for creating an ecologically sustainable future by rediscovering and addressing humanity’s basic needs.
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In our efforts to expand engagement and stay connected, we've expanded to LinkedIn! If you are a current LinkedIn member, please like our new page. You’ll find educational content, best practices, and updates on the District’s transformation.
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