SERVICE LEARNING: NATIVE GIFT MAKING

SERVICE LEARNING: NATIVE GIFT MAKING

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                                                NATIVE GIFT MAKING

Total Hours: 2 hours (10:30am - 12:30pm on Wednesday)

Sponsored: EdCC Center for Service-Learning & Snohomish Tribe

Organizer: Phuong Pham

Email: Phuong.pham@edmail.edcc.edu

I chose to do Native Gift Making for my service learning assignment. The goal of this event is to making gifts and gives them away for others that join event or festival at the tribe. My duty at the event was helping the elders from Snohomish Tribe to make DIY necklaces, and many others made the wood board with designs by burning the wood with the tools similar to tattooing but burning instead of injecting ink.

It’s hard to giving back to society like money or anything that costly, it’s hard for us college students. Instead of spending few hours on the Internet or social media we can use it more effectively by helping others. I know it’s not that big deal but the more hands join together the more we can make it work. The Snohomish Tribe is the other name for Native American. They live and join as groups, making events and riding Canoes. At the Learning Service event, we can choose to make necklace with canoes, fish tail, or the paddle shape or making wood board with designs on them. All of the gifts are being given to many other members at the tribe’s event. The elder lady explained that when we make it by hand we give on the energy and love to the necklaces so when we give it to others it will bring the good energy to them. It was fun to choose and design our own design for the necklaces. She is a hard working lady; she sorted and organized all of the beads by size, shape and color. The elder man was singing the whole time, and said the funny jokes to keep us entertain.

The canoes that they used to use to transportation now they use it for tribe’s events. It makes out of Red Wood, where they burn it to make it soften to carve and keep it for years to make the canoes. The left over or the small pieces are being made into the necklace faces (boats, paddles, and fish tail), or the wood board. The elder man had a necklace on his neck with the bead represent the years that he had been carving canoe. It’s been 25 years now. The process of burning wood in order to make the canoes isn’t good for us to breath in. One or two is okay, but for making tons of canoes it will affect the respiratory system and the lung. Just for example, we only burned the small wood boards to make the designs but it was hard for some people to breath in the room. We had to open the windows and use the fan to get the smoke out as much as we could. Sometime it smelt like burning plastic. The long-term effect is pretty bad for the canoes makers at the tribe.  It was fun to join others at the event.

Questions:

-                    How bad would the smoke affect on us human lung if we keep burning wood logs to make canoes?

-                    Many people wear beads, and I’m wondering do they have an impact just like plastic bottle to us in the long term?

-                    Do they still hunting and saving foods for the winter like they did before?