Students Shape a New Indigenous Stewardship Field Trip
This spring, The HEAL Project’s Student Advisory Board gathered for its fourth and final session of the year to help us test and refine a potential new field trip focused on Indigenous stewardship, native plant knowledge, and reciprocal relationships with the land.
Rather than simply reviewing lesson plans, students stepped into the role of designers, critics, and collaborators. Together, we explored what it means to create educational experiences that feel meaningful, memorable, and grounded in place.
The session centered on the Ramaytush Ohlone people, the original stewards of the land where The HEAL Project now operates. Throughout the day, students participated in activities drawn from a developing “Native American Practices” field trip curriculum.
Learning Through Place, Plants, and Food
The day began with a shared cup of yerba buena mint tea and an opening conversation about cultural food memories and Indigenous stewardship practices. From there, students hiked through the landscape surrounding the farm, reflecting on what this land may have looked like before colonization and large-scale environmental change.
During the hike, students discussed native versus invasive plant species and explored the meaning of terms like “unceded land,” “stewardship,” and “harmony with nature.” Several students noted that they had never heard the word “unceded” before, sparking important conversations about Indigenous history, land relationships, and the lasting impacts of colonization.
One student reflected that the outdoor setting helped them “slow down and pay attention more,” while another shared that imagining the landscape before major human development made them feel more invested in the topics being discussed.
Hands-on activities followed, including experimenting with ceanothus flowers as a natural soap and building a traditional willow hoop-and-stick game. Students especially enjoyed learning about the practical uses of native plants, with one student describing them as the “secret abilities” of the natural world around us.
Exploring Reciprocity Through the Honorable Harvest
Students also engaged in a discussion around the Honorable Harvest principles, a framework centered on gratitude, reciprocity, restraint, and respect for the natural world from the book Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer.
Together, students explored questions such as:
What does it mean to take only what you need?
What responsibilities come with using natural resources?
How might these teachings apply to modern issues like food waste, overconsumption, and climate change?
Students then created their own additional “rules” for the Honorable Harvest. Their responses included ideas such as:
Save seeds for the future
Don’t damage the places you harvest from
Appreciate what you consume
Never take what you have for granted
The discussion highlighted how deeply students connected Indigenous stewardship principles to present-day sustainability challenges and community care.
Cooking Together: The Three Sisters Mash
One of the most memorable parts of the session was preparing and sharing a “Three Sisters Mash” together.
Students learned about the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) teaching of the Three Sisters: corn, beans, and squash. They explored how these plants support one another ecologically, nutritionally, and agriculturally:
Corn provides structure for climbing beans
Beans restore nitrogen to the soil
Squash shades the ground and helps retain moisture
As students chopped vegetables, prepared herbs, and cooked together, conversations became more relaxed, candid, and collaborative. Many students described the cooking activity as one of the most meaningful parts of the day because it transformed cultural learning into something tangible and shared.
What We Learned
Overall, students responded most strongly to experiences that were:
sensory and hands-on,
reflective and discussion-based,
collaborative,
and rooted in the physical landscape around them.
The hike, plant activities, cooking experience, and stewardship discussions consistently stood out as the moments students believed other learners would remember years later.
Students also offered valuable recommendations for improving the field trip experience, including:
adapting activities for larger class sizes,
creating more opportunities for all students to participate actively,
and connecting Indigenous stewardship concepts more directly to students’ everyday lives and communities.
Perhaps most importantly, the advisory board reinforced a key belief at The HEAL Project: meaningful environmental education happens not only through information, but through relationship, reflection, sensory experience, and shared care for the land and one another.
As we continue developing this curriculum, we are deeply grateful to the students who helped shape it with their honesty, insight, and creativity.