Sqigwts
“water potato” – Sagittaria latifolia
Chatcolet Lake
This was a collaborative project between the Schitsu'umsh (Coeur d'Alene Tribe) and University of Idaho, 2014-15. This "proof in concept" project was funded by the USGS, under the purview of the Northwest Climate Science Center. Among the five "deliverables," the project demonstrates that there is value in Indigenous knowledge and practice, in consort with scientific knowledge, in addressing issues of climate change. We developed an innovative means to access and disseminate what the Schitsu'umsh call hnkhwelkhwlnet, "our ways of life in the world," though the creation of an interactive 3-D Landscape (using virtual world technology), embedded with the structure and dynamics of Indigenous storytelling. We hope that this presentation of the orality-based Indigenous avoids some of the undermining of meaning that accompanies a literacy-based format.