Harvesting Good Medicine: Internalizing and Crystalizing Core Cultural Values in Young Children

Abstract

Indigenous Alaskans face many obstacles as they attempt to navigate what it means to be a member of a tribal group. Pressures to assimilate into the global society, loss of access to traditional lands, and dwindling subsistence resources due to climate change are aggravating factors in the cultural identity development of Indigenous Alaskans. Experiences on the land such as fishing, picking berries, and harvesting edible and medicinal plants with family members and other culture-bearers are known to play a mitigating role in resisting assimilative pressures, yet little is known about how such experiences contribute to a child's growing sense of self and belonging. In this research study, the authors sought to untangle the nuanced experiences of young children as they engaged in the cultural activity of harvesting a medicinal plant in Southeast Alaska. Through the use of wearable cameras, the authors captured video footage from the perspectives of 5- to 6-year-old kindergarten children from a small Alaska Native village in Southeast Alaska as they learned lessons on and from the land, from adult culture-bearers, and from peers. As the authors analyzed the videos, themes emerged that pointed to small interactions with adults, peers, and the environment that positioned the children to internalize and crystalize core cultural values and thereby strengthen their own cultural identity development.