In the classroom this week we watched a longer film called History of Native California from Humboldt State University. Much of the material was a review of what we discussed in third grade Edible Social Studies and a reminder of both the historical trauma faced by Indigenous peoples in the past and their resilience and hope for the future today. Many of the people featured in the film are Hupa, Yurok, and Wiyot.
In the kitchen, we celebrated the strong, ancient connection between humans and the water. We made a seaweed salad with kombu, wakame, furinori, and hijiki. The fourth and fifth graders then rolled their own sushi filled with the seaweed salad. Many sprinkled the maki with furikake, a Japanese rice seasoning that contains seaweed, and dulse, a red alga that has a salty taste.
Our closing circle asked, “What do humans get from the sea?” Students responded with love of seafood, happiness, salt, and peace.
