PURPOSE:
The decommissioned daycare site adjacent to the First Nations Longhouse is an area that with a little work can be greatly enhanced to fulfill a number of purposes. The site the university rests on today was home and an important source of food, materials, and medicine for Coast Salish people. With this project, the UBC and Musqueam communities will collaborate to bring some of this history to life. A Medicinal Garden (with the other component to the Centennial project, a Plant Walk adjacent to the First Nations Longhouse) provide educational opportunities and aesthetic pleasure to all members of the growing and diversifying UBC community. The First Nations Longhouse is a centre for UBC’s Aboriginal community and its architectural traditions of the Northwest Coast attract many visitors. Furthermore, its proximity to other units on campus make this garden easy to integrate with course/program curricula. The plant walk is intended as a corridor between the Museum of Anthropology and the First Nations House of Learning. Additional garden hubs and green walks are in planning stages, such as the courtyard of the future Biological Sciences Building with the Beaty Biodiversity Centre.
We will establish a working group that includes members of the Musqeaum community, UBC faculty, staff, and students. As part of the Centennial celebrations we will not only have a garden and walk with interpretative and interactive signage, but we will also engage community in the planning and planting of the garden and walk. Events include an opening ceremony, at least three walks and one talk, and self-guided tours (both in pamphlet and online formats).
CONTEXT INFORMATION:
This project addresses many of the goals identified in Place and Promise primarily with respect to Student Learning and Community Engagement. The development of this educational outdoor space will “expand curriculum offerings focusing on Aboriginal issues and perspectives”, enhance experiential learning for undergraduates, and contribute to UBC’s public outreach goals. Community engagement will occur at many levels with the most important being a partnership with the Musqueam to develop a space that enhances visibility of First Nations’ traditions and history on the UBC campus, as well as to set up a