SPOKANE, Wash. — Spokane Colleges has been awarded a $10,000 grant from the Avista Foundation to develop Indigenous Healing Environments Across Lifeways (IHEAL) Centers. These centers will be located at Spokane Falls Community College and the Inchelium campus of Spokane Community College.
The centers will aim to connect learners with Indigenous knowledge and stewardship practices from the region’s Tribes. This initiative will focus on developing skills in cultivating and caring for plants, herbs, and foods sustainably.
Dr. Naomi Bender, Director of Tribal Relations at Spokane Colleges, emphasized the importance of this project. “Indigenous peoples have always stewarded these lands,” Bender said. “Our responsibility is to honor that legacy by creating educational spaces that connect students and community members with the sustainable environmental practices they can learn from and share with the next generation.”
The funding will support the creation of dried plant and herbal storage spaces, raised cedar garden beds, and provide necessary materials like jars, pots, pans, and growing stations. Spokane Colleges plans to use repurposed materials in construction wherever possible.
Indigenous educators from the region’s Tribes will be involved in teaching traditional stewardship practices. These practices will be integrated into academic disciplines such as Natural Resource Management, Food, Nutrition, Allied Health Sciences, and Environmental Sciences.
“Our approach welcomes both Indigenous and non-Indigenous learners to build community, address local food insecurity, and develop tomorrow’s leaders committed to honoring and protecting our lands and waters,” Bender said.
