June 29th 2016, Wednesday. Today was a good day working with GIS making maps, lots of lessons learned. Patience was a major factor, patience in waiting for the data to upload; I don’t know how Sheila did it, but it was a totally Zen moment. Mr. Anderson graced us with his presence today, you could feel the pressure being lifted as his expert knowledge was put to much needed use.

But by far the most unexpected and eye opening presentation was by Mr. David Northbird. He talked about the invasive species of earthworms, and how they are all foreign to Minnesota. Being brought in by fisherman and used for bait. Little did we know that they are destroying the forest ecosystem slowly. I thought that they were just worms that have always been here for time eternal, great for fishing and scaring girls. Education is the way to fight the invasive species, because most people do not know the harm they are creating.

These are just some of the things we are learning on our internship, who knew how exciting it could be to learn all the things we have so far. So glad to be a part of this journey of knowledge, working with the young people hoping that this plants some kind of seed in their minds. Because we need more people especially Anishinabe people to step up and start protecting mother earth. Niminwendam omaa-ayaayaan.