Legends of the plants gone with the wind

18 November was to be the final presentation - legends of plants, stories of plants. Only two students had a plant story to share, one student from Kosrae, one student from Chuuk. Of the Pohnpeian students, two said they knew a single story. On cultural grounds I did not permit them to share their single and thus last story. The rest had no stories to share. I used the opportunity to again note the loss of culture is not just a loss of language, it is a loss of identity through the stories that are told. Stories that inform one how to act, how to think, how to behave. I shared a story of Isokelekel that reminds a man that he is a man only as long as he is useful to his family, his kousapw, his wehi. This section of the course probably needs redesign work. 


In a separate note, I am not like how the iNaturalist work is playing out in the course. I want more value add, more thoughtfulness. I am considering fewer submissions focused on including a short ethnobotanical "essay" in the description that explains the use of the plant for medicine, food (recipe), material culture, or sacred use. The essay might need to be added post hoc, would be marked by a rubric. 

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