An Approach to Community Relations

We are hoping to build lasting relationships within multiple departments on campus to achieve the goal of creating an indigenous space. Building these interdepartmental relationships is important because each department has something unique to offer to the process. Relationships and reciprocity are central to the Anishinaabek way of life and it is through this lens that we seek to create an indigenous space on campus. The space would be situated on SAP (Student Agricultural Project) land and therefore the relationships between NASA (Native American Student Association) and the SAP must be intentional and central to the building and maintaining of the space.

During our project we will be working with the Native American community. These community members are throughout the Grand Rapids area along with the rest of Michigan. We plan on asking the twelve federally recognized tribes in MI for support, knowledge, and resources.

These communities will help with the following:

  • Resources

  • Knowledge

  • Supplies

Support