In what we call Colorado, the Denver, Aurora and Centennial area has an estimated human population of 3 Million and sits in a heavily impacted and altered habitat of Short Grass Prairie. Turning overwhelm and despair into action and learning, we can look at the human land use history before the treaties of Fort Laramie in1851 and Fort Wise in 1861 combined with the modern (yet ancient) practices of Silvo Pastoral Systems. This can reveal a tapestry of interconnected elements that paint a picture of harmony in diversity. As we create our own regenerative experimentation in an outdoor preschool Joana Macy would call this "Despair Work" one part of the Great Turning. She writes “Active Hope is waking up to the beauty of life on whose behalf we can act. We belong to this world.”
At our school, a playful pedagogy with kids, adults and elders with a Forest School ethos draws from a variety of powerful topics:
the storied Buffalo Treaty
to the iridescent Rainbow Scarabs;
the challenges of urbanization
to the delicate balance of ecosystem health;
principles from Silvo Pastoral Systems
to the theory of Permaculture
Literally playing and singing with these advanced topics reveals a hopeful tension:
Our urban area, instead of lying fallow as a polluted waterway and denigrated soil wasteland has the potential
to encapsulate a world teeming with life, culture, and possibilities.
A Cultural Tapestry: The Buffalo Treaty
The Buffalo Treaty stands as a powerful symbol of Indigenous-led conservation efforts focused on the restoration and protection of the "North American bison". Spearheaded by a group of Indigenous tribes spanning the modern "nation state" borders of present day Canada and the United States, this treaty embodies the spirit of bioregional collaboration and international solidarity. After 10 years of grassroots efforts starting around 2004 The Buffalo Treaty was first signed in 2014 by 13 nations different on 8 different reservations and 10 years later has hundreds more tribally sovereign signatories including some from South America.
This treaty establishes an intertribal alliance to restore bison to at least 6.3 million acres of land between the United States and Canada—an area the size of Massachusetts. There are many pathways and methods for the restoration and buffalo healing, some of which include local partnerships between the Denver Zoo, Denver Mountain Parks, The Tall Bull Memorial, Highland Ranch BackCountry Wilderness Area. 2022 was the first year in 100 years that the City of Denver did not hold a Bison auction of the Genesse and Daniels Park Buffalo herds selling meat to the highest bidder. Instead, 33 buffalo were returned to Native tribes for reparations: 15 to the Northern Arapaho Tribe in Wyoming; 17 to the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes in Oklahoma; and one to the Tall Bull Memorial Council in Denver Colorado. This journey emphasizes the importance of re-vitalizing, healing, reconciling and preserving cultural heritage along with biodiversity while regenerating the land for multi-species collaboration and survival.
Still wondering how we actually play with these topics? Here is an article published in Colorado Public Radio where Jenny Brundine describes:
"At first, it seems similar to a conventional preschool. There’s story-time. Kids are painting. There’s singing. But the song these 3- to 6-year-olds sing is about things like mycelium and nematodes and taking care of the planet – and is partly in the Maori language.
“Tane Mahuta/ Guardian of the forest/ We’re planting seeds/ Thinking of Amazing Grace/ Mycelium and mycorrhizae/ Tree roots, soil and nematodes too!”
The song we sing daily and is often lead by kids goes on in other verses:
We give back/ More than we take/ All that we touch/ We change good or bad/ All that we change/It changes us too/ Tihei mauriora/ Breath the breath of Life
Regeneration/ Is one path forward/ Cheyenne Arapahoe/ Lakota Ute Dine/ Buffalo Treaty/ And Languages too
Te Ringa Tika/ Reconciliation/ Listen to this Waiata/ With your heart/ Tihei mauriora/ Breath the breath of Life
Brundine ends the digital story by quoting Jennifer Kollerup the Mycellium Director for the Colorado Collective for Nature Based Early Education CCNBEE “It’s something that's so cutting edge in early childhood and also completely ancient.”
Nature's Rainbow: The Enigmatic Scarabs
Amidst the tall grasses and shimmering prairies, the Rainbow Scarabs bring a pop of color to the landscape. These dazzling beetles not only serve as pollinators but play a crucial role in maintaining the delicate ecological balance of the Short Grass Prairie, showcasing nature's wondrous diversity in its smallest inhabitants.
Insect excitement and preschoolers go hand in hand and when reinforced by deeper knowledge in regenerative ecology and entomology, profound learning through play is possible.
A blog post by Olivia Schouten a Hubbard Fellow writing in The Prairie Ecologist explains
"When walking through a prairie, or anywhere for that matter, I think most people tend to avoid piles of refuse left behind by critters. While not the most pleasant things to encounter, smell, or step in, scat is an essential part of any ecosystem that many creatures are more than happy to encounter, and in many cases specifically seek out."
Rainbow scarabs and more than 50 other dung beetles that have been found the the short grass prairie in Colorado and Nebraska are an important part of regenerating soil. Chris Helzer the Director of Science for The Nature Conservancy in Nebraska and the author of "The Ecology and Management of Prairies in the Central United States" explains in the Prarie Ecologist blog post that:
Dwellers just live inside manure piles (ick). Tunnelers burrow beneath manure piles and bury some of it for their larvae to feed on (boring). But ROLLERS!! Rollers make a neat round ball out of manure and roll that ball across the ground for our enjoyment. (Oh, and also so they can find just the right place to bury it and lay eggs with it.)
Essentially, rollers, dwellers, and tunnelers are all doing the same job: they feed on manure and help break it down and return it to the soil. Clearly, however, dung beetles that roll poop balls across the ground do that job in the most entertaining way!"
What is missing from most urban landscapes are the large ungluates (hoofed animals) that produce the dung for the beetles to survive on and that they process through, rolling, tumbling or dwelling. It is likely a long ways off to re-designated buffalo as wildlife instead of livestock but 3-6 year olds can certainly imagine and tolerate the idea that Buffalo might be causing a "Bison Jam" across Havana and Hampden Boulevards someday. And on a more practical level, one of our sister schools Wild Roots in Highlands Ranch is on the border to Daniels Park Buffalo Herd and has recently agreed to share their land and expand the herd's range.
The Urban Conundrum: Balancing Progress and Preservation
As urbanization continues to encroach upon natural habitats, the Short Grass Prairie faces unprecedented challenges. The tug-of-war between development and conservation calls for innovative solutions that harmonize progress with preservation, ensuring that the ecosystem's health remains a top priority in the face of rapid urban expansion.
One parent in our preschool describes that the learning is not just for the kids. From the article titled Colorado’s outdoor preschools trade chalkboards and desks for crawdads and mud "Aubrey Newnam, who said she spent her entire childhood outside, said her daughter has the time to play and observe, bringing back little treasures she finds each day.
“So many people are doing just constant activities and there's no downtime,” said Newnam. “And I feel like for us it's helped not just her, but her parents to understand how to relax. Not everything has to be a constant go, go, go.”
Ecosystem Health: Nurturing the Land
The vitality of the Short Grass Prairie hinges on the delicate balance of its ecosystem. By embracing regenerative practices that promote biodiversity, soil health, and water conservation, stakeholders can foster a landscape that thrives for generations to come. Nurturing the land through sustainable practices is not just a choice but a responsibility we owe to our planet.
A playful practice with 3-6 year olds in the preschool and 6-11 year olds in our homeschool enrichment program, giving back more than we take and focusing on soil health can be done. We creating seed banks and replant seeds in disturbed areas as well as help propagate and nurture wild edibles like chokecherries, currants, sand cherries and prickly pears.
Lessons from Silvo Pastoral Systems: A Regenerative Blueprint
Drawing inspiration from the time-honored Silvo Pastoral Systems , we discover a blueprint for regenerative land management that integrates trees, livestock, and agriculture into a holistic approach. By weaving together the wisdom of the past with the innovation of the present, we uncover regenerative solutions that uplift not just the land but the communities that depend on it.
Since the first broken treaty in Colorado, we have a conundrum in the Denver, Aurora, Centennial city culture. Many of us working 40+ hours a week to pay bills, feed our families and hope for a 2 week vacation every year, don't spend much time thinking or learning about the first "buffalo treaty" in 1825 along the Yellowstone River. Nor have many of us heard about the Buffalo Treaty of 2014 which celebrates its 10 year anniversary this September.
It is overwhelming to families raising young kids to even hear these words about how our settler colonial culture continues to divide, control and exploit land and is then exacerbated with modern urbanization and agricultural practices to produce high yields of single crops for sale in the global economic system.
Moving from despari to active hope, the Buffalo: A Treaty of Cooperation, Renewal and Restoration is inviting all Bison, Buffalo, Iinnii, Tatanga, Tatanka, Paskwâwimostos, Xaniti, Qwisp, Kamquq̓ukuǂ ʔiyamu, Iyanee’, heneeceeno', ésevone, Mushkode Bizhikim, Q’weyqway, Hii3einoon, boyzhan and many more relatives to a Gathering this September 22-25, 2024. The event is co-hosted by Motokiiksi (Buffalo Women’s Society), Blood Tribe (Kainai First Nation) of Blackfoot Confederacy and the International Buffalo Relations Institute.
At the very least, here in Denver, Aurora and Centennial we can raise our families more aware and connected to the history and ecological functions of the Short Grass Prairie. If we watch patiently over time and learn with our vivacious and curious kids, the whole ecosystem can stand as a testament to the intricate dance of diversity and unity that defines our world. Through the lens of the Buffalo Treaty, Rainbow Scarabs, urbanization challenges, ecosystem health, and the timeless principles of Silvo Pastoral Systems and Permaculture Theory, we uncover a narrative of resilience, adaptation, and hope.
Let us embrace this journey of regenerative experimentation in an outdoor preschool, working hand in hand to forge a future where harmony in diversity flourishes.
These are all very complicated concepts but we can explore them in a playful way with Regenerative Experimentation and Outdoor Preschools. Let the prairies guide us towards a brighter tomorrow, where the legacy we leave behind is one of stewardship, respect, and love for the natural world.
Each Friday for the next 3 Seasons Fall, Winter, & Spring - "Regenerative Ryan Pleune" will go live on Vimeo and Facebook to share learning and curiosity around all these topics with songs, stories and reflections from his time in "Grasslands" School (AKA Forest School) with students ages 3 through 15 along with some adult workshops.
Click Play below for his first live footage mash up:
Our blog posts are written for a diverse audience of families, guardians, parents, practitioners, graduate students and other adults with topics covering a “Tangled Bank” (one of Darwin’s most enduring metaphors) of interests, initiatives, and networks. Through Outdoor Nature Based Preschools (ONB Preschools), Forest School for older grades K-8 and Emergent Strategy Bushcraft Workshops for Adults, we explore the perception, observation, interpretation and reciprocity of senses from human and non humans’ perspective. Central to the topics for all age groups is the concept that Early Childhood is “Not just cute, but powerful and incredibly important”.
Find out more about our Outdoor Preschool here.
Stay tuned to our blog posts for adult learning workshops both online and in person in 2024.
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