UTTC food sovereignty coordinator restores campus medicine wheel

Over the summer, she did just that. She said that because she’s not Native, she drew inspiration from her students and nature.

“UTTC is a big family,” she said, and because students from many different tribes come to UTTC, she wanted to create a shared place where students could connect with their Native culture.

The UTTC medicine wheel is split into four sections of rocks — red, black, white and yellow. A tree grows in the middle of the circle, representing life and prosperity. Outside the circle are three animal statues facing the tree. To the south and east are two eagle statues representing love. A bear statue stands to the north, representing courage, according to Ciavarella who referenced the Seven Grandfather Teachings.

Medicine wheels are symbolic in Native culture, but what they represent often varies among tribes, explained UTTC cultural wellness coordinator Hoksila White Mountain, a citizen of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and descendant of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.

In the Lakota beliefs, he said, red is tied to the buffalo and strength; black represents the thunderbeing, power and rebirth; white represents the ghost nation or the owl, which symbolizes the spirit; and yellow represents the deer, healing and prosperity. The green in the center of the circle symbolizes Grandmother Earth, and the blue represents the sky, life force and energy.

“Each direction has its power,” he said. “We’re paying respects to each one of those directions.”

White Mountain said the medicine wheel is to Native beliefs as the cross is to Christianity. Wearing the symbol of the medicine wheel or having a medicine wheel on campus is a way to honor Native origin stories.

He said students on campus have already been using the space to relax, just as Ciavarella intended.

She spent nearly two-and-a-half months mowing, planting and operating heavy machinery to move rocks in the blazing summer heat. UTTC carpenters built her a ramp, which she loaded with the muddy rocks from the original medicine wheel and sprayed them down.

Near the end of the process, Ciavarella said the UTTC bookstore provided sage and shells to blessthe medicine wheel. UTTC students Tonah Rae Fishinghawk and Kalsee Clown helped plant purple coneflowers and anise hyssop, which have medicinal properties, around the wheel.

“We have to work together,” Ciavarella said as she stood near the middle of the medicine wheel, emphasizing that its creation was a joint effort.

Ciavarella stopped talking and looked up. An eagle flew over, hovering for a moment between the trees surroundingthe clearing.

“They’re connected, you know,” she said, pointing to the eagle and the medicine wheel. “When they fly over, that’s good luck.”