OSEU One: Drs. Sherry Johnson & Nadine Eastman- Stewardship of Mother Earth

Dr. Sherry Johnson: In this day and age of our oceans… with their increase in their temperatures… the strange behaviors of our sharks in the ocean… because of that… as a result of that, we need to take that kind of stewardship of our Mother Earth more important now. And that's a basis of all of our teaching. It should be a basis of all of our teaching… because this is we're taking care of what are going to last for our future is what our children are going to have to look at… have to work with. Dr. Nadine Eastman: And I think if this is taught in across the state of South Dakota, there would be a bigger understanding of why some native people and native students feel so connected to Mother Earth, and why taking care of it is important. And really why historically, we weren't land grabbers… and we had an opportunity where a lot of natives could have ended up with a lot more land. But they didn't… because it wasn't about ownership. It was about stewardship, and it was about taking care of it together. And it belonged to everybody, and it belonged to no one, you know. And so, they could learn about that historical perspective.