“In our Wildcrafted Apothecary classes, we hire an Indigenous community leader who teaches about native plant wisdom and speaks very openly about being on unceded land and the implications of that,” Gaia shares. Even in their carpentry classes, this reverence for source materials is woven in. “It can be as simple as explaining that a two-by-four comes from a tree,” she says. Students often tour a local lumberyard to see trees becoming boards — a simple act that reframes construction as relationship, not consumption. “We try to help students feel connected to something bigger than just buying lumber from a store,” Gaia says. “It’s about honoring where it comes from.”
The Power of Teaching Women to Build
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