Bruce Miller

After field trips in grade school to Pioneer Farms in Eatonville, in which we learned how valuable nature is to indigenous people, and to a Pacific Northwest Native American exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum, Pacific Northwest Native American history and culture has fascinated me. I should mention before hand that when I see someone who has an amazing passion for something, I seem to be captivated by that and their passion sparks my interest. So it was no wonder that after seeing today's (10/23) tear-jerking video on Bruce Miller and how he is keeping tradtion and culture alive through his teachings and involvment, I wanted to learn more about his work. Although he passed away over three years ago, it is no surpise his passion for passing TEK (Traditional Environmental Knowledge) down has continued on today. Through the video in lecture, it was evident that a big part of Bruce's interest involved his garden that contained medicinal plants native to the Pacific Northwest. I came across this video on YouTube about the new Skokomish Tribes Healing Garden that Bruce's daughter, Kimberly, and the woman that helped Bruce make incense in the video, Elise Krohn, established. Together, they are helping to keep Bruce's ideas and visions carry on as they teach youth about the importance of traditional medicines. I know Bruce would be very proud that his passion for keeping Pacific Northwest Native American history and culture alive continues on today through his teachings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJFZTkxmml4

-Ian Brown