The Urban Bird Project’s Indigenous workshops focus on creating relational experiences between birds and students. For our workshops at three different SAISD schools (Woodlawn Academy, YWLA, & Longfellow Middle School), Masauki Celso Zepeda (Coahuiltecan) and Lupita Lagunes and many special guests (Bernard Barcena; Milo Colton; Carmen Tafolla) shared their knowledge of Indigenous storytelling, bird ceremonies, and opening relationships to birds as teachers, kin, and healing.
Standing in a circle with their eyes closed, students were introduced to the auditory sounds of feathers flapping in the wind as a grounding method and as relationship building. Students held the feathers of the Macaw, Caracara, Red-Tail Hawk, and several others. Students then listened to rhythmic beats on a drum connecting the beat to the heartbeat of student and bird.
Birds represent different symbols to varying indigenous peoples. The painful reality is that San Antonio’s history of indigenous genocide has left many indigenous people detribalized. The Urban Bird’s Indigenous Workshop serves as a way to create relationships and perhaps spark memories of ancestral, inter-generational, and kincentric relationships with birds. We find that students are eager to share stories of what certain birds mean to them and their family, stories of La Lechusa (Barn Owl) or the Northern Cardinal (redbird) who when he appears is the spirit of a family member who has passed away. The sacred storytelling that transpires because of this workshop is invaluable to retaining family history and bridging hope with our bird relatives. Creating a tangible connection between the student and the birds is a valuable way to understand our shared environments and our shared relationship to the land and its inhabitants.
