Forests of Eix̱’gul’héen
In the early days of Dzantik’i Héeni Middle School, I was asked to assist with a poetry-and-art project, as advisor to student teams exploring the Richard Marriott loop trail. I remember spring,1996 fondly, and have long intended to scan and reformat this resulting booklet for download from JuneauNature. In this regard, it follows revisions for similar writing projects on Kaalahéenak’u (Peterson Creek-Outer Point) in 1995, Shaanáx̱ Tlein, (Lemon Creek watershed) in 2003 and Switzer-Marriott Loop Trail in 2004..
A place-names caveat is in order here. The original publication was called The Forests of Dzantik’i Héeni. But as many of us have come to lament, this middle school was named for a stream 5 miles away, making that title quite misleading. Home watershed for the forests we described is the lovely stream Eix̱’gul’héen, translated variably as creek at end of slough, or warmsprings creek, which Europeans renamed for Charlie Switzer.
Cover and sample spread from our student guide
You probably know many of the “kids” who wrote and illustrated this little gem as today’s community leaders, guiding Áak’w & T’aaḵú Aaní into a more respectful relationship with our lands and waters.
