Soaring Eagle Prairie gives us pause to reflect. Soaring Eagle Prairie in the fog (photo by Chuck Kimmerle) Profusion of flowers with Merrifield Hall background
Four Years Later...
Soaring Eagle Prairie was given by volunteers to the community to use and as a result, it is impossible to know the extent of its use and impact. Academically, the garden has been integrated into classes: Plant Systematics, Science Teacher Education, Living Lightly on the Earth, Ecofeminism, Environmental Studies, Ecology, Entomology, photography, art. Political Sociology students reflect on Euro-centric notions of social organization of people and nature.

And these are only examples that we know. I scheduled two presentations at the garden two days in a row last fall and discovered 5 classes were also using the garden as the semester began. Students now see prairie plants in our midst rather than only through library, internet or some remote site.

Staff in Operations and Facilities see less maintenance and cost over time than annual beds. The garden has been featured in well-publicized imagery of the University campus.

Soaring Eagle Prairie has spontaneously developed a life of its own, touching many. Common perceptions are a place of pride, learning, story, peace. Visitors are continual. Common questions are: “What’s that plant?” “How can I get some?”

The prairie has become a symbol of wellness. Some use the prairie as “grounding” in their daily lives. Many tell long hidden stories with great feeling. Others simply say thanks. Sometimes tears flow. A few students and faculty have said the garden made a difference in their choice in coming and their feeling of welcome to the university. Many openly welcome new relationships between the cultures represented here.

Counseling Center graduate students and staff have looked at the healing power of nature. Campus wellness collaborators integrated the garden into a presentation on “Creating a Healthier Campus Community through Wellness Coalition Development” at the 2002 American College Health Association Annual Conference; they spoke of their support in bringing together numerous partners to accomplish a positive, enduring environmental change that will impact the health of our campus for many years to come.

Soaring Eagle Prairie is also being used by the off-campus community. Through Dakota Science Center summer camp, Native American youth learned about prairie and prairie heritage here. Native Elder Dorreen Yellow Bird has initiated discussions to integrate prairie heritage into school curriculum for Sahnish (Arikara) children. School groups and teachers visit the site. A middle school class made a trip to plan a peace garden commemorating 9/11. The prairie is designated an Outdoor Wildlife Learning Site by the N.D. Game and Fish Department.

Some community members walk there as destination; others sit there evenings. Grandmother Karin Walton annually takes photos of Grandson Zayne there. Prairie gardens and initiatives are springing up. People are finding their way back home. Many want more. The prairie becomes a vital element in defining regional identity.

Our “friends in nature” are finding the garden too. Grassland birds find native plants during migration when none is present nearby. More butterflies dance on the prairie and the variety of insects is more colorful and diverse than on annual beds. A Cooper’s Hawk regularly perches on the statue. Tracks in the snow show a community of creatures among plants.

This is a movement bigger than individuals or groups. Coming home to the land is work of our time.