Traditional Plants
Required Competition

Coordinator: Michael Heim
Email: mheim@lco.edu

 

Registration Deadline: Friday March 1, 2024

 

Competition Objectives

• Strengthen existing science/botany/environmental science programs at TCUs and stimulate interest in the various plant fields.

• Encourage interest in tribal culture as it relates to the history of traditional plants and their impact on Native community wellness.

 

Competition Rules

1. The traditional plants competition will be in a PowerPoint format with fifty (50) slides with one (1) slide for each plant. The fifty (50) question answer sheet will be in multiple choice format.

2. The traditional plants will be selected from the tribal region of the host committee and will consist of species native to that region.

3. A list or PowerPoint including the required information for all 50 of the traditional plants will be made available to the registered competitors.  The required information on each slide will consist of the plant’s photo, common name, scientific name, and an accepted traditional use among the hosting tribe(s).

4. First, second, and third place will be awarded.

5. Books from the reference list can be obtained from Tribal college libraries, science departments, or bookstores.

6. TCU student participants will have up to two (2) hours to complete the competition.

7. Each TCU student participant must work on their own.

8. Reference material or phone use will not be permitted during the competition.  Phones will need to be turned off.

9. Competitors must be taking a minimum nine (9) credit spring semester course load and have a minimum 2.0 GPA.  A maximum of three (3) competitors from each TCU will be allowed.