This family-friendly walk invites participants of all ages to deepen their appreciation for nature and celebrate Earth Day through learning, reflection, and community.
Together, we’ll slow down and connect with the natural world as we learn to identify a variety of trees and plants. Along the way, participants will explore sustainable practices that help protect these ecosystems.
Guides from the American Indian Center will also share cultural perspectives on the land, offering insight into how many Native communities understand plants not just as resources, but as relatives.
This program meets in person at the Arboretum.
Free evening admission to the Arboretum is included with registration for this program.
Instructors: Dnisa Oocumma, community engagement coordinator, American Indian Center; Ronnie Prestion, cultural ambassador, American Indian Center
Continuing education: This class fulfills a requirement for the Natural Areas Conservation Training (N-ACT) Program.
Age: 16 and older
Course number: W822
Instructors
Dnisa Oocumma, community engagement coordinator, American Indian Center
Dnisa Oocumma is a community engagement coordinator at the American Indian Center. She holds a BA in Urban Sustainability, with a focus on the intersection of the built environment, local ecology, and public health, and a minor in Studio Art. At the Center, Oocumma co-leads the community garden, where she teaches Indigenous foodways and practices Traditional Ecological Knowledge both within the garden and beyond. Her work centers on community-based environmental stewardship, cultural continuity, and strengthening relationships between people, land, and place.
Ronnie Prestion, cultural ambassador, American Indian Center
Ronnie Preston (San Carlos Apache) is a cultural ambassador at the American Indian Center of Chicago. Working throughout Wisconsin and Illinois, he serves as a cultural educator, offering meaningful insight that affirms Native peoples are still here and continue to practice and carry forward our ways of life.
A gifted artist, singer, dancer, and storyteller, Ronnie shares both the resilience of Indigenous communities and the challenges they have endured, emphasizing the responsibility of passing knowledge from one generation to the next. Through stories, songs, and dance, he invites audiences to experience Indigenous ways of knowing—traditions that remain central to how Native youth are taught today.
What to Know
This program meets outdoors. Check the forecast and dress for the weather.
Wear comfortable, sturdy shoes and plan to walk more than a mile on uneven terrain.
Continuing Education
This class fulfills a requirement for the Natural Areas Conservation Training (N-ACT) Program.
Program Schedule
Wednesday, April 22, 2026, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Thornhill Education Center (parking lot P-21), West Side
