{"id":5021,"date":"2026-06-04T13:44:45","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T13:44:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/equity\/?page_id=5021"},"modified":"2026-06-08T15:28:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T15:28:08","slug":"east","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/equity\/indigenous-land-campus-mural\/east\/","title":{"rendered":"East"},"content":{"rendered":"

Face the library doors, and look to your left at the pillars that incorporate yellow as a guiding color. This group represents east, spring, and dawn\u2014the growth of the first life stage and the possibilities that morning brings. The yellow-painted pillars include an Ojibwe floral design and a young eagle. In the center of the three pillars, purple and pink streaks signal a sunrise over a lake, with tobacco plants visible near the shore on the back of the pillar. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Against a birch tree, a swaddled baby in a Dakota cradleboard is propped up. “This is how we carried our children\u2014we would prop them up, and they would observe us,” Beaulieu says. “That’s how they learned all the things we do every day and how we talk to each other; they heard the language. They were very much a part of everyday life, right with us all the time, watching and learning before they actually participated. This is our first stage of life.”<\/p>\n\n\n

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\n\t\t\tDakota textile pattern <\/span>\n\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t \t\t<\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t
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\n\t\t\tOjibwe floral design<\/span>\n\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t \t\t<\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t
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\n\t\t\tTobacco plants near shore <\/span>\n\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t \t\t<\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t
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\n\t\t\tYoung eagle<\/span>\n\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t \t\t<\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t
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\n\t\t\tBaby in a cradleboard leaning against a birch tree<\/span>\n\t\t\t
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Dive Deeper<\/h2>\n\n\n\n