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Branches of cedar and sweet grass braids, both traditional Native medicines, lined the tables.

When complete, this garden will include a woodland, a pond and a prairie, three ecosystems that traditionally were managed for harvesting berries, woodland herbs, cedar, sweet grass, skunk cabbage and other culturally significant plants.

“But burning sage and sweet grass has become a fad and has been culturally misappropriated,” he added, and those substances “are sacred to us.”

They brought in Native American healing practices, such as talking circles, where students would get to share their feelings and frustrations; traditional medicines like sweet grass and sage; drumming and singing.

The move required closing hallways, pausing construction projects and turning off smoke detectors so that the burning of sage or sweet grass would not trigger an alarm.