Building a round structure teaches teamwork and reveals a universal pattern for home

Evidence

It’s hot and sweaty work, at first done mostly as individuals. But when the circle is complete and the first pair of saplings are joined in an arch, the need for a team becomes clear: the tallest to grab the treetops, the heaviest to hold them down, the smallest to scramble up and lash them in place. The creation of one arch calls for the next and they are led by the emerging shape of the wigwam. Its inherent symmetry makes any mistakes obvious and the students tie and untie until they get it right. The woods are full of their bright voices. When the last pair of saplings is tied, quiet falls as they see what they have made. It looks like an upside-down bird’s nest, a basket of thick saplings domed like a turtle’s back. You want to be inside. — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, 810

Categorization

• FICTION: The image of a dome of saplings ‘like a turtle’s back’ could seed a fictional scene about communal construction revealing character through asymmetric roles.
• XREF: connects to: Physical circle seating equalizes status and fosters shared learning. — Pauline Oliveros, Deep Listening, 104

Broader Connections

• Physical circle seating equalizes status and fosters shared learning. #expands (0.75) — Pauline Oliveros, Deep Listening, 104