A common refrain in permaculture is about our need to develop a sense of place. To have an understanding of where we currently live, where we come from, and to find a connection to the land under our feet or where we call home.
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For those of us within the anglosphere, we have a Nation that encompasses our state or province, and from there the city or town that defines our address. Those determine our polities within our biosphere. Many of us are fortunate enough to decide where we will live and how we will relate to these places by choosing earth, human, or bio-centric lenses to view the world.
As a result of colonial disruption, however—whether the conquest of Latin and South America by the Portuguese and Spanish, by the American drive West, by Dutch colonization throughout sub-Saharan Africa, or by British expansion into India and Australia—many native, First Nation, and Aboriginal peoples lost access to the traditional territories where their language developed and their ceremonies and cultures connected them to land.
To help understand how this affects the people whose land many of us now inhabit and to continue the conversation about how we as Permaculture practitioners can decolonize our actions and be better allies when asked, I’m joined today by Michele Van Every and Steve Henhawk, members of the Gayogohono tribe. Together they share their work to repatriate the traditional tribal lands in upstate New York, around the Seneca Falls region, and revitalize their community by continuing to teach their customs and culture to future generations through the Gayogohono language and community gardening in order to return the native people and plants back to the land.
As we mention in the interview, they’re running a Gofund Me to continue their efforts in the face of recent setbacks. As this episode comes out, that campaign ends in a few days, but you can find that at:
https://charity.gofundme.com/o/en/campaign/cominghome
If the Gofund Me is closed by the time you read this, you can also mail a tax-deductible donation to Neto Hatinakwe Onkwehowe, Inc. a Goyogo̱hó:nǫʼ-led 501(c)3 that supports Native arts and culture. Mail a donation with the memo "Coming Home" to:
Cultural Revitalization Fund
Neto Hatinakwe Onkwehowe (U.S.)
41 Shoreham Parkway
Buffalo, NY 14216
For me, the ethics of permaculture encompass the whole earth, including the people and their connections to the land. Whether we find our way through a cultural identity, religious traditions, or an inherent love of life, if our practices are to create permanent culture through permanent agriculture, we need to know and acknowledge those who came before us and the efforts of their still-living descendants. As Michelle and Steve shared these are not peoples lost to history, but often displaced rich and vibrant cultures alive all around us. All we need to do is look, stop, and listen. If they are open to inviting us in, we can then ask how we can be an ally to their cause, and continue our work to care for all people.
But, those are just my thoughts at the moment. What are yours? Leave a comment below.
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The Summer to Fall Fundraiser continues for a few more weeks, so if you would like to see me add video tours of permaculture sites and projects, as well as in-person interviews to the offerings from the podcast in the future, please donate today.
As a thank you to anyone who donates $50 or more, I’ll send you a USB drive with every episode from the first 10 years of the podcast, from my first tentative steps right after completing my permaculture design course in 2010, through to the 10th-anniversary episode, a conversation with Taj Scicluna, the Perma Pixie, out on October 10th of this year.
This is also a great way to get every episode of the show and explore the breadth of all Permaculture has to offer, as this Fall, in order to better manage the server where everything is stored, I’m going to start removing the first few years of the podcast from the website. For most folks who download the show through iTunes or Stitcher or wherever you find the podcast, you probably haven’t seen these in your feed for a long time, but they have been available for direct download through the individual show notes pages at thepermaculturepodcast.com.
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Until the next time, consider the land where you live and the traditions that arose there, while taking care of Earth, your self, and each other.