Indigenous Land Acknowledgement
Ripple Cut Flower Farm is located on N’dakinna, which is the traditional ancestral homeland of the Abenaki, Pennacook and Wabanaki Peoples, past and present. We acknowledge and honor, with gratitude, the land and waterways and the alnobak (people) who have stewarded it throughout the generations.
Indigenous Land Acknowledgement
Writing out this land acknowledgement feels important. However, it is only one step in the process. When we acknowledge a wrong, what do we do to make it right? I don’t know the answers, but I am asking the questions and I am willing to listen. As the current co-steward of this field and forest where I live and grow, I honor the Indigenous sense of belonging to this plot of land by continuing to care and live in right relationship with it in the best ways I can. This involves time, awareness and a willingness to do the hard work of unlearning in order to re-learn. What does right relationship look like? I quote Robin Wall Kimmerer, mother, scientist, decorated professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation,
“You, right now, can choose to set aside the mindset of the colonizer and become native to place, you can choose to belong.
Native people have a different term for public lands: we call them home. We call them our sustainer, our library, our pharmacy, our sacred places. Indigenous identity and language are inseparable from land. Land is the residence of our more-than-human relatives, the dust of our ancestors, the holder of seeds, the makers of rain; our teacher. Land is not capital to which we have property rights; rather it is the place for which we have moral responsibility in reciprocity for its gift of life. Here is the question we must at last confront: Is land merely a source of belongings, or is it the source of our most profound sense of belonging? We can choose.”
The Whisperings of the Land
We have lived on this land where I am growing flowers for 18 years now. The land has always called to me and it has taken me all those years to acknowledge the whisper and follow its sweet asking to enter into a relationship of reciprocity with it. Don’t get me wrong, I have enjoyed so much on this plot of Earth as we raised our home with our own hands and reared our children with all of our hearts in this space. We have tapped the Mighty Maples for the sweet treat of their nectar and grown hay and animals upon the open field as fuel and food. Beaver Pond, following the western arc of the field has been our summer swimming hole and winter skating pond. We have fully lived upon this land, that I know for sure. What stops me though in these sweet memories is a simple question.
What have we given back to the land? How have we protected her?
How have we cared for her as well as the plants and animals alike that call Earth home? What would it look like to truly “belong” and live in reciprocity with the land where we live? How might we think and act differently? To begin with, I transition my mindset from one of the the Earth as solely a resource for our taking. To be in a one-way relationship with anyone, a parent, friend or lover, never ends well. It is not sustainable. To be in a one-way relationship with the Earth, who gives unconditionally, is also not sustainable. We know this. We feel this. We see the results daily. We must do better now, before it is past a point of choice and our mindless actions make the choice for us.
Healing Our Relationship to the Land
We are creating a deeper and more significant relationship of reciprocity with the land, plants, animals and waterways where we live. There are many layers to this relationship and it takes time, as all do.
Do no harm. That means that we do not use toxic chemicals or anything that would harm the wildlife, pollinators and waterways. We realize that the soil we work to develop that is nice and dark and rich and full of microscopic bacteria and fungi and worms is the healthiest way to grow food and flowers and the soil is alive!
Nourish the soil. We employ cover-cropping, no-till farming practices and add nutrients to replace and replenish what we have taken out through the growing of the food and flowers.
Create a haven for the pollinators. We are in year 2 of the establishment of a pollinator plot that will provide a seasonal bounty of tasty flowers specifically for the pollinators to have safe harbor and an all you can eat buffet of beauty and taste.
Foster an attitude of gratitude. Mother Earth is the source of our most basic needs like food, clothing, shelters, etc. all the way to some of our most gracious gifts, beauty and a source of joy. Everything. Our gratitude towards her for all that we have been given and provided for goes a long way to creating peace within ourselves and a want to continue to care for her.
There are so many other ways to transition to right relationship with the Earth. We are in an ongoing learning process and will continue to write and explore these changes here. One other very important aspect of any relationship though is how we are transformed through the process of loving and caring for our slice of nature, whether it be a garden, houseplants, our animals or something as accessible as a favorite tree. The act of caring and nurturing informs love. When we love someone, we never want to hurt them and even more so we want to protect them and see them flourish. Fostering this relationship with nature, as part of nature, is imperative to the sustainability and health of the planet and our lives on this planet.
My days are now joyfully filled with soiled hands, a sore body and a happy heart. I get to watch and nurture the growth of thousands of seedlings grown from seed to blossom and enjoy the ramblings of the red-winged blackbirds as they return from their southern oasis, elate over the sight of the first wriggly worms I find in the soil and look forward to the pushing forth of seedlings and buds from the darkness of winters easing grip. Then, I get to share all of that beauty with all of you, our community. Being immersed with nature has always brought me home to myself and being able to share the results of that joy is priceless and such an honor. Thank you.
Reading Resources:
Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass
https://www.robinwallkimmerer.com/
Indigenous New Hampshire
https://indigenousnh.com/land-acknowledgement/
