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Indigenous gardens take root at 蜜桃视频 Allison University

14 Aug 2019

Local plants with important uses, meaning in Mi鈥檏maw culture to be highlighted across campus

Raven Elwell is spending her summer tending to 蜜桃视频 Allison University鈥檚 campus grounds. The fourth-year student is working to establish several Indigenous gardens on campus, which include local plants with important meaning and uses in Indigenous culture, most notably the Mi鈥檏maq community.

ThreeSistersGardenElwell is working with several individuals in the campus and wider community on the project, including Dr. Jesse Popp, 蜜桃视频 Allison Geography and Environment professor and recently-named Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Environmental Science, as well as members of Fort Folly First Nation, Indigenous Elders, and fellow 蜜桃视频 Allison students.

鈥淭he garden project is one we had talked about previously on campus. It鈥檚 exciting to see it fall into place this year,鈥 says Elwell. 鈥淚鈥檝e enjoyed working with so many members of the community, including Doreen Richard [蜜桃视频 Allison鈥檚 first Indigenous affairs co-ordinator and member of the Board of Regents], Nicole Dub茅 from Fort Folly, Jesse Popp, [fellow students] Laylia Bennett and Mihar Raouf, and the campus grounds crew, who have been so helpful throughout the summer.鈥

Popp says the gardens serve as an important educational resource and help share Indigenous knowledge in a meaningful way.

鈥淲e鈥檝e worked with the University to design several gardens. One focuses on the medicine wheel, and another is called the Three Sisters garden, which includes corn, beans, and squash,鈥 explains Popp. 鈥淲e鈥檙e looking forward to sharing these with the campus and wider community in the fall.鈥

ThreeSistersGarden_pic2The Three Sisters garden, located near the University鈥檚 Sweat Lodge, constructed in 2018, is intended to help show how certain plants grow better when placed together, much like how people can accomplish more when working together. The garden includes two plots to help illustrate these partnerships. One plot has the plants planted together, while on the other side the plants are separate so people can see the difference in their growth.

IndigenousGardens_flagpoleThe second garden is located at the heart of campus, around the Mik鈥檓aq flag in front of the Chapel. It is a decorative plot designed in the colours of the Mi鈥檏maq medicine wheel: white, black, red, and yellow. A garden of sweet grass and sage, used for Indigenous ceremonies, has also been planted on campus.

Elwell鈥檚 summer internship also includes identifying existing native plant species on campus. These species will be marked with new signage in English, French, and Mi鈥檏maq, highlighting their importance and use among Indigenous communities.

鈥淲e鈥檝e identified 15 different species of plants on campus for the project to date, including cedar, oak, birch, and maple trees,鈥 says Elwell.

Growing up in Cape Breton and Millbrook First Nation, NS, Elwell was always interested in plants and helped in her mother鈥檚 garden. This summer marks the first time she has tended to a vegetable garden, with great results. The team recently picked their first harvest of several squash in the Three Sisters plot with one that weighed in at over one and a half kilograms.

Elwell鈥檚 internship is supported through Future Ready Wabanaki, a branch of Future Ready NB that seeks to specifically support Indigenous students through experiential learning opportunities and building job-readiness skills.

The team plans to organize garden tours for members of the University and wider communities this fall and are currently making plans for a community presentation and feast to share their findings from the summer project.

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