Decolonizing PermacultureExploring the Permaculture Principles through an Equity LensSaturdays, May 22 - June 1911am - 1pm Eastern TimeOnlinehttps://www.scho. As a quick thumbnail sketch, permaculture is an ecological approach to the design of whole systems. Donate your tuition to support our continued work, 90% refund for cancellations prior to 30 days before the start of the program, 50% refund for cancellations prior to 10 days before the start of the program. Photo by AB Brand As Published in issue #98 of Permaculture Design Magazine, November 2015 EarthShine also includes her Eco-Hood Design-and-Build Project along with Soulstice, which introduces young folks to careers theyve never heard of. Lee Warren Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak outBecause I was not a Trade Unionist. Perhaps it is the willingness to play the superior that is the root of the problem? Because some people have more financial means than others, we have created a sliding scale fee system to accommodate a range of economic realities. What is the purpose of this fence? Because in the Pueblo we dont have fences. That means that when people are talking about correcting agriculture to a time when it was better, were going back to that definition of when settlers came to America and started agriculture. We need people to understand that. Judge me if you must, but I did what I had to do to survive. She served as garden educator and camp director at the Truly Living Well Center for Urban Agriculture for eight years. My own history is of extreme poverty, marginalization, and struggle. Are you telling us that the Jemez people have been going over this fence? And the Jemez governors response was, I thought that fence was to keep the elk in not to keep the Indians out.. Or perhaps its designed to function exactly as its functioning now: to keep the poor and disenfranchised firmly separated from the elites, and to maintain this oppressive distribution of power. A-DAE: There is an assumption that man has command of everything around us, or we are on a higher plane than the living things around us. See the link below for her article and invitation to. How do we remember that we are all indigenous to this planet, our Earth Mother, our Gaia? I see an agenda of decolonization coupled with land use based on permaculture design as a positive way forward toward a time of greater ecological and social health, in which we may rediscover how to live in right relationship to a place while simultaneously repairing and healing historic crimes against humanity. The Earth is not actually dying. Sylvia DiBlasio wrote an article with this title. Document access and instructions can be found here. Permaculture is a process of understanding, analyzing and designing systems. They identify any person who owns land in a place to which they are not native as a settler (a.k.a. To me, again, thats a fallacy. In an indigenous community, food shortages mean something within that society is awry and has to be fixed. ARTY: I heard you tell the story of assisting your grandfather filling out an organic certification application and to the question of what inputs do you use, he said prayers, love, river water.. We can probably shoot for mimicking nature, but the idea that we could actually achieve it is a fallacy to me. Rez dogs just wander in the community and people feed them. ARTY: When Europeans came to North America they erected fences. A-DAE: One of the major components I hear consistently in regenerative agriculture is this idea of carbon sequestration. Decolonizing Permaculture Workshop Description. Maybe human extinction is whats best for the Earth, maybe not. 3 (2011): 54-70. http://libjournal.uncg.edu/ijcp/article/view/249/116, Robin DiAngelo, White Fragility: Why Its So Hard to Talk to White People About Racism, The Good Men Project, April 9, 2015: http://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/white-fragility-why-its-so-hard-to-talk-to-white-people-about-racism-twlm/. Well also discuss how to use these principles to transform ourselves, our values, our behaviors, our projects, and our society by interpreting them through a decolonized lens. That was my choice and I dont regret it, but the burden of those loans is crippling. Is it possible that we can subvert patterns of abuse and oppression by forming honest, lifelong friendships across the divides? Think of decolonization as another form of enlightened self-interest. A-DAE: At the heart of the concept regeneration is wanting to renew and correct some of the missteps that have taken us to the point of environmental damage and degradation. As a community steeped in the ecological design model known as Permaculture, Earthaven is taking a good long look at the ways in which the "Earth Care, People Care, Fair Share" movement has fallen . Self-righteousness is certainly not a principle of permaculture, and yet we divide ourselves so easily, bickering over the details and competing for resources. Indigenous communities embrace the environments that were in. In regenerative agriculture, the science needs to follow healthy systems. Podcast: Decolonization & Sudden Oak Life By Melissa Ott Fant February 15, 2021 Education broadacre permaculture, decolonization, permaculture design course, Sudden Oak Life, traditional ecological knowledge Current PDC student Danielle created two podcast episodes from audio recordings at our Broadscale Permaculture weekend in February 2021. The same goes for traditional ecological knowledge. My mom, of Cree/Scottish heritage, who was beaten as a child and had me when she was 19, worked full-time-plus, at minimum wage, in a wide range of jobs. I dont tell you all of this to make you feel bad or to pity me. Friends are loyal, honest, and sincere. Sovereignty means being free to pursue your dreams, to follow your chosen path, to share, speak, and teach your truths without fear of poverty and persecution. Copyright 2023 Permaculture Women's Guild & Heather Jo Flores. In places like the Amazon or here in California where the Mono people are still doing traditional burns, or places along the rivers where Indigenous People are stewarding the salmon and the salmon burial grounds, those are some of the healthiest soils. Indigenous people, in general, dont use pesticides. Well explore how the concepts of colonization, power-over, and dominator thinking have pervaded modern culture and offer suggestions about how to move towards a more holistic, equitable, integrated, and life-centered mindset. Decolonization doesnt have a synonym.. When that happens, people are disconnected from society and from the collective resources that go into making food. A-DAE: Absolutely. Not to say that racism, sexism, ageism and other -isms dont cause problems, but ultimately it is the control and ownership of money and property that allows people to abuse their other privileges. My teacher pulled my paper because I had all the houses together like a pueblo, which I grew up in. And imagine what I could do now if I had a piece of my own land instead of 80 grand in student debt. Decolonizing Permaculture The Eco-Institute at Pickards Mountain Permaculture and Indigenous Wisdom December 6, 2021 Decolonizing Permaculture: Steps Forward in Acknowledging the Past By: Meg Toben A few months ago, I posted a request to Facebook for an indigenous permaculture co-teacher for our Permaculture Foundations Certificate Program. In another sense, a cultural sense, decolonization is about the process of removing colonizing thoughts from your own mind and colonizing behavior from your own lifeway. We need to give thanks always. When we plant corn, we dont plant just for us, we plant for the environment around us too. Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Name *FirstLastEmail *NameNEWSLETTER SIGNUP. I was like: What is this? Tyson is a two-hearted and two-spirited person descended from the local indigenous matriarchy called the (A-ni-gi-lo-hi) based here in their aboriginal territory most commonly known as the Great Smoky Mountainsides. [x] In this case, settler peoples are studying and applying indigenous forms of land management, which can be positive as long as the tools and techniques are willingly shared by the indigenous peoples and not brashly stolen, like they have been so many other times throughout history. We need to be relevant. In historical terms, science has been used to dispossess a lot of Indigenous Peoples of land. Stories are from readers, activists, designers, teachers, and community organisers across America and around the world to reveal the newest discoveries in ecological systems. There are stark differences between agricultural systems in indigenous communities and agricultural systems in contemporary communities. Our intention is to invite proponents of western ecological agriculture (e.g., regenerative ag / permaculture) to go deeper and encourage their peers to go deeperto not just 'take' practices from Indigenous cultures without their context, but to also encompass the deeper Indigenous worldviews inspiring a consciousness shift that hopefully will One of the design methods used in permaculture that takes place early on in a site design is Zone and Sector Analysis. We dont need a Hero. When I say agroecology is an interpretation, its because agroecology practices are practices without the people. In my work regionally in the Northeast Permaculture network, one proposal that has emerged is that we consciously refrain from self-applying the term indigenous if we are not actually indigenous to Native North or South America. In collective resources management, a variety of skills are needed because youre not only dealing with people, but youre also dealing with relationships and how to balance those relationships. She said, No, what I mean is you need a pitched roof and a picket fence in front of the house. Download a sample from the Decolonizing Permaculture issue here (19MB). would love to hear your thoughts on this! Many of them continue to resist the process of settler colonization and assimilation. Center for Communication and Civic Engagement, Culture Jamming and Meme-based Communication. https://depts.washington.edu/ccce/polcommcampaigns/CultureJamming.htm, [ii] Rafter Sass Ferguson, Critical Questions, Early Answers, Permaculture Activist 93 (Autumn 2014): http://liberationecology.org/critical-questions-early-answers/, Robin DiAngelo, White Fragility, The International Journal of Critical Pedagogy 3, no. As a community steeped in the ecological design model known as Permaculture, Earthaven is taking a good long look at the ways in which the Earth Care, People Care, Fair Share movement has fallen short on the inclusion of black and brown voices, on addressing systemic injustices, on acknowledging where most land-based wisdom has originated. It seems the observation of the tension in considering these questions of land ownership/stewardship in light of this historical and contemporary inheritance is important. He said that Western culture views the natural world as an it that can be exploited and processed. If the deer are coming, its because theyre hungry. Shes been living in rural, land-based community since 1995 and at Earthaven Ecovillage since 2000. The only way to truly balance the scales is by actually, physically redistributing wealth. I do believe that most people wake up in the morning wanting to be good people and to do good work in the world, regardless of their race, class, gender, age, or what they eat for breakfast. I could go off on politics and science, but Im just going to end there. And it isnt even accurate to say merely that the economic-political system is flawed, because it seems more accurate to say that it is deeply corrupt. I reached out to my close friends and eventually we found an article titled Decolonization is not a metaphor.[iii]. Pomo people do different things than Navajo people. In Edible Forest Gardens, Dave Jacke talked about the generative or degenerative potential that disturbance plays in ecosystem dynamics. Another proposal is that we should seek genuine and longstanding relationships with existing First Nations. It is about learning what it means to be an ally, how to listen (especially when what I hear is emotionally challenging), and learning to give thanks always.We have to decolonize our minds before we can decolonize Native North America. My lineage of earth skills teachers includes Mike Douglas and Mal Stevens of the Maine Primitive Skills School. The language of science is very minute, talking about atoms and nutrients and carbon. Now imagine what I could have done had I been connected to the right opportunities at a younger age. In the sense of some kinds of strict land management and home economics, its kind of true. Lillian Jackson created a an inclusive safe space at the You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings. Decolonizing Permaculture Workshop Series Program This workshop has five two-hour sessions. I come from a background of union activism, art & philosophy, direct-action environmentalism, public school education, and building trades. kcet.org/shows/tending-nature/the indigenous science of permaculture. Exploring the Intersection of Permaculture and Decolonization. I have had a handful of discussions about decolonization in terms of giving land back to indigenous populations. ARTY: Ive always felt like one of the big problems with agriculture is that it needs more biology, it needs more life, not less. Think about what it means to be a true friend to somebody. Clearly were doing important work with permaculture, so I want to separate the baby from the bathwater. Onward to regeneration of healthy systems! There are many reports that say carbon sequestration is happening in indigenous stewarded lands. Ive tried. Its much more nuanced than these terms that are in vogue or not in vogue depending on the time and audience. So, this idea that science is objective is kind of a fallacy to me because I think science is very much subject to political whims more than anything else. We are a very young society and nation. During events like the regional Convergence, we might make an offering at the beginning to acknowledge who the indigenous peoples are who live/d on the land we are now occupying. To me its weird because in indigenous epistemologies people are a part of the environment, and its the same with the microbiome. Decoloniziation For Beginners: Inner And Outer Vision Decoloniziation for Beginners: Inner and Outer Vision Using the land and our tangible environments as the palette of living changes everything. You serve on the National Organic Standard board. When I see basket-weavers who are weaving from roots that have been affected by pesticides, I worry about them. Full Profile Page. I most often hear the term decolonization used in discussions about race, class, and privilege. But because we have the extra barrier of food access through money, food no longer is that indicator. Each of these peoples have their own practices and stories that go along with these practices. A podcast series featuring deep and engaging dialogue with Native culture bearers, scholars, movement leaders bringing Indigenous voices and solutions to global conversations. She served as garden educator and camp director at the Truly Living Well Center for Urban Agriculture for eight years.