Dear SEMIS Coalition Members,
Did you grow up with a garden? Flowers, fruits, berries, and veggies. Those snap dragon flowers, pink, yellow and orange. I remember the beautiful black legged, yellow spider who guarded our blackberries when they returned, season after season. Come October, allowing the tomatoes to stay where they lay, and perhaps to come again in the summer. Tagging behind gramma to hold poppy seeds, snap dragon seeds, and okra seeds she tossed into my tiny spread apron.
Seeds, seasons, and times change. In its second year, the IWOK (Indigenous Ways of Knowing) Book Circle is dedicated to reading materials that lift the veil covering the indigenous peoples of the Great Lakes, their histories, cosmologies and precious wisdom. As we close our reading of Diane Wilson’s “The Seed Keeper,” we are honored to host indigenous seed keeper, Shiloh Maples. A citizen of the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, Ms. Maples has championed food sovereignty and food justice, resulting in the creation of historical indigenous food systems throughout Detroit for over ten years.
Looking forward to good words from Shiloh, words that reconnect us to the land, that inspire and strengthen our resolve to consider the importance of resilience and sustainability for the land and the people. Food is important. Good food is critical for a good life. Heirloom seeds are important, for these ancient, resilient plants provide us with authentic, nutrient dense fruits and vegetables that sustain themselves through collecting their seeds. It’s not hard, to grow something. Start small, a potato in a bag, tomato seeds on a cotton ball. Potted plants of herbs on a window sill.
And if you’ve never planted a thing, there is no time like the present. Winter sowing is just beginning!
In partnership,
Paula Sizemore, EcoJustice Education Consultant, SEMIS Coalition
Photo of garden spider from the prairie at the Holmes STEAM Elementary School in Ypsitlanti.
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