Indigenous Placekeeping - Namebine-Giizis (Sucker Moon) - 06 April 2023

In Anishinaabemowin, I thought April's full moon would be Namebine-Giizis (Sucker Moon).

“In April, the sucker fish returns to spawn after travelling to the spirit realm to receive cleansing techniques for this world. As it swims through the water, it purifies a path for the spirits and cleanses the water beings. As life bursts forth within the stream and along its banks, we are reminded that we are but partners in this experience called life — that the harmony within the stream can also exist within ourselves. Once we discover this and are healed, we can bring healing to others through our peaceful presence and actions. Another teaching is that the sucker fish sacrificed his life for the Ojibwe during these rough months, due to the scarcity of food available. it is easier to net these fish during this time and it is believed the sucker is giving up his life to help sustain the Anishnaabe.”

 Chippewas of the Thames First Nation 

However, in the video above James Vukelich Kaagegaabaw, a descendent of Turtle Mountain, shares a story about Namebini-giizis as a name for February.

As I mentioned last month, the naming of the months (the moons) is rooted in place-based phenology. Maureen said that the April full moon in our area is Ziizbaaktoke Giizas (Sugar Moon).

This summer Maureen will begin working on a local Indigenous phenology calendar.

Indigenous phenology “encompass[es] all knowledge of biological seasonality, including the observation of life cycle changes in a specific plant or animal species to indicate the timing of the onset growth stages in other species, linguistic references to phenological events, traditional conceptions of time as they relate to seasonal change, and spiritual beliefs about cause and effect relationships of seasonal change.”

Trevor Lantz and Nancy Turner

If you’re interested in learning more about Indigenous phenology and its relationship to the work we’re doing with Little Forests, check out Indigenous Phenology: An Interdisciplinary Case Study on Indigenous Phenological Knowledge on the Menominee Nation Forest (the source of the graphic and quote).

News, events, announcements

Little Forests Kingston had its first Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Monday, April 3rd. At the meeting we elected a Board of Directors, passed motions allowing us to operate as a non-profit, and received updates from the nodes on all the wonderful things they're doing. Check out the minutes to get an idea of what's going on, who's doing what, and for ideas for where you might want to join. The evening ended with a bittersweet stepping down from the Board of one of Little Forests Kingston's founders, Maureen Buchanan. Maureen offered a lovely telling of the time she, Joyce and Joanne went on a walk and came up with the seed that has grown into Little Forests Kingston. True to the little forests themselves, the story was beautiful, heartfelt, and inspiring. Maureen helped us to remember we are doing truly amazing things that will help through the seven generations. Chi Miigwech Maureen!

Kingston Frontenac Housing Corporation (KFHC) Little Forests:

Little Forests Kingston, with the help of KFHC Support Worker Sarah Reynolds, held two information sessions with the residents of 111 Van Order Drive and three adjacent buildings. Our first session on March 21 involved getting to know each other, explaining the process of planting a Little Forest, and answering questions about our organization and our methods. We introduced the possibility of planning this Little Forest around keystone species—species known to support a wide variety of insect, (and by extension) arachnid, bird and mammal life. Residents were enthusiastic so we planned a second meeting. On April 4, we talked about ways that a Little Forest could enhance ecosystem health and the resulting benefit to human health. Residents studied and suggested many design elements that would support a biodiverse forest environment, and that would be accessible to all members of the community – regardless of age and ability. Next week, members of the 111 Van Order community and Little Forest Kingston volunteers will be delivering flyers to other residents in the Calvin Park neighbourhood, inviting them to join the project. We’re meeting again on April 19 to do soil testing and to design the space. If you’re interested in getting involved, please contact Nathan Nesdoly at [email protected] or (343)363-0492. We’re hoping to a develop group of interested volunteers to work on community engagement and Little Forest planting with other Kingston Frontenac Housing Corporation communities (over a dozen) throughout the city.

Little Forests: bringing climate, social, and multispecies justice into urban areas. We’re giving a talk and a booth display at the A2A 2023 Science Symposium: Making connections across a fragmented landscape on April 13, 8:00 am - 6:00 pm at St. Lawrence College. Joanne is creating a how to plant a Little Forest poster for the booth. Have feedback on her draft poster? Email [email protected].

Joyce is working on another poster to connect together the ideas of ecological corridors with cities as stepping stone for tree migration. The above illustration is from a new research paper on urban tree planting to assist species migration. According to the paper:

Planting outlier populations in urban heat islands is expected to provide a substantial head start on poleward range shifts. These man-made landscapes could work as a series of habitat islands that provide stop-over points, food, and shelters for the movement of seed dispersal agents (such as crows, jays, and nutcrackers) from urban to rural areas.

(1): Seeds and seedlings collected from their native ranges are used to establish outlier populations in a higher latitude city where the climate is suitable. Step (2): Assuming the first step is successful, translocated species will grow and reach reproductive maturity, accompanied by their ability to cool the city. Step (3): Seeds produced by the outlier populations in the city are then dispersed to surrounding rural areas to establish naturalized populations, or are collected and planted in a more poleward city if the climate warms faster than projected, repeating steps (1) and (2)

Maureen, Josh, and Joyce are part of a City of Kingston-Indigenous Food Sovereignty Garden working group to explore the meaning of shovel worthy. In researching concepts around shovel worthy, Maureen shared the concept of Indigenous Placekeeping.

“In cities, there are many infrastructures that sit on top of the memories and experiences of the Original Peoples of a space. Those Peoples were colonized, affected or erased by history. The reclamation and honouring of place, the keeping of place and the connection to that place are fundamental to Indigenous people all over the world. It is the ground of our being.”

Elder in Residence at Evergreen, Elder Taǫmęˀšreˀ/Catherine, How Art Inspires Placekeeping

Civic-Indigenous placekeeping and partnership toolkit: Can we build a permanent relationship between the city and the lands that give cities life? Roberta Jamieson. Mohawk from Six Nations of the Grand River Territory maps out 7 messages for Indigenizing the City.

1. Create a Two Row Wampum (Guswenta) city whereby cities become a place for all of its peoples according to their own worldviews, practices and aspirations.

2. Humanize this place and its peoples as a home for human beings, a network of communities and neighbourhoods, a place of extended kinship and caring.

3. Realize our vital connections to the land base that nourishes and sustains us. Honouring our waters, lands and resources. Can we build a permanent relationship between the city and the lands that give cities life?

4. Open space in the cities so that Indigenous peoples can thrive as Indigenous peoples - everyone will be the richer for it

5. Educate the city's children to be human beings before anything else; to be comfortable with diversity.

6. Build relationships across sectors and levels of government, at every level.

7. All these messages are in a holistic bundle and indivisible, let's embrace and practice all seven with full and committed hearts, and for the next seven generations.

Register on Eventbrite.

Make your own biodiversity feel guide

What if we created feel guides for biodiversity that grow out of a sense of place? Perhaps feel guides before & after planting a Little Forest? The Cascadia Field Guide is a feel guide featuring 13 communities and 128 beings “offering ways of connecting with heart and mind and body to place.”

I love their lesson plan for making your own feel guide by looking, listening, and wondering.

Choose a being. Write or find a poem; research and write your own being story; find or create art that honours these beings. Grounding questions

• What voices speak from/for this place?

• What beings are iconic, unique, significant?

• What relationships have people had with these beings over time?

• How can you visually represent or communicate these beings? Photos?Collage? Drawings? Graffiti? Comics?