decolonizing permacultureis bill bruns still alive

Indigenous People have created the idea of the unknown and the sacred and reverence for where we are as the youngest entity in this place. Full Profile Page. Whenever I get questions about agriculture, I always get a little squirmy because I realize most people are coming from the perspective of the American historical narrative where Indigenous People are excluded. We need small, steady change built upon strong, healthy connections. Permaculture Design Magazine Issue: 98 - Decolonizing Permaculture We dont kill the natural systems in order to ensure that we survive, which is what food safety does. And we dont want you to feel bad about it. My lineage of earth skills teachers includes Mike Douglas and Mal Stevens of the Maine Primitive Skills School. Exploring the Intersection of Permaculture and Decolonization. Decolonization matters because of mountaintop removal, water mining and fracking. It started long before that event happened in our country, and regenerative agriculture needs to challenge that narrative that has led us astray thus far. If we genuinely care about the regeneration of ecosystems and culture, we should talk more openly about this tension of owning stolen land,[viii] especially when seeking relationships with contemporary Native peoples. But the real remedy is more diverse above-and-below ground living systems. Decolonizing Permaculture - YouTube [vi] And while settlers of color may experience systematic oppression at the hands of the currently designed economic-political system, they are also settler people and not members of the First Nations. 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. Then they came for meand there was no one left to speak for me. Its a tall order, but I hope that you will embrace the challenge. Decolonization is also about sovereignty. Ive tried. 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 Resilience is a program of Post Carbon Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping the world transition away from fossil fuels and build sustainable, resilient communities. When I say agroecology is an interpretation, its because agroecology practices are practices without the people. In this important book, Linda Tuhiwai Smith meets a formidable challenge. 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. In the latest instalment of PP I introduce the topic of decolonizing permaculture. Thats the only way were going to ensure that we are within the cycle of whatever natural systems were a part of. Is it possible that we can subvert patterns of abuse and oppression by forming honest, lifelong friendships across the divides? We should ask how we can be relevant to their lives, and ask for permission and endorsement of our activities and events. 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. Introduction to Permaculture | OUR Ecovillage I have been on my own since then, and have been generally self-reliant, unless you count student loans, which I accepted in order to access an education that was unavailable without them. It leaves room at the table for processes to happen because if we knew everything and if we could mimic nature, theres no imagination thats needed, theres no room for surprises, and theres no room for some of the beauty that happens by happenstance. We all have indigenous ancestors, and they were once colonized too. No portion of the original content on this website may be reproduced, in any language, without express written consent. How can we tend our own council fires in service to the community? 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. The easy absorption, adoption, and transposing of decolonization is yet another form of settler appropriation. The middle of the scale reflects the value we believe the program holds and the low-end offers a more accessible entry point. Another way to obtain all the basics of ecological design and the permaculture movement for those who can not make a full two-week course! Some of the greatest joys come from the understanding of reverence and the sacred. The list below offers tangible suggestions for how to cultivate real friendships and alliances. 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. 9/29/21 - Dirt Time! Isnt nature our best teacher? As Moore (2015) points out, "all life rebels against the value/monoculture nexus of modernity, from farm to . 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. It is this facet of decolonization which strikes fear into the hearts of most settler peoples because it offers no firm guarantee of a settler futurity. While its a challenge, its also a tremendous opportunity. Permaculture gives us the ability to design resilient homesteads, farms, villages, towns and economies so that we have the ability to weather the storms that come our way, whether they are economic or ecological in nature. But counting carbon and counting molecules is not going to help people understand. When we farm, were thinking about natural cycles, and how do we become more embedded into those natural systems. Im also here because I dream of a world free of the industrial nation-state. 5/7/22 - Our Permaculture Community Comes Together - A Reflection on Weekend One of the PDC. Think of decolonization as another form of enlightened self-interest. As a principle for ecosystem design and care he talked about shifting the burden to the intervenor.[vii] So that when we decide to fall trees or sheet mulch so that we can plant forest gardens, the responsibility of managing the consequences of that disturbance falls to the gardener who intervened. Why would I want to put that in my body? Towards A Socially Sustainable Permaculture Some Practical Steps Scientific inquiry and the scientific field is fairly young compared to the natural systems that were trying to mimic. Watch keynote addresses, panel discussions, performances and more from visionary innovators. Its a very broad term. The course will address the first four permaculture principles through the framework of African land-based wisdom, (Cherokee) earth-based (non-European) language, and the common uses at Earthaven Ecovillage. As I ruminated on the difference between recruitment, green missionary work, and relevance, I also started to ask how I could use my privilege and agency (as a white cis-male) to be an ally to marginalized Native communities. (Think of Rainbow family, New Age Plastic Shamans, and pretindians. Bioneers: Revolution From the Heart of Nature. of the critical dialogue around permaculture, including its ties with cultural appropriation and white dominance (Watson 2016). This matters because an injury to one is an injury to all. Rez dogs just wander in the community and people feed them. Each of these peoples have their own practices and stories that go along with these practices. Sometimes its public benefit; sometimes its through actual cash economy transactions. In this sense, there is broad overlap between movements for social justice and anti-racism. We want to create systems that are rebirthing a healthy environment. Our award-winning radio and podcast series highlighting diverse voices of grassroots leaders. What I found is there are not a lot of non-white people in the organic community. 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. Questions of what happens to present settler peoples is secondary to the act of returning Native land to Native peoples. How we behave and interact with our ecosystems matters. May 22: Decolonizing Permaculture Overview, May 29: Principle 1: Observe and Interact, June 5: Principle 2: Catch and Store Energy, June 19: Principle 4: Apply self-regulation and feedback. In an indigenous community, there are some things that just cannot be commodified land, water, air, animals, even the health of the people, all of which are considered collective resources. As Published in issue #98 of Permaculture Design Magazine, November 2015. Wilderness Skills - Santa Cruz Permaculture How can we expect to design a regenerative legacy for our descendants if we havent yet made peace with the ancestors? But for me, the central problem that divides the permaculture community is class. Join us on this exploration of both the celebrations and the challenges of permaculture as seen through the lens of three marginalized voices. Something to think about. [v] Ideally this process should be done without strings attached. When we plant corn, we dont plant just for us, we plant for the environment around us too. We need to be relevant. Decolonizing Permaculture - School of Integrated Living Ive studied it to death, and Im still learning. However, because I grew up with such an unusual set of resources, I learned to be extraordinarily resourceful, and that is precisely what makes me such a good designer, teacher, and community organizer. Decolonization doesnt have a synonym.. 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. My response to that? Wouldnt you do just about anything for them? A podcast series featuring deep and engaging dialogue with Native culture bearers, scholars, movement leaders bringing Indigenous voices and solutions to global conversations. Also, places that have been stewarded and kept by California indigenous basket-weavers, those are the places where carbon is probably its most healthy. If its under your house and the machine needs it, it cares not who you are. Pomo people do different things than Navajo people. The tragedy is that such thinking offers permaculturist white people the opportunity to replace those indigenes and complete the project of settler colonialism, without those permies realizing that theyre doing so. This is the work. First Nations provides grants and technical assistance to strengthen native communities and economies. Youre part of that system. A-DAE: I think were still dealing with the issue of fences today. To decolonize regenerative agriculture, we have to go back and think about the times before European settlement and contact to the times when there was more of a balance in the ecological environments that were trying to correct now. How do we remember that we are all indigenous to this planet, our Earth Mother, our Gaia? 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. The indigenous universal connection is the idea that you absolutely need to be part of the natural cycles around you, whether theyre negative or positive. For me, it is a process of working through my grief over the crimes my ancestors may very well have committed. She is now focusing on her writing and on EarthShine, a business that exposes children and teens to the wonders of the natural world. The industrial machine is genocidal because it kills off whole nations and peoples. Lillian Jackson created a an inclusive safe space at the We would do well to reflect on our role as ecosystem designers and designers of ecological culture, and to think of ourselves in our design and organizing work as culture jammers.[i] What then, are some responsibilities here (vis a vis EarthCare, PeopleCare, FutureCare)? You serve on the National Organic Standard board. If the deer are coming, its because theyre hungry. Commitment to Decolonizing Permaculture . So, I sit on the board and it helps that Im a brown face in a very white community. They are not extinct. When we write about decolonization, we are not offering it as a metaphor; it is not an approximation of other experiences of oppression. See inside The Nook at Gateway Neighborhood, The Butterfly House in the Hut Hamlet Neighborhood, and The Hummingbird Apartment at Village Terraces Cohousing. Full disclosure: I did not buy this one, or a photograph thereof, from an indigenous person. 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. In our fields, there are no fences. But because we have the extra barrier of food access through money, food no longer is that indicator. I tell you to make the point that not everybody has access to the jobs, schools, homes, families, land, and respect that is a given in many of your lives. Recruitment is disingenuous. Think about what it means to be a true friend to somebody. Right now it doesnt make a prominent habit of eating white cis-dudes because its busy making a habit of disenfranchising people of color, women, queer peoples and all those others. But as these brittle industrial systems fall apart as a result of climate change or energy shortages, those others can always be redefined to include me or you. Yes, Earth Care is important, and many species are going extinct, but we will climb right to the top of that list if we dont get the People Care and Fair Share ethics worked out. Full Profile Page. 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. Document access and instructions can be found here. Decolonising Permaculture with Principle Zero | Rosemary Morrow in I dont have any answers, but I do care deeply about being a good neighbor and a good ancestor to my descendants. Lee Warren We should listen with humility when we are challenged over our privilege or unexamined racism. Decolonizing Permaculture - A Letter From Starhawk Please give generously to support a more resilient and regenerative world. What is Permaculture Design? Through observation and gathering information about the site, its nearby surroundings, and the people who utilize or will utilize the site, we identify zones of use and sectors of energy that influence or affect the site. I wrote about sovereignty in my work on the Heroines Journey, in relation to the age-old question, what do women want? I discussed the possibility that a womans heroic journey might have less to do with slaying the proverbial beast, and more to do with understanding, befriending, and co-existing with it. )[xii] [xiii]. Faculty And again, if somebody has enough money, they can play the buffoon and get away with it. We need people to understand why its important to have healthy soil and why its important that you have a healthy root system that sequesters water. 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. In a literal and legal sense, decolonization brings about the repatriation of Indigenous land and life.[iv] It is important to note here that Native American peoples are not mythical relics of the precolonial or pre-Columbian Americas. Third, Trauger's suggestions for food-sovereign gov-ernment could have been developed better, including a more careful and strategic reflection about scale. Whitewashed Hope - Resilience would love to hear your thoughts on this! However, it seems to me that there are ripples of injustice coursing through the permaculture community, manifesting as a pattern of landowners and/or self-proclaimed leaders doing things that hurt, offend, oppress, and devalue others. We are probably the youngest species on our planet and in our environments; the trees and the plants and the animals are much older. kcet.org/shows/tending-nature/the indigenous science of permaculture. We need to be aware of white fragility if we start feeling defensive during racially charged conversations. That is so hard for me to understand. In 200 pages she presents a cogent critique not only of anthropology, but of the cultural evolution of the entire Western concept of research. On a deeper level, permaculture is about the conscious design of ecological cultures. But I realized that saying that sentence, especially to a room full of (mostly) white people, has the effect of erasing the lived experience of contemporary indigenous North American people. Arent these all of the same qualities we want for our permaculture community at large? The idea of the picket fence fascinated me. We offer partial scholarships (50% off) to black, indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) who otherwise would not be able to afford to attend. Though there isnt enough space to properly tackle the subject in this article, it still warrants a brief mention here. And imagine what I could do now if I had a piece of my own land instead of 80 grand in student debt. It is offered so that we may think critically and philosophically about sustainability and our role in our culture as designers of novel ecosystems. Lee is a sustainability professional with twenty five years of experience envisioning, designing, and living innovative solutions to organic food systems, intentional community, and sustainability education. You need to become embraced in that system in order to create not only a healthy food system, but also healthy people, a healthy environment, and a happy mental state. Agriculture is usually the delineating line where people talk about civilization and non-civilization or hunter-gatherers and yeoman farmers.

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