Indigenous Nation Rebuilding Through Gardening

Abstract

The Three Sisters, corn, beans and squash, planted together, form the foundation of sustainability for Indigenous peoples in what is now called North America as a source of balanced nutrition and nourishment for the community and for the nations' spirit. With these seeds, Indigenous peoples can engage in nation rebuilding. While Indigenous nation rebuilding literature shows numerous inherent problems and incompatibility when relying on Euro-American models, this article argues that war and victory gardens used by the United States during the two world wars to promote a sense of patriotism and national identity provides a framework harmonious with traditional Indigenous cultures. Gardening supplies the means through which Indigenous peoples reconnect with traditional lives and ways. Furthermore, as an outcome, articulating land reacquisition and use that non-Indigenous Americans recognise and have applied in their own nation rebuilding efforts could lessen misinterpretation and apprehension in land claim negotiations.