Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Wild turkeys: extirpated to indigenous?

This morning, for the first time in months, there were turkeys in the back yard. A flock of 10 or 12 hens hunted and pecked their way through the hollow behind the house. I suspect they spent much of the Winter roosted in one of the nearby pine plantations and are returning to more open fields now that mating season is here. The wild turkey was indigenous to Minnesota, was extirpated during settlement, and has been restored from wild birds living elsewhere. Does that make the current descendants indigenous or naturalized?

wild turkey hen visits back yard in Spring
wild turkey hen visits back yard in Spring
Photo by J. Harrington

Last night I started (re)reading Robin Wall Kimmerer's Braiding Sweetgrass. This will be at least my third or fourth time reading it. I've discovered  and signed up for an on-line reading group at Emergence Magazine that's chosen "Sweetgrass" as its kickoff selection. My memory isn't what it used to be (never was) so I'm once again enjoying both the substance and  the style or her writing. There are two particular themes I'm intrigued by and want to understand more and better. One has to do with being indigenous or naturalized to a place. The other is "reciprocity" and how Kimmerer understands it.
For much of human’s time on the planet, before the great delusion, we lived in cultures that understood the covenant of reciprocity, that for the Earth to stay in balance, for the gifts to continue to flow, we must give back in equal measure for what we take.
I'm looking forward both to the reread and to the online discussion. I promise to let you know what I think of the substance and the technology as the events occur. If it's not yet clear to you, I think very highly of the author and her book. It's now available in paperback. 'Nuff said.

We Who Weave




     On Tyrone Geter’s “The Basket Maker #2”

Weave me closer
to you
with hands dyed indigo
that rake oyster beds
awake
Smell you long
before
I see you
Vanilla sweet
Sweetgrass weaving
wares that keep Yankees coming
on ferries, no bridge
Waters been troubled
Makes you wonder
who put the root on whom first
with doors dyed indigo
Pray the evil spirits away
at the praise house
Make John Hop to stave off John Deere
We migrants
fighting to stay put
Even nomads come home
for a Lowcountry boil
a feast for hungry
prodigal sons
and daughters
with hearts dyed indigo
Dying for you to
weave us closer


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