anish farm morris_module 5 final

7/30/2019 Anish Farm Morris_module 5 Final

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TOPICSModule 5: The Colonization of Knowledge Systems and the need for Decolonization


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In her book Our knowledge is Not Primitive, Wendy Makoons Geniuszdiscusses the colonization and

decolonization of Anishinaabe knowledge. Noting,For indigenous people, colonization was not just econom

and physical exploitation and subjugation it was also the exploitation and subjugation of our knowledge, our

minds and our very beingsiThose charged with carrying out various assimilation tactics were taught to vie

native knowledge as primitive or evil and, as a result, they often prevented its continued dispersal within

native communities. Native people were also made to view their knowledge as wrong or inferior and no

native knowledge as right or superior and having such view many naturally chose what was made to lo

like a better knowledge.ii

The decline in Anishinaabeg agriculture, the loss of diversity of Native foods, and seed stocks are all related t

this colonization process. Today, many Anishinaabeg view farming as something undertaken by white men o

tractors, and have little to no knowledge of traditional Anishinaabeg gardens and foods. As Lucile Brockway

points out, however, Not only did the colonizers benefit from native botanical knowledge, they were also a

to use this knowledge to fuel their imperialistic efforts.iii

These examples illustrate the tremendous benefit

elite colonizers gained by making native knowledge appear primitive. Once native people came to view the

knowledge as inferior, some were willing to part with it for a price reflecting its primitive, inferior nature

Indeed, as Brockway argues that the search for botanical indigenous knowledge encouraged, fueled, and ma

possible European colonization of the globe. Europeans brought plants from the Americas back to Europe a

Asia, improving nutritional quality and quantity of food, which caused a population explosion and created a

physical force for colonizationiv (The potato is viewed as the plant which transformed diet and starvation

trends in Europe.) As she continues,

European research institutionsbegan to experiment with plants and Indigenous botanical

knowledge from the Americas creating products to benefit British health and economy as we

those of their colonies. Medicines from the Americas, including malaria treatment found in

cinchona bark helped European colonists settle in other tropical regions of the world such as

India The colonizers used indigenous knowledge to exploit the people from whom it came

This writing is about decolonizing knowledge. In the process, this beginning piece discusses the historical

knowledge about our Anishinaabeg, and land-based agricultural systems. This process was augmented

nationally and internationally by the creation of an industrialized agriculture model.

Value of Anishinaabeg, Indigenous Ethno botanical, and Farming Knowledge

Gartner on soil Inputs, Carbon, Crop Rotations Raised and Ridged Fields, islands:

...No one has ever mapped the distribution of corn hills in Wisconsin in this study, 206 ridged field sites, l8l

corn hill sites, 38 sites with both ridged fields and corn hills and 36 suspected raised field sites were tabulate

from archival research, archeological site files, and original field surveys.vi

Gartner found that Sagard and Champlain both stated that:

The Huron relocated their villages every ten to thirty years depending on the rates of firewo

depletion and the decline of agricultural yields. Some believe that thirty years is simply too lo

for Huron agriculture to be viable in one locale. Huron maize yields may have rapidly declined

within about ten years of annual cropping from an average of 27 bushel per acre during the f

six years to less than eight bushels per acre by year l0.vii


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After abandonment, the Huron allowed some fields to regenerate into meadows or secondary forest. Haze

nut and cherry trees are particularly common in old fields, although the degree to which the Huron intention

planted these species is unknown. Heidenriecih estimates that in order to feed 21,000 people, approximatel

5000 acres of land would have to be in cultivation at any point

Burning:

Excavations show that thecorn hills are primarily

composed of topsoil, wood ash and charcoal. The contr

profiles contained little if any charcoal and ash, thereby

demonstrating the importance of fire for native agricult

here.viii

Very little record was ever produced on the quality of th

soils in the region this loss in its self is significant as it

part of our traditional knowledge that is lost. What we learn from studies of the terra preta (black soil) in the

Amazon Basin, however, is that similar practices of burn

were responsible for cultivating an abundance of health

rich topsoil. Also referred to as terra preta de indio, or

black earth of the Indian, its composed of high levels of charcoal, bone, manure, and other organic animal

fertilizers.ix The traditional land management knowledge this indicates is very similar to Anishinaabe practice

which focus on burning and natural fertilizers to build and maintain soil fertility in a cyclical management

process. Through controlled burning, and periods of time for the Earth to regenerate, this is a useful techniq

not to be confused with the scorched Earth policy implemented by the United States military against Nat

peoples as a means of destroying food sources by burning all crops to the ground at once (this devastating

method of war is still used in present time against Indigenous peoples in Guatemala (1982-3), Indonesia (199

Fish guts as an additive to the gardens:

We have come to a point where we recognize that the largest contributing factor to climate change is

industrialized agriculture and chemical fertilizer is a big part of this, as it leads to soil degradation in the wa

is used. Our traditional practices, which involve organic fertilizers and knowledge of soil fertility are an

important strategy. Our ancestors spread fish guts in the earth to promote fertility, and this, combined with

cyclical burning, produced the richest of soil. This is a widely known and used practice today in organic and

sustainable farming and gardening communities as Jeff Lowenfels noted in Teaming With Microbes: A

Gardener's Guide to the Soil and Food Web, Organic fish fertilizers excel at supporting the microbe herd tha

at the base of the soil food web.x

This knowledge has been known and implemented to build deep, healthy

soils in indigenous communities around the Earth for thousands of years.

Soils and Growing Seasons:

In the Lake Superior Lowlands, Chequemegon Bay and Region dominant soils are:

glossudalfs and eutroboralfs that formed either in fine glaciolacustrine deposits or coarsely

textured glacial till. As the above classifications indicate, these podzolized soils have organic r

A horizons and prominent albic (E) and argillic (Bt horizons). They typically form under forests

cool, moist settings. Both sets of arent materials are calcareous and contain pulverized

Figure 1 Left: a nutrient poor oxisol; right: an oxisol

transformed into fertile terra preta (from the Amazonian

Basin).


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Precambrian iron-rich rcs. The high Fe2O3 content of the later parent material is responsible

the so-called red clay oil classification in the older soil literature.xi

The growing season varies between ll0-l40 days, and with l40 days of thick snow. There is reduced spring fro

depth in all but the western most portions of the region.

White Earth, Red Lake and Leech Lake.

Sabaskong and Rainy River- island and River bed soils

Technology, Varieties and Technique:

About l5.4% of raised fields sites occurred in forests dominated by maple, basswood and oak. Maple domina

forests occupied about 9.8 percent of Wisconsin in the mid l9th century, and there were several maize cultiv

in one field.xii

The crops were often pre treated before planting. Some germinated seed in water in the warm

of a long house, or in specially prepared seed beds during late spring. Such care reflects the importance of

individual plants in native cultivation and is very different from broadcast sowing in Old world agriculture.

Tubers, Jerusalem artichoke (helianthus tuberosus), groundnut (apios americana), man of th

earth (Ipomoea pandurata, which produces a 8-9kg edible root) and other species of Indian

potatoes. If the Ojibwe and Assiniboine are any indication, tuber cultivation became more

important towards the northern and western margins of agriculture (563).xiii

l000 Years of Agriculture in South and North America:

Agrobiodiversity has a great significance both historically, and as we look into the future. Historically, we

practiced crop rotation, companion planting, and understood the importance of biodiversity, an understand

that is very important as you do not want monocrops (the cause of the Irish Potato Famine). As the Universit

of Minnesota states in the Three Sisters Planting Activity:

By the time Europeans had arrived on the

North American continent, various Native tribes had domesticated and hybridized over

150 plants, including over 150 varieties and colors of six species of corn, five main

species of beans, squash, gourds, pumpkins, tomatoes, peppers, peanuts, strawberries,

blueberries, Jerusalem artichokes, potatoes (both white and sweet), chocolate, vanilla,

sunflowers, and many others.xiv

The story of the Three Sisters is significant in Ojibwe oral tradition, and tells us how to plant the corn, squash

and soybean together in one mound.xv

Potatoes and corn are probably the largest crops and have a huge

impact.

Discussion Questions:

Should I write these?


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iGeniusz, W.M. Our knowledge is not primitive: Decolonizing botanical Anishinaabe teachings.Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2009.iiGeniusz, W.M. Our knowledge is not primitive: Decolonizing botanical Anishinaabe teachings.

Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2009.iiiBrockway, Lucile. Science and Colonial Expansion: The Role of the British Royal Botanic Garden. Yale

University Press, 2002.ivBrockway, Lucile. Science and Colonial Expansion: The Role of the British Royal Botanic Garden. Yale

University Press, 2002.vBrockway, Lucile. Science and Colonial Expansion: The Role of the British Royal Botanic Garden. Yale

University Press, 2002.viGartner, Gustav William. Raised Field Landscapes of Native North America Thesis (Ph. D.). Madison:

The University of Wisconsin, 2003.vii

Gartner, Gustav William. Raised Field Landscapes of Native North America Thesis (Ph. D.).Madison: The University of Wisconsin, 2003.viii

Gartner, Gustav William. Raised Field Landscapes of Native North America Thesis (Ph. D.).Madison: The University of Wisconsin, 2003.ix

Johannes, Lehmann. Research Digs Deeper into Biochars Benefits. Online: ABC Rural, November, 2,2011. xLovenfels, Jeff. Teaming With Microbes: A Gardners Guide to the Soil and Food Web. New York: Timber

Press, 2006.xiGartner, Gustav William. Raised Field Landscapes of Native North America Thesis (Ph. D.). Madison:

The University of Wisconsin, 2003.xii

Gartner, Gustav William. Raised Field Landscapes of Native North America Thesis (Ph. D.).Madison: The University of Wisconsin, 2003.xiii

Gartner, Gustav William. Raised Field Landscapes of Native North America Thesis (Ph. D.).Madison: The University of Wisconsin, 2003.xivUniversity of Minnesota Board of Regents. Three Sisters Planting Activity: online, June 21, 2010.xv

University of Minnesota Board of Regents. Three Sisters Planting Activity: online, June 21, 2010.

anish farm morris_module 5 final

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