After reading Robin Wall Kimmerer’s first book, Gathering Moss, and her spectacular Braiding Sweetgrass, and listening to her speak at Penn State, I am definitely a fan.
I try to keep her mantra of the Honorable Harvest—knowledge, respect, taking only what you need, sharing with others, gratitude—close to my heart throughout the year, but especially in November.
Details of Penn State’s Celebration of Native American Heritage Month arrived in my Inbox. In the email was this paragraph, an Acknowledgement of Land:
The Pennsylvania State University campuses are located on the original homelands of the Erie, Haudenosaunee (Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk, and Tuscarora), Lenape (Delaware Nation, Delaware Tribe, Stockbridge-Munsee), Monongahela, Shawnee (Absentee, Eastern, and Oklahoma), Susquehannock, and Wahzhazhe (Osage) Nations.
This acknowledgement, writes Diné (Navajo) Tracy R. Peterson, Director of Student Transitions and Pre-College Programs at Penn State, is “intended to recognize the Indigenous Nations that were displaced from the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, to amplify the voices of Indigenous people and allies leading to changes that will make a difference at our educational institution, and to reconnect and build collaborative relationships with Indigenous nations and communities.”
Two Zoom sessions this month caught my interest—last week’s How to Become a Good Ally to Indigenous Peoples and next week’s Indigenous Sciences of Sustainability: Ancient Native Food Systems and Their Lessons for the Future.
How to become a good ally? I came away with a starting point: Learn about whose land you are living on.
It’s definitely a work in progress, but beginning is simple. Just click on the site Native-Land.ca The website features a rotating globe. You click on the landmass of interest, type your address in the search box—Bingo!
In my case, I’m living on the lands of the Susquehannock. And, that’s where I’ll start.
According to archaeological evidence, the Susquehannock native landscape was centered around the Susquehanna River in 1550 A.D. where the indigenous people spoke Iroquoian. They were large-scale agriculturists who grew the Three Sisters (corn, beans and squash) and lived in longhouses (60-80 feet long) along the river, according to the website of the Susquehanna National Heritage Area in Wrightsville, PA.
It is thought the Susquehannock moved south to better control the fur trade, acting as middlemen between the New York, Ohio and Canadian native groups and the Europeans, using dugout canoes on the river and a circuit of walking paths between the Susquehanna and Delaware rivers.
In 1608 Capt. John Smith met a delegation of the Susquehannock just north of the river’s mouth and described them as “great and well-proportioned men” who “seemed like giants to the English.” That’s just the beginning. So much to learn. Laurie Lynch
Singing at the Table: As I was working on this piece, the WPSU Folk Show was playing in the background. “…enough is a feast, enough is a feast, take what you need, save some for the least…”. I Googled the lyrics and Bill Harley was listed as the songster. Check it out.
Giving Thanks: Although I was introduced to the magic of Sambucus nigra elderblossoms in Ghent, Belgium’s delicious cordial Roomer, Native Americans found many uses for our native Sambucus canadensis.
They made fritters and teas from the lacy flowers, according to the Indigenous Peoples Perspective Project at Adkins Arboretum on the Delmarva Peninsula. The seeds in the berries are poisonous and therefore the fruit must be cooked before eaten. Native Americans boiled the black berries, for syrup or jam, and used them medicinally as a tonic for fevers, colds, and headaches. From the branches, they made smoking pipes, blowgun darts, arrow shafts, and bow drills for starting fires.
In My Kitchen: I’ve used elderberries to make pies and jams. This year, I got smart and harvested some of my elderberries (leaving the tallest clusters for the birds), stripped them off the stems, washed, dried, and then froze them in Ziplocs so I could use them at will in the winter. I’d rather cook on a cold day so the kitchen warms the house than during a sweltering day in August. This past weekend I made a batch of Elderberry Syrup. I’ve drizzled it on my oatmeal, mixed it with warm water for a tea, and even had a spoonful or two as a tonic. Elderberries are high in Vitamin C and antioxidants, and are said to boost your immune system, lower inflammation and stress, and are reportedly good for your heart and lungs.
Elderberry Syrup
3 cups water
1 cup elderberries
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. minced fresh ginger
¾-cup honey
- Combine water, berries and spices in saucepan and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer 30 minutes.
- Mash berries to release juices. Strain mixture, retaining juice and let cool for 30 minutes. Compost the pulp.
- Stir in honey.
- Pour into clean jars and refrigerate.
Fleur-de-Blog 