The Ecology Walk and Two-Eyed Seeing

Our Research-Creative Collaborative met at Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve on Monday, June 24 to begin building our experience and knowledge of plants together. We were delighted to welcome Jacob Gustafson, our summer research assistant. Jacob is a UMN architecture student and very much a plant lover. The Ecology Walk focuses on two-eyed seeing with plant signs in four languages - Dakota, Latin/scientific name, common name in English, and Ojibwe. A Little Free Library inspired by two-eyed seeing is on the Walk - built and filled with books selected by high school interns Wyatt, Sabrina, and Clayton.

Our group spent time with our plant relatives sage, blazing star, bergamot, beardtongue, yarrow, and Virginia Mountain Mint. We enjoyed admiring their beauty together and experiencing their textures and scents. Discussion began around the sacred and medicinal gifts of these plants. Examination both into the Latin name as well as the Dakota name allowed the team to further understand and connect these plants to one another. We decided to conclude our excursion by making tea from the Virginia Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum virginianum) or Waĥpé čheyáka in Dakota). Before the harvest, Jewell sang a Dakota song to the plant. Rebecca helped harvest and Caitlin brewed the tea. As we sipped we were grateful to our plant relatives for providing a delicious tea as we conversed about furthering our plant knowledge and how we might create a “third space” together at Cedar Creek. One idea was to braid the big bluestem grasses in the prairie to create a nest for us to gather in.