Alyson Shelton
Here to Write, Create and collaborate
Land Acknowledgement
I live and write on the ancestral lands of the Tongva, Kizh and Gabrielino people. Thank you to elders, past and present, for the care you showed and continue to show to the land I deeply love and call home. I am grateful for your presence here and am inspired by your ability to thrive and illuminate a way forward.
I express my gratitude and work toward repair in what sometimes feel like tiny ways, and yet each small step adds up to forward movement. I learn. I read. As I walk, I thank the trees, the sky, the land that surrounds and supports me. When I visit the ocean, I am comforted by its vast expanse and knowledge. I try to live my life in the spirit of reciprocity. Deeply inspired by the work of Robin Wall Kimmerer, I'll share one of her many powerful thoughts on reciprocity* here,
"I don't know the origin of the giveaway, but I think that we learned it from watching the plants, especially the berries who offer up their gifts all wrapped in red and blue. We may forget the teacher, but our language remembers: our word for the giveaway, minidewak means "they give from the heart." At the word's center lives the word min. Min is the root word for gift, but it is also the word for berry. In the poetry of our language, might speaking of minidewak remind us to be as the berries?"
I found the Gabrielino-Tongva Tribe website and the Tongva People website informative about life before and during colonialism, which set out to eradicate indigenous culture, language and wisdom. I also enjoyed visits to traditional villages in the California Botanic Garden, the Ballona Wetlands and the Chumash Indian Museum. For resources outside of Los Angeles, I strongly suggest the phenomenal book Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer and the comprehensive list on the 21 Day Racial Equity Indigenous Challenge from the Massachusetts Center for Native American Awareness.
*One form my reciprocity takes is my commitment to anti-racist work, you can find details in the More About Me Section of my website.
I live and write on the ancestral lands of the Tongva, Kizh and Gabrielino people. Thank you to elders, past and present, for the care you showed and continue to show to the land I deeply love and call home. I am grateful for your presence here and am inspired by your ability to thrive and illuminate a way forward.
I express my gratitude and work toward repair in what sometimes feel like tiny ways, and yet each small step adds up to forward movement. I learn. I read. As I walk, I thank the trees, the sky, the land that surrounds and supports me. When I visit the ocean, I am comforted by its vast expanse and knowledge. I try to live my life in the spirit of reciprocity. Deeply inspired by the work of Robin Wall Kimmerer, I'll share one of her many powerful thoughts on reciprocity* here,
"I don't know the origin of the giveaway, but I think that we learned it from watching the plants, especially the berries who offer up their gifts all wrapped in red and blue. We may forget the teacher, but our language remembers: our word for the giveaway, minidewak means "they give from the heart." At the word's center lives the word min. Min is the root word for gift, but it is also the word for berry. In the poetry of our language, might speaking of minidewak remind us to be as the berries?"
I found the Gabrielino-Tongva Tribe website and the Tongva People website informative about life before and during colonialism, which set out to eradicate indigenous culture, language and wisdom. I also enjoyed visits to traditional villages in the California Botanic Garden, the Ballona Wetlands and the Chumash Indian Museum. For resources outside of Los Angeles, I strongly suggest the phenomenal book Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer and the comprehensive list on the 21 Day Racial Equity Indigenous Challenge from the Massachusetts Center for Native American Awareness.
*One form my reciprocity takes is my commitment to anti-racist work, you can find details in the More About Me Section of my website.
