Participants in the McEown Park community garden came together on Oct. 14 at the Graduate House lounge for a Cross-Cultural Garden Harvest Potluck, in celebration of their seasonal work and to reflect on the importance of the community garden in their lives.
The gathering welcomed Randy Morin, an Indigenous poet and activist, to address the value of sharing and the significance of harvest to the Indigenous worldview. Throughout the season, organizers of the community garden have planned several events and workshops focused on helping participants develop their understanding of Indigenous knowledge.
Paromita Sengupta, a third-year computer science student and participant in the community garden, explains what she learned from these special events, which have impacted her outlook on gardening.
“From a workshop by an Aboriginal knowledge holder, Dion Tootoosis, … organized by the McEown community garden, I learned how life can be linked up with plants [that] originate from a single root. They are no different than [humans],” Sengupta said, in an email to the Sheaf.
Jebunnessa Chapola, a third-year women’s and gender studies PhD student and cultural co-ordinator of the community garden, believes that the community garden is a space to learn about decolonization. She emphasizes the importance of sharing land as opposed to owning land, a fundamental concept for the community garden.
The garden has now been discontinued for the fall, but the application process for plots will open again in April for any student living in the residence buildings in McEown Park.
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Nykole King / News Editor