How Much Knowledge Have We Lost?
Q: “My heritage is Cherokee, yet I didn’t learn what I could while I had grandparents to learn from. Are there people today, who have retained this priceless knowledge, and are willing to teach it?”
Yes, there are “wise ones”, caretaker of the land, keepers of the bees, who have a special connection with the earth. There are people who did learn from the wisdom and are teachers of foraging and land-care. We’ve overlooked these obscure people in our haste to chase the “big names”, the ones who’ve become the “rock stars” of regenerative ag. I don’t know but I’d be willing to wager that we all have some of the best soil-health knowledge right on our own back doors, if we’re willing to look, and I’ll bet their roots are that of the Native people. You don’t have to go across the country to find wisdom of the “old ones”, the ones who have always been in touch with Nature.
Maw – my great grandmother - had her own garden space. She’d go out early, always dressed the same; a sunbonnet, apron with big pockets, ankle-length dress, all which were homemade, and an ancient pair of boots with a hole cut out at the side of her big toe to make room for her swollen bunions. She tucked her well-worn hoe under her arm, and slow-but-sure, she made it to her “truck patch”. She worked the ground carefully, noticed everything, talked under her breath to herself, and remembered what she’d need to bring tomorrow for an ailing plant. You might find her scouring the edges of the woods, looking for certain plants to use for poultices or tinctures, or maybe early wild greens for dinner. She came back to the house with pockets of different greens. She knew the way of Nature around her, and she respected and loved all of it. I’m not sure how many generations back that her Native American heritage went, but she somehow “knew”.
Her life symbolizes patience, observation, respect, and appreciation for the earth, which provided what she and her family needed. This indigenous “knowing” is on every continent, if we look. This is what we’ve lost. This is what we need to become students of. Regenerative agriculture, in my book, isn’t just about financial gain. It’s about working with Nature, and learning from those who deeply, intuitively know Nature, how to heal our soil…and maybe in the process we’ll heal ourselves.
By the way, Maw lived to be just past 100, worked outside in her flowers and garden everyday she could, and her mind was clear until about a year before she passed.
Sherrie Ottinger, The Tennessee DirtGirl
