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In northern and western Canada my exposure to other races was limited to those 1st nations people, Inuit and Metis who existed on this land long before the first European settler arrived. I did not much consider who was here first until adulthood when as a horticulturalist learning of the ethnobotany of plants in BC and WA state. I was enthralled. It was an eye-opening experience into what life must have been like for 1st Nations Peoples as well as the plants and animals who lived together. I think my families connection to the land helped to draw me to my career path. My work and personal life choices provide opportunities to help shift my relation to place.

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My maternal and paternal ancestors immigrated to Canada from England (only 3 generations ago) and France (6 generations ago). My parents relocated from Central Northern Canada to Western Canada to escape the hardships of climate, lack of employment and racial tensions in northern Canada. Their move re-connected them with other family who had previously made a similar move. They continued to maintain a connectedness to the land by purchasing property where they could tend a large garden and support livestock, both the primary sources of food for our family. As I began my own family we again chose to move to a place that represented greater prosperity, we immigrated to Seattle. Despite now having lived in Seattle longer than any other place on earth I still refer to Canada as my home as it still holds my childhood memories and all of our extended family.

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Question 1. What is your ancestral relationship to place? 

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Question 1. What is your ancestral relationship to place? 

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Question 2. How have you been socialized to understand your relationship to place? 

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Question 2. How have you been socialized to understand your relationship to place? 

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As we collectively shift to a more decolonial way of relating to place, what are some examples currently evolving in your understanding of that shift in your daily life?

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As we collectively shift to a more decolonial way of relating to place, what are some examples currently evolving in your understanding of that shift in your daily life?

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My mother is a first-generation immigrant. My paternal ancestors of unknown white European descent. My adopted paternal ancestors are Polish immigrants. My ancestral relationship to place has been one of leaving behind racial and religious persecution and economic instability, and coming to the US seeking prosperity, safety, and acceptance.  Being a second-generation immigrant in the place I currently call home, as well as a 'transplant' to a new state has shaped my relationship so I feel a sense of gratitude for improved conditions the moves have afforded, and a persistent sense of being a guest here. I don't feel the sense of ownership or patriotism I sometimes perceive others as having. Having the history of calling a place home that my ancestors have not provides me with a sense of respect for people for whom this is their ancestral home.

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My relationship to these stolen Coast Salish lands is one shaped by violence, dispossession, forced migration, and a relentless commitment to hope. My mother’s family has roots in Mexico City, and my great, great grandmother Esperanza immigrated to California as a young adult. My grandparents would eventually meet in San Diego, and head North to Washington for my grandpa’s work as a tradesman. Theirs was an interracial relationship, which was not popular in their families, and this too influenced their desire to make their own way. My father’s family has its roots in Louisiana, and deeper South into Haiti. I hope to learn more of our African connections if I can, though records have been hard to find. My grandparents fled Jim Crow South as young adults, and my grandpa’s military career as a nutritionist led to opportunities in Colorado then eventually Washington where they raised their sons and built strong community ties throughout Rainier Beach.

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Prior to both of my grandparents’ decisions to uproot themselves, their families were deeply connected to the land as farmers and ranchers in San Diego and Opelousas, respectively. Those relationships however were marked by unjust and coercive labor conditions, untenable costs, hostile neighbors, and underdeveloped communities. My grandparents would ultimately decide to abandon their intimate relationships to the land and leave the rural places that raised them in hopes of greater economic opportunities, more tolerant communities, and fresh starts. I see it as the work of many within my generation to now consider how we reforge those connections in a spirit of transformative justice and liberatory, cross-cultural healing. That healing requires a mass reckoning with the violent ways many of our ancestors have been forced to flee their land and subsequently view it as a site of trauma and loss. This is compounded by the ways Black folks’ very sense of safety is critically compromised in natural spaces, and all spaces. These histories, present realities, and hopes for the generations to come have had a profound impact on my passion for this work in co-creating joyful, safe(r) outdoor learning opportunities with our young people, and within my family. It is in this work that we reclaim our true connection to this soil, to one another, and to ourselves.