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The article Indigenous Peoples' Rights to Sacred Sites and Traditional Cultural Properties and the Role of Consultation and Free, Prior and Informed Consent frequently mentions the importance of protection of sacred sites and traditional cultural properties. "For example, the right to land includes traditional access and use; where the sacred site is a geographical location or cultural landscape, the right to sacred sites should include the identical limitations" (Butzier and Stevenson 311). This relates to the Skywoman Falling story because in the story, the Skywoman comes down from the sky and lands on a turtle's shell where she gets help from many other animals to lay dirt and create Earth. The story emphasizes the importance of treating the land with kindness and taking care of it to protect this sacred place the Skywoman just made. The importance of a good, respectful relationship between the Earth and humans is shown in both the article and the Skywoman Falling story.

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In 1833, the Indian Removal Act was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson

The Federal Government believed that civilization was not possible between "Indians and Whites" and "The only solution to the "Indian problem" that they believed would work was the removal of eastern Indian tribes to land west of the Mississippi River" (Clarke Historical Library).

Approximately 6,000 to 7,000 Potawatomi lived in Michigan at the time of the Removal Act

Some left Michigan and headed West, some fled to Canada, and some hid in Michigan

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MISHKOS KENOMAGWEN: The Teaching of Grass

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MISHKOS KENOMAGWEN: The Teaching of Grass

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Jillian

Research through The American Indian Studies Program at Michigan State University shows the effect plants have on the homes of native Americans. In both the article and the book Braiding Sweetgrass it mentioned how sweetgrass is used in their cultures. In the research, the native Americans used it for weaving baskets. This chapter of Braiding Sweetgrass talks about how it has been passed down by ancestors on how to pick the plant. A quote from the book explains how the plant was important for the land and the native Americans; "Humans participate in a symbiosis in which sweetgrass provides its fragrant blades to the people and people, by harvesting, create the conditions for sweetgrass to flourish"(164). Lena explains that you should always leave a gift for the plants and ask if they can pick the sweetgrass. The way of the land is to take what you need. Nature is a big part of Lena's ancestor's homes and lives. This chapter was explained as an experiment to see if they could grow more sweetgrass. At the end of the experiment, it is said that they can not replicate due to not being able to speak to the plants which is a big part of the place. The home of Native Americans involves plants and animals. Nature was vital to them.

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Luke

The chapter "An Offering," discusses the tradition of offering back to the land which has given to them. The offering that is seen in the author's perspective is the pouring out of coffee on the ground to run into the lake. Another offering in which they take part is leaving the campsite well left and full of wood for the next people to use. These offerings are not necessarily religious, necessary, or very impactful, yet there is a more connotative reason for doing so. At the same time, it might just be seen as a way elders show their children or younger generations how to act and treat the Earth and each other. In the text A Companion to Environmental Philosophy, we see an example of a tribe wanting to preserve the land of a river that is looking to be turned into a dam. As this dam would provide renewable energy for the area surrounding it, it damages the cultural relationship with those that lived and thrived on the grounds before them. This ground was the place of many burials of many generations, bearing much knowledge for the people who were associated with them to use for lifetimes to come. To the tribe who didn't want the dam to become, they talked about how drowning the burial sites would also drown the knowledge and history which has been left there from generations before. A quote from the chapter that I think relates to this idea of leaving the land how it was supposed to be left is this: "Before we paddled away from any camping place, she made us kids scour the place to be sure it was spotless... 'Leave this place better than you found it'"(35). Knowing that the tribe mentioned earlier isn't the only one that thought of the land this way, it shows that the Earth really offers itself to us, and in turn, we should treat it with just as much if not more respect and care.

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“A Companion to Environmental Philosophy.” Edited by Dale Jamieson, Google Books, Google, 2001, books.google.com/books?id=geINtQA6WIUC&lpg=PA3&ots=5pgoYZ_5Mo&dq=indigenous+land+offerings&lr&pg=PR14#v=onepage&q=indigenous%20land%20offerings&f=false.

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https://libguides.lib.msu.edu/c.php?g=95603&p=624368

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LibGuides: Native American Studies Research Guide: Michigan Notable Indians

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LibGuides: Native American Studies Research Guide: Michigan Notable Indians

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In the chapter "The Council of Pecans," Kimmerer briefly mentions the Trail of Death and her ancestors' journey from Wisconsin to Kansas against their will. They marched away from their homes while being held at gunpoint. She mentions "So much was scattered and left along that trail. Graves of half the people. Language. Knowledge. Names" (Kimmerer 13). The article titled American Indian Removal Beyond the Removal Act goes into detail about the Removal Act and also the violence and trauma behind it. "But removal was also an act of all-encompassing violence. In all cases, it involved some manner of coercion. Removal forcefully renamed the physical and cultural landscape as it marginalized Native ways of living and being" (Bowes 66). The article, along with "The Council of Pecans," underlines the loss of religion, language, security, respect, and landholding practices.

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The Potawatomi Experience of Federal Removal Policy

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The Potawatomi Experience of Federal Removal Policy

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The Potawatomi experience of federal removal policy: Clarke Historical Library. www.cmich.edu. (n.d.). https://www.cmich.edu/research/clarke-historical-library/explore-collection/explore-online/native-american-material/native-american-treaty-rights/historical-issues/the-potawatomi-experience-of-federal-removal-policy

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The Potawatomi Experience of Federal Removal Policy | Clarke Historical Library

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A historical essay that discusses Indian relocation of some tribes from Michigan to the trans-Mississippi West which took place in 1833.

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"For indigenous peoples around the globe, sacred sites and other traditional cultural properties are of extreme importance to the preservation of their culture and society" (Butzier and Stevenson 298).

Sacred sites and traditional cultural properties are now protected by law and they are "eligible for inclusion in the National Register because of its association with cultural practices or beliefs of a living community that (a) are rooted in that community’s history and (b) are important in maintaining the continuing cultural identity of the

community’"

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American Indian Removal Beyond the Removal Act

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American Indian Removal Beyond the Removal Act

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Bowes, J. P. (2014). American Indian Removal Beyond the Removal Act. Native American and Indigenous Studies, 1(1), 65–87. https://doi.org/10.1353/nai.2014.a843652

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Which animal brought up a handful of mud for the Skywoman to create Earth?

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Indigenous Peoples’ Rights to Sacred Sites and Traditional Cultural Properties and the Role of Consultation and Free, Prior and Informed Consent

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Indigenous Peoples’ Rights to Sacred Sites and Traditional Cultural Properties and the Role of Consultation and Free, Prior and Informed Consent

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Butzier, S. R., & Stevenson, S. M. (2014). Indigenous Peoples’ Rights to Sacred Sites and Traditional Cultural Properties and the Role of Consultation and Free, Prior and Informed Consent. Journal of Energy &amp; Natural Resources Law, 32(3), 297–334. https://doi.org/10.1080/02646811.2014.11435364

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Indigenous Peoples' Rights to Sacred Sites and Traditional Cultural Properties and the Role of Consultation

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As the human race, reaching from every end of the Earth, there are things in which we take as traditions, rituals, and ceremonies, each specific to geography, culture, religion, etc. In this chapter, we explore the specific ceremony of pouring coffee onto the ground to give thanks to the Earth. Of course, we see Kimmerer using her rationale to figure out why this might have started by thinking of the coffee grounds rising to the top of the boiling pot. When she asks her father about this, it is evident that he didn't even think of this as it was just what he did. There was no direct, denotative meaning to this ceremony, but a spiritual connection between the action, themselves, and the Earth.

Is there anything that you can think of that either your culture, geographical area, religion, or anything else does to show it's thanks to something else that might not be so evident? For example, a very well known Mexican tradition is to celebrate La Dia de Los Muertos, or The Day of the Dead. They celebrate those that have gone before them by rejoicing the time and memories they had together by creating sweets, memorials, costumes, and decorations to commemorate the Dead.

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Check out this link to learn more about Native American Rituals and Ceremonies!

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Native American Rituals and Ceremonies – Legends of America

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Ceremony and rituals have long played a vital and essential role in Native American culture. Spirituality is an integral part of their very being.

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Do you think that we appreciate plants as much as we should?

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As mentioned in the chapter Putting Down Sweetgrass, It mentions how "Strands of spirit and matter are woven together like black ash and sweetgrass" (259). This shows how important plants were during this time. They did not just use them for baskets to hold things, but it was apart of their culture. They pass down stories of the plants that play a big part in the land. Kimmener also mentions that when making baskets out of sweetgrass, it is weaving a link between the people and the land (257). It brings economic success for the land which allows them to continue to support the plants and they will not go hungry because they make a living selling them.

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Here is an article to show how Native Americans utilized sweetgrass in basket weaving