Period 5 Land Acknowledgements by Jessica Graham

Land Acknowledgement Mentor Text

jessicagraham12 — 2023-12-12 11:05:06 UTC

RAVEN HILL in DUXBURY

Our community is on land that the Abenaki people simply referred to as “our land”, or N’dakinna. They have been here stewarding and living with the land since soon after the end of the last ice age, over 10,000 years ago. During the ice age, the glaciers were two miles thick in this area. As I sit on a forested slope in the watershed now called Dowsville, I can almost imagine the glacier sliding down from the north, from Moziozagan or moose’s shoulder to the Abenaki. Now called Camel’s Hump, this mountain sat beneath a mile of ice, and held strong even as it was ground and torn away.

Though often just a trickle, I can hear the roar of the brook right now, which flows in the same direction as the glacier moved, guided by bedrock and gouging this valley, to eventually meet the Mad River, then the Winooski, then the once salty sea lake. The recent rains give the river its voice and brought down most of the leaves so that the song can travel up to me. Yellows and oranges and reds can still be seen here and there up high, though on the ground the leaves are brown and slick, warning me to pick my way carefully as I descend.

I contemplate the inevitability of change, whether millennial or seasonal, and give thanks to the mountains, valleys, rivers, trees, plants, and creatures for our interconnectedness. I mourn the violence, genocide, disappearance, and disrespect that some of my ancestors brought to the Abenaki people. I am grateful for the Abenaki’s continued presence and teaching and stewardship.

As I depart, a raven croaks with intention. Maybe a warning. Or a call of curiosity. But definitely a voice that belongs in this place.