about project sweetgrass - RE-INDIGENIZING people & LAND
What is Sweetgrass?
Sweetgrass (she/her, capitalized as a proper noun) is a traditional medicine for many indigenous people in the Americas, also known as Turtle Island. Some people view it as Mother Earth's hair. She is the medicine of community. Her sweet smell promotes connection, healing and restoration. She has been used for building relationship through braiding, smudged in ceremony, weaved into baskets, in addition to many other meaningful purposes.
Why is it important?
This medicine replies upon give-and-take relationships with us as humans. She thrives by being harvested and cared for by us, the keepers of Mother Earth. Due to a culmination of cultural and environmental factors, Sweetgrass is rapidly decreasing and considered a "rare plant" in Washington state. According to DNR, " This species’ greatest threats include competition by weedy species and habitat degradation." Prior to 1980, she was located in Spokane, but has not been identified in our area since that time.
How are we helping?
Our goal is to welcome Sweetgrass back home. These lands were intended to live in harmony with this wonderful plant. We have an opportunity to steward her with our love and care. This will allow our community to reintegrate the healing properties into our practices through cultural preservation.
We are growing Sweetgrass and looking to share with the local community to live with families, forests, water banks, and her natural home. It thrives in moist/wet soil including slopes, meadows and banks. Whether is a medicine garden or special planting during a foraging trip, we seek to responsibly re-indigenize the land. Her most vigorous growth is through her rhizomes, and we are currently preparing seeds for planting.
Please reach out if you'd like to join us in the healing journey!