Sacred Land Committee Project
Naomi is a member of the Sacred Land Committee at her shul. Sacred Land is an effort to extend the holiness of the shul throughout the grounds, being mindful of the fact that our sacred space is on the sacred land of the Ohlone people. We are striving to come to right relationship with that complicated situation in a number of ways. We are taking out non-native ornamental species and replacing them with two types of plants. Those native to California with ethnobotanical significance to the Native peoples of the state, and plants that are significant in Jewish ethnobotany, that grow in compatible climates.
We educate our community by hosting educational workshops given by local Jewish environmental activists, (by charging a sliding scale and splitting the proceeds with the presenter, we partially support our work). We've hosted two truly wonderful organizations so far, Jews on Ohlone Land, as well as Home2headwaters.
The shul is in the process of learning about and making arrangements for a cultural easement on the lease to make our space available to local Native groups for ritual use. When they come, they will see many familiar plant relatives and see too, those that are sacred to us, growing together. May our communities grow ever closer as well. Towards that end, the synagogue encourages and provides opportunities for members to contribute to the Sogorea Te Land Trust. The powerhouse co-director of the Trust, Corinna Gould, has been featured as the speaker for High Holy Days. We worked with her in solidarity to rematriate a local Native site, a long but ultimately successful effort. I hope, and will continue to work towards, more interfaith efforts with local tribes as well as restitution work.
I am blessed to learn from the people in the Sacred Land Committee, most especially its founder Dvora Gordon. She, and many of the other members are far more skilled and knowledgeable than I as it regards cultivation, as I learned what I know about plants in wild settings. In return, I am the primary plant nerd as it regards selection of, and education about ethnobotanically significant species, both Jewish and Native.
The Sacred Land Committee is the next step in a long journey of learning from Native communities. With great gratitude for the gracious sharing of wisdom about my great love (the natural world and plants in specific) that I have received, I have found a few different ways to engage in service. I studied local Native history with Dr. Susan Lobo, and subsequently began weekly visits, for a period of two and a half years, to the American Indian Family Healing Center, an alcohol treatment program for Native women, in residence with their children. Together we created a healing garden, populated by sacred and food plants that they remembered from their childhoods. I have spent many hours in the restoration of Sausal Creek, facilitating a few youth groups making bi-annual visits for several years as well as leading a strike school there for 70 kids displaced during teacher strikes. My daughter has continued this legacy, clearing non-Native and planting Native plants at Sausal Creek for her Bat Mitzvah.
If you have an interest in creating such a space at your Jewish school/community center/shul, feel free to reach out for a few free pointers or a paid consultation.