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The Indigenous Garden by Atom J. Valdez

The Gardens on Spring Creek is honored to have been awarded funding from the U.S. Botanic Garden / American Public Gardens Association Urban Agriculture Resilience Program to partner with the local Indigenous Community to learn, plan, plant, grow, and harvest vegetables, herbs, ceremonial and medicinal plants for the Native populations’ use. This garden marks the beginning of a committed relationship between The Gardens on Spring Creek and the Native community that will continue to grow and evolve into the future.  To learn more about this incredible project, please read this blog post from our Summer 2024 Indigenous Garden intern, Atom J. Valdez of the Navajo Nation. 


The Indigenous Garden 

by Atom J. Valdez, Navajo Nation 
 

The Indigenous Garden at The Gardens on Spring Creek was born out of an expressed need by the local Indigenous community for access to space to grow spiritual, medicinal, and food plants for the community.  Assimilation into Western society created a gap in traditional ways of living, and our generations now have experienced firsthand in a lifetime how fast things can change and how easily knowledge can be swept away and lost if we are not deliberate in our beliefs and what we choose to pass on to our youth.  This garden is a direct effort to RECLAIM our Indigenous identities and return to the ways of our ancestors so that they are never forgotten for their sacrifices.  It was created to heal the wounds of colonization by giving our community an outlet to express their Native heritage freely and to learn a deeper understanding of our relationship to the land and the world around us. 

To start, The Gardens on Spring Creek and the Indigenous community of Fort Collins came together and formed a committee with the idea of creating an Indigenous Garden: A sacred plot free of genetically modified foods and pesticide use, with plants that played a pivotal role in the Americas and our Native histories.  


The planning began—the committee picked an 800-square-foot plot at The Gardens to host the Indigenous Garden. Working together, the committee and The Gardens' staff began planning with intention and purpose, choosing plants, designing the garden, and researching specific species of plants that had a story unique to the Native people of the Americas: The Three Sisters (corn, squash, and beans), potatoes, onions, peppers, and tomatoes. Then, an Indigenous Garden Keeper position was created to oversee and maintain this sacred plot. 


While I had previously gardened as a hobby, it wasn't until I got the Garden Keeper internship with The Gardens and started working in the Indigenous Garden that I truly understood the simplicities, complexities, and beauty of horticulture. My experience in the garden was as spiritual as it was physical. I loved being up and outside early in the morning; everything was so lively and crisp. Tending the garden felt like I was tending my soul; pulling the weeds from the garden was like pulling the worries and stress from my mind. Reading the plants to see if they were healthy or sick, thirsty or overwatered, and learning their body language helped me read myself to see what I needed. Working in the sun warmed me up. The hard labor made me feel strong and needed. Harvesting the plants filled me with abundance and excitement as I shared my hard work with the community. Seeing the faces of the People as I would show up with my 20-pound box of tomatoes and peppers was priceless. The vegetables were always gone by the end of the night. The whole community was eating healthier because of our little garden. When the warm season was over, pulling the plants and tilling the land helped me understand the seasons better.  Then it was fall and time to reset and put the garden to rest for spring. 



In my heart, I feel in rhythm with the land, the plants, and the world around me. Tending a garden, for me, is spiritual work.  If you do the work and stay consistent, the Creator will provide. The plants will provide. The land will provide. Respect the garden as a living, breathing testament to our history and where we come from.  Understand that we are far more connected to our traditional ways of living than we think.  It's within us, and I want to share what I felt so that others can feel and understand it. Gardening is healing. It's important. The plants are tied to the rhythm of the seasons and the stars. It's pivotal to who we are as Five-Fingered Beings. We cannot forget. 



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