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Perennial Ceremony: Lessons and Gifts from a Dakota Garden
Travel through a garden’s seasons toward healing, reclamation, and wholeness—for us, and for our beloved relative, the Earth
In this generous collection of prose, poetry, and recipes, Teresa Peterson shares how she found refuge from the struggle to reconcile her Christianity and Dakota spirituality, discovering solace and ceremony in communing with the earth. Observing and embracing the cycles of her garden, she awakens to the constant affirmation that healing and wellness can be attained through a deep relationship with land, plants, and waters. Dakota people call this way of seeing and being in the world mitakuye all my relations. Perennial Ceremony brings us into this relationship, as Peterson guides us through the Dakota seasons to impart lessons from her life as a gardener, gatherer, and lover of the land. We see the awakening of Wetu (spring), a transitional time when nature comes alive and sweet sap flows from maples, and the imperfect splendor of Bdoketu (summer), when rain becomes a needed and nourishing gift. We share in the harvesting wisdom of Ptanyetu (fall), a time to savor daylight and reap the garden’s abundance, and the restorative solitude of Waniyetu (winter), when snow blankets the landscape and sharpens every sound. Through it all, Peterson walks with us along the path that both divides and joins Christian doctrine, everyday spiritual experience, and the healing powers of Indigenous wisdom and spirituality. In this intimate seasonal cycle, we learn how the garden becomes a healing balm. Peterson teaches us how ceremony may be found how in the vegetables and flowers, the woods, the hillsides, the river valley—even in the feeding of friends and family—we can reclaim and honor our relationship with Mother Earth. She encourages us to bring perennial ceremony into our own lives, inviting us on a journey that brings us full circle to makoce kiŋ the land is my relative.
In this generous collection of prose, poetry, and recipes, Teresa Peterson shares how she found refuge from the struggle to reconcile her Christianity and Dakota spirituality, discovering solace and ceremony in communing with the earth. Observing and embracing the cycles of her garden, she awakens to the constant affirmation that healing and wellness can be attained through a deep relationship with land, plants, and waters. Dakota people call this way of seeing and being in the world mitakuye all my relations. Perennial Ceremony brings us into this relationship, as Peterson guides us through the Dakota seasons to impart lessons from her life as a gardener, gatherer, and lover of the land. We see the awakening of Wetu (spring), a transitional time when nature comes alive and sweet sap flows from maples, and the imperfect splendor of Bdoketu (summer), when rain becomes a needed and nourishing gift. We share in the harvesting wisdom of Ptanyetu (fall), a time to savor daylight and reap the garden’s abundance, and the restorative solitude of Waniyetu (winter), when snow blankets the landscape and sharpens every sound. Through it all, Peterson walks with us along the path that both divides and joins Christian doctrine, everyday spiritual experience, and the healing powers of Indigenous wisdom and spirituality. In this intimate seasonal cycle, we learn how the garden becomes a healing balm. Peterson teaches us how ceremony may be found how in the vegetables and flowers, the woods, the hillsides, the river valley—even in the feeding of friends and family—we can reclaim and honor our relationship with Mother Earth. She encourages us to bring perennial ceremony into our own lives, inviting us on a journey that brings us full circle to makoce kiŋ the land is my relative.
229 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 18, 2024
7 people are currently reading
160 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 5, 2024
Medicine, nourishment, and unity are inherent in the intentions and actions of any gardener. In
In “Perennial Ceremony: Lessons from a Dakota Garden,” Teresa Peterson shares the poignant reflections, poems, and recipes sourced from years of tending a garden and gathering bountiful harvests. Growing and learning along the cycles of beloved tomato plants and the Three Sisters (corn, bean, and squash), Peterson shares the lessons from her mixed German and Indigenous Dakota roots and meaningful work serving the NDN Foundation. The collection is organized according to the seasons, documenting transition and maturity. Peterson imparts practical tips for keeping plants happy, healthy, and productive while she offers her contemplations on the healing ceremony of gardening. We learn what she values about her partnership with her husband Jay, raising children, and caring for the family.
Food is medicine. As Peterson shares the life lessons from her garden, she also imparts delectable recipes from the harvest. Moreover, “Perennial Ceremony” offers an intimate look at one Indigenous leader’s reflections and practices in thriving. While being of a mixed race, Peterson is firmly rooted in her American Indian identity and history. Her prose is an open invitation to step into world views and lived realities of Dakota peoples who survived genocide, land theft, and boarding schools. The community is a testament to the powerful concept of the Seventh Generation. Anchored in reciprocity and benefaction, the essence of the Seventh Generation appeals for intentional and thoughtful actions to leave a better world for our descendants.
From a decolonial viewpoint, Peterson honors life and all relations in her daily gardening practice. Her writing is intimate, warm, and thought-provoking, as she integrates social commentary into her reflections about family and community and our shared responsibility for each other. In my learning journey of remembering how my Filipino ancestors cared for the land, I found solace in Peterson’s reflections about the possibility of true healing. Amid climate change and seemingly irreparable ecological damage, there is an opportunity to plant seeds of hope and healing across generations. Although there are hard truths to confront about human nature and the violence of colonization, resourcefulness and patience will prevail.
In “Perennial Ceremony: Lessons from a Dakota Garden,” Teresa Peterson shares the poignant reflections, poems, and recipes sourced from years of tending a garden and gathering bountiful harvests. Growing and learning along the cycles of beloved tomato plants and the Three Sisters (corn, bean, and squash), Peterson shares the lessons from her mixed German and Indigenous Dakota roots and meaningful work serving the NDN Foundation. The collection is organized according to the seasons, documenting transition and maturity. Peterson imparts practical tips for keeping plants happy, healthy, and productive while she offers her contemplations on the healing ceremony of gardening. We learn what she values about her partnership with her husband Jay, raising children, and caring for the family.
Food is medicine. As Peterson shares the life lessons from her garden, she also imparts delectable recipes from the harvest. Moreover, “Perennial Ceremony” offers an intimate look at one Indigenous leader’s reflections and practices in thriving. While being of a mixed race, Peterson is firmly rooted in her American Indian identity and history. Her prose is an open invitation to step into world views and lived realities of Dakota peoples who survived genocide, land theft, and boarding schools. The community is a testament to the powerful concept of the Seventh Generation. Anchored in reciprocity and benefaction, the essence of the Seventh Generation appeals for intentional and thoughtful actions to leave a better world for our descendants.
From a decolonial viewpoint, Peterson honors life and all relations in her daily gardening practice. Her writing is intimate, warm, and thought-provoking, as she integrates social commentary into her reflections about family and community and our shared responsibility for each other. In my learning journey of remembering how my Filipino ancestors cared for the land, I found solace in Peterson’s reflections about the possibility of true healing. Amid climate change and seemingly irreparable ecological damage, there is an opportunity to plant seeds of hope and healing across generations. Although there are hard truths to confront about human nature and the violence of colonization, resourcefulness and patience will prevail.
October 12, 2024
What could this storytelling bird be sharing?
“Relatives: Today was another beautiful day. Be grateful for the abundance we have. Let us give our gratitude to the worms and insects for giving up their lives so that we may live.
Let us also give thanks to the trees and bushes for they have provided safety and a home. Our gratitude for the creek below us that quenches our thirst and the pools of water to bathe
May we all awaken to rejoice and express our gratitude once again when Mother Earth turns toward the light.
“Relatives: Today was another beautiful day. Be grateful for the abundance we have. Let us give our gratitude to the worms and insects for giving up their lives so that we may live.
Let us also give thanks to the trees and bushes for they have provided safety and a home. Our gratitude for the creek below us that quenches our thirst and the pools of water to bathe
May we all awaken to rejoice and express our gratitude once again when Mother Earth turns toward the light.
to-read-actual
October 21, 2024Pub 2024
November 12, 2024
Easy, chill garden-memoir kinda book with some recipes throughout.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews