For our sixth session, halfway through the Indigenize or Die series, we pause.

With Naadmaagit Ki Group (NKG), Helpers of the Earth, as our co-hosts, we invite you to A Celebration of Seeds Planted. Together we will honour and celebrate the efforts of NKG and many others at Emmett Avenue Communal Garden who are doing the very important re-indigenizing work of reclaiming our food sovereignty. 

Join us and other re-indigenists for a potluck picnic, tour NKG's work, and perhaps make your own contribution by planting a tree. 

Hang out, relax, and break bread outside with our emerging community of Allies and "Indians." Enjoy the sounds of singing and live Mbira music with Moyo Rainos Mutamba. Get your hands in the ground and see what’s happening, and how it's changing, what that takes and what it means. 

The Emmett Avenue Communal Garden is a cooperative venture involving NKG, the Black Farmers Collective, the Afrocentric School collective, Social Planning Toronto, City of Toronto Parks and Recreation, and communal garden volunteers. Grown communally rather than in individual plots, the garden is used for sustainable food production and distributed to low income families as a contribution to food justice. NKG have been reclaiming the area in an around the Humber (Tanaouate) River, including in this Garden, restoring indigenous responsibilities to the land and water, and supporting indigenous cultural learning on the land in the city. They are growing Three Sisters mounds (corn, beans and squash), a sophisticated and sustainable system that will provide long-term fertility and a healthy diet, in a generational project that will see families taking up responsibility for the mounds for Seven Generations. 

"Indigenize or Die" is honoured and excited to be building a collaborative relationship with these front-line warriors who are on the ground, doing the re-indigenizing work about which we have been dialoging.
 
The event will take place near Jane and Eglinton: please register by 9:00 am on Wednesday June 29 to receive details of location and transportation options.

6:00 pm: Tree Planting and Tour
7:30-9:30 pm: Potluck Picnic and Circle

$15 suggested donation to cover travel and other expenses of our guest hosts.
Students/unwaged PWYC. No one turned away for lack of funds.
Please bring your own plate, cup and utensils and a potluck picnic dish to share.

For information on previous sessions in the series, see www.unifytoronto.ca/events.

Following on our April session's exploration of the Indigenous basis for restoring balance with urban landscapes, in this session we looked at planting seeds literally and metaphorically.

Doug Anderson from Naadmaagit Ki Group (NKG) returned, joined this time by guest facilitator Moyo Mutamba, to help us develop plans for taking action in Toronto around re-indigenizing the land.

In this 25-minute audio-clip of Moyo's presentation, accompanied by photos, you will learn about Ubuntu, a Learning Village in Zimbabwe, and the way they are planting seeds of transformation for the well-being and survival of all. 

Featuring: "Indigenize or Die" Series Curator Kevin Best and Guest Presenter Moyo Rainos Mutamba.
Audio-visual editing by Morgane Kot.   

Kevin Best has focused on how to create a just and sustainable society through activism, innovative business and restoring Indigenous society for over four decades. Of mixed heritage, through adoption he self-identifies as Anishinabeg of the Martin Clan. He has worked with Indigenous people throughout Turtle Island, consulted to Greenpeace and pioneered green energy in Ontario. He is currently working on a start-up called Odenaansan (Village or “the little places where my heart is”), an integrated, culturally-based approach to restoring Minobimadzin (the good life) through sustainable food, energy, housing and water in Anishinabe communities. Passionate about decolonization and re-indigenization, he is committed to spreading understanding of these life-giving possibilities. He has recently joined Mayor Wilson as a Consulting Partner.