SOUTH HOLLAND, Ill. – On Aug. 3, Sand Ridge Nature Center hosted an educational and informative presentation on African American traditional ecological knowledge (TEK).
The seminar, From Oceans to Lakes to Rivers: Maintaining African American Traditional Ecological Knowledge through Forced Migrations, was conducted by Nataka Moore, a professor of clinical psychology at Adler University.
Tragic beginnings
One of the first questions Moore asked the audience was “Who are African Americans?” The original African Americans were not settlers or migrants. African Americans didn’t come to the United States seeking a better life. They were taken from their countries of origin and forced here. Modern day African Americans are descendants of enslaved people.
Moore showed the audience slides including a layout of how people were transported on a ship with barely enough room to turn around. People were shackled together with the intention of preventing suicide. Captors thought someone would be less likely to jump overboard if it wasn’t just their own life at risk, she said.
However, water was embraced as a Mother Spirit. It was believed that if water brought people to America, then water could take them back home.
This was evident in Igbo’s Landing, regarded as the largest mass suicide in the United States. Moore touched on this subject, which the audience knew little about.
“In 1803, a group of 75 Africans from Igboland (or present-day Republic of Nigeria) were captured and brought to Georgia aboard a ship, where they would be taken to a location to serve as slaves on a plantation field. Upon landing on St. Simons Island, they walked in unison into Dunbar Creek, choosing death over enslavement. Igbo Landing is now a sacred site,” according to Georgia’s GoldenIsles.com.
Traditional ecological knowledge
African ancestors had a deep understanding of water, land, and ecosystems, according to Moore, a knowledge that was not book-taught. It was learned through experience of living off the land and has played an important role in survival, adaptation, and environmental stewardship across generations.
The Great Dismal Swamp was a large wetland that spread over parts of Virginia and North Carolina. It was a natural habitat to insects, alligators, poisonous snakes, and panthers. It was also a sanctuary to maroons — “people who had emancipated themselves from enslavement and settled beyond the reach of enslavers,” as defined by the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.
The swamp was inaccessible by white people, which Moore said frustrated them because they did not know how to navigate or live off this land. The community there consisted of about 50,000 people, “a unique blend of indigenous peoples, free people of color, and those fleeing enslavement and indentured servitude,” as stated by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation.
Moore passionately read poetry and also spoke of George Washington Carver, who was a pioneer of TEK. Carver was known as The Plant Doctor because of his agricultural knowledge. He founded an industrial research lab where he “discovered more than 300 uses for peanuts and hundreds more uses for soybeans, pecans and sweet potatoes,” according to the Missouri Department of Agriculture.
Other traditions
Storytelling was a longtime tradition that facilitated learning among African Americans. Communication was verbal as they didn’t have the liberty of learning to read and write.
A popular 500-year-old Nigerian folktale, “Why the Sky is Far Away,” taught restraints and limits of the land. It tells a story of how the sky fed people until they took too much. People had to then start raising their own crops.
“Follow The Drinking Gourd” is an African folksong that referred to the Big Dipper constellation that pointed to the North Star helping freedom seekers escape through the Underground Railroad.
Gourds played a prominent role in African history for everyday use. They were used as bowls, bottles, ladles, floating devices, and for storing foods and liquids. They were also used in making different types of instruments, including the first banjos. One audience member proudly spoke up about an original banjo she owned and loved.
The color blue was important in African American culture, Moore said. It represented the water and sky surrounding them in protection. Indigo also had a prominent place. Denim was a coarse textile originally known as “slave cloth.” The blue hue of jeans resulted from an arduous dyeing process using the indigo plant.
Exploring further
Other topics that Moore spoke of included herbalism and the clash between agriculturists and environmentalists. She talked about The Democratic Republic of Congo and the Congo Basin, which is the largest and healthiest tropical forest carbon sink in the world. Moore said 80% of Earth’s remaining biodiversity is found in territory managed by Indigenous peoples.
An important point regarding climate change is that it is man-made, Moore said. By recognizing and understanding mankind’s role in creating environmental concerns, there is the possibility to restore damage. Learning about conservation will lead to environmental solutions that benefit nature and people collectively.
Moore continues to teach about TEK and you can learn more at The Mbwakawen Harambee Collective website and on Instagram @Thetmhcollective.
Sand Ridge Nature Center is located at 15891 Paxton Avenue.
