In a collaborative partnership, Bemidji area organizations are uniting to create a Community Cultural Garden dedicated to supporting Native American individuals and families. Participants committed to the cause include BI-CAP Supportive Housing, the Nameless Coalition for the homeless of Bemidji, and the Northwest regional group of the Racial Equity Accountability Project (REAP).
The initiative draws on the expertise of REAP members including the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Red Lake Band of Ojibwe, White Earth Indian Reservation, BI-CAP, and the Northwest Minnesota Foundation to provide culturally relevant resources and promote equity-focused solutions to homelessness within the BIPOC community.
The Community Cultural Garden will be in Bemidji and will include specific sacred herbs and medicines that are used by Native American families in their teachings and healings. The herbs and medicines that will be the focus of the garden are: Sage, Sweetgrass, Dogwood, and Cedar. Those herbs and medicines can be hard to find and obtain for our Native American Communities in Bemidji and the surrounding area.
The collaborative effort will allow community members to harvest herbs that are sacred and much desired and needed. The garden will be Native American led to ensure all cultural traditions and beliefs are upheld. To help guide and advise on the project, the partner agencies will be working with the professor of Ojibwe at Bemidji State University.
Learn more about BI-CAP at bicap.org and follow the agency on Facebook at facebook.com/BemidjiBICAP/