Ekvn-Yefolecv Indigenous Convening: The Power of Cultural Resilience
By Christopher Audain, Ambitio US Program Officer; Cate Fox, Ambitio US Program Director, and Leeann Wallett, Ambitio US Program Officer
During the last week of October, Cate, Chris, and Leeann from the Ambitio US team attended a convening at Ekvn-Yefolecv (pronounced: Ee Gun Yee Fo Lee Ja), an intentional ecovillage community of Indigenous Maskoke people who have returned to their traditional homelands to practice linguistic, cultural, and ecological sustainability. Designed as a holistic decolonization paradigm shift, residents of the ecovillage are manifesting an off-grid, income-sharing community on 1,206 acres of land with natural building construction, renewable energy, and low-tech integrative regenerative systems. The three-day convening was the largest gathering to date at Ekvn-Yefolecv, and among the attendees were leaders and representatives from roughly 15 Indigenous delegations and four institutional groups, as well as the residents of the eco-village.
Ekvn-Yefolecv is located in Weogufka, Alamba, a city at the southern edge of the Appalachian range. The first day began with a traditional welcome ceremony where the team received some food, presented gifts, and expressed intentions for the visit. Marcus Briggs-Cloud, the co-director of the eco-village, welcomed people from far and wide to share in the preservation of the Maskoke ancestral land, language, and culture, while also supporting and learning from one another. The Maskoke hosts welcomed the team into their ancestral community along with the delegations, some of whom traveled great distances — from as far as Alaska and Hawaii to upstate New York, Mexico, and Ecuador — to share stories about their ancestral lands, cultural resilience, and hope for the future.
After the formal welcoming introduction, the team toured the expansive village, riding in the back of pickup trucks while learning about natural building and integrated systems; language and cultural revitalization; and regenerative agriculture.
Lake sturgeon are a culturally significant species to Maskoke People, but a combination of factors, including the erection of hydroelectric dams in the Coosa River, led to their extirpation. In 2017, residents of Ekvn-Yefolecv traveled to Anishinaabe homelands (what is colonially known as Ontario, Canada) to spawn the fish, and return embryos back to our homelands to be hatched and grown out. On Earth Day in 2020, we released the first group of sturgeon back into the Coosa watershed. ( Ekvn-Yefolecv Website )
The second and third days included deep storytelling and sharing of personal experiences from all the Indigenous attendees. Each group spoke about its own cultural practices and the importance of reimaging land and economic structures to create the conditions for cultural, linguistic, financial, ecological, and spiritual flourishing. Participants remarked on how important it is to share space and time, to learn about each other’s efforts to maintain traditional practices and languages, and pledged to be there for one another. Here are some of our team’s reflections:
Reflections from the Ambitio US Team
This three-day journey riding in the flatbed of a pick-up truck, through the long-needle pines and hills of Appalachia in rural Alabama and Ekvn-Yefolecv was not only a first, but also life-changing. The traditions and ceremonies I experienced solidified the importance of cultural survival and preservation, and how we must foster deep interpersonal relationships in this movement-based work. — Leeann Wallett , Program Officer, Ambitio US The opportunity to be in community with the most mindful, resilient, and intentional leaders has left a huge impact on me and how I understand what all communities need right now. One attendee reminded us that society is defined by how we treat one another — we need more intentional and community space that works to heal our planet and restore our shared humanity. Who better to learn from than Indigenous people who continue to overcome the impossible? To build and sustain new ecosystems, we must believe that anything is possible: and not just possible, but expected. — Christopher Audain , Program Officer, Ambitio US A number of attendees remarked that Ekvn-Yefolecv was like “a dream” that showed what is possible when homelands are rematriated, traditional ways are centered, and mutualistic economic structures are enacted. Sitting in a big circle around the closing fires, I was struck by the fact that even in its experimental building of its own model, Ekvn-Yefolecv has become vital infrastructure for a larger community of Indigenous peoples fighting for cultural, linguistic, ecological, and spiritual survival. Being there felt like the world was starting all over again in ways that gave me hope for the future of us and our planet.” — Cate Fox , Director, Ambitio US
This three-day journey riding in the flatbed of a pick-up truck, through the long-needle pines and hills of Appalachia in rural Alabama and Ekvn-Yefolecv was not only a first, but also life-changing. The traditions and ceremonies I experienced solidified the importance of cultural survival and preservation, and how we must foster deep interpersonal relationships in this movement-based work. — Leeann Wallett , Program Officer, Ambitio US
The opportunity to be in community with the most mindful, resilient, and intentional leaders has left a huge impact on me and how I understand what all communities need right now. One attendee reminded us that society is defined by how we treat one another — we need more intentional and community space that works to heal our planet and restore our shared humanity. Who better to learn from than Indigenous people who continue to overcome the impossible? To build and sustain new ecosystems, we must believe that anything is possible: and not just possible, but expected. — Christopher Audain , Program Officer, Ambitio US
A number of attendees remarked that Ekvn-Yefolecv was like “a dream” that showed what is possible when homelands are rematriated, traditional ways are centered, and mutualistic economic structures are enacted. Sitting in a big circle around the closing fires, I was struck by the fact that even in its experimental building of its own model, Ekvn-Yefolecv has become vital infrastructure for a larger community of Indigenous peoples fighting for cultural, linguistic, ecological, and spiritual survival. Being there felt like the world was starting all over again in ways that gave me hope for the future of us and our planet.” — Cate Fox , Director, Ambitio US
The powerful gathering served as both a source of inspiration for those attending and as a way to strengthen and protect the movement for Indigenous sovereignty and cultural survival. A new world is being built through the legacy of ancestors and the ingenuity of those willing to believe anything is possible.
This article was originally published on Medium. Read it on Medium →