Rowen White is one of those women who channels. Through her hands, she channels her ancestors. By planting and saving seeds, she literally sews old ways into our times. Through her words, she channels poetic visions, creating a cosmology in which the seed is at the center. But mostly, Rowen channels Heart- just being in her presence one feels the depths of her thoughtfulness, connectedness and caring.
From the mission statement of Rowen’s project, Sierra Seeds:
By bridging both practical hands-on skills with indigenous knowledge and reverence, we are cultivating a way of seed stewardship that is based upon service to life and seeds.
Finding ourselves again by rekindling a relationship with our food that is mutually beneficial, and truly honors the seeds for all that they continue to share with us. Writing ourselves back into the story of the sacred dance between humans and plants that is dynamic, evolutionary and resilient.
Seeds are sacred. By saving these seeds, we re-engage with a powerful lineage of Seed Keepers. I honor this responsibility from the center of my heart, and hope to share with you the deep, heart-opening aspects of these Seed Keeper traditions. Using an indigenous ecology of education via story, handiwork, and connection to place, we re-kindle a connection to our ancient traditions.
I resonate with the ways Rowen connects skills with reverence, through the work of our hands we truly feel the importance of what we hold.
Rowen introduced me to the term ‘Seed Rematriation’, I was brought to tears when I read the term defined by her teacher- Martin Prechtel:
“Rematriation; This term describes an instance where land, air, water, animals, plants, ideas and ways of doing things and living are purposefully returned to their original natural context–their mother, the great Female Holy Wild. Like the repatriation of prisoners after years of war or millennia of unwilling slavery in service to an unconscious civilization, exploited and depleted for their wild vitality, any attempt to ‘rematriate’ them back to the Holy in Nature is the beginning of cultural sanity and healing” ( Martin Prechtel, The Unlikely Peace of Cuchamaquic)
Rematriation, a return to the Mother, a conscious act of re-weaving ruptured parts of our web. I can’t think of a more potent symbol than a seed for this profound reworking.
Rowen’s work encapsulates the same potency. Please check out her website for more on her projects, workshops and events.