Leaning into Culture

April 13, 2021

Our moccasin class gathered, as it does weekly, Monday night over zoom with cautious heavy hearts. Here in Minnesota we are grieving and grappling with the death of yet another Black man by police. This, amidst the trial of Derek Chauvin, the office who killed George Floyd last year. As a group, many of us acknowledged that we had second thoughts about showing up, as many received text alerts that they were under curfew and as we think about Daunte Wright's family and their grief, and as we worry about our friends and family.

Our partners in this class, the Minnesota Indian Women's Resource Center are a hub for resources, space for those seeking healing, and a center for community.

As we sew and work, our culture continues to give. These ways of moving and holding each other are gifts. Doing is part of how we grieve, moccasin making in particular. We make moccasins for our beloveds coming and our beloveds leaving. For us at Heart Berry, these rituals are a pivotal part of why we do this work. We believe in the power of leaning into our ways. We know that this is part of how we cope, grieve, and move through.

At the end of the class we were all glad to have joined together. Healing is the wrong word because noone is near that place. We don't know what will come today as the officers involved Daunte's death come under investigation nor what will be the outcome of Chauvin's trial. We don't know when or if this pandemic will ease for us to be together in person and lean on each other in our natural way. But we do know that these spaces we create between us when we are sad, scared, and unsure are truly a gift. We are grateful to our ancestors for keeping these gifts safe for us during their hard times. We are grateful for the peace is creates in our hearts as we contemplate our next steps.

We want to call for justice and change for our communities. We do not accept the endless string of deaths. We know that our work around MMIW is directly connected to the Black Lives Matter movement. That the value of human life of our communities is intrinsically tied.