I had never heard the term “Indigenous agroecology” before reading my peers’ post. I think it is important to consider the use of this practice within local ecologies that might be in need of a re-introduction of native species in order to properly thrive. The team’s example of soybeans in Brazil as agroecology (though not Indigenous agroecology) was interesting, as it stressed the importance of Indigenous worldviews on natural resource conservation. I never grew up in a place where Indigenous agroecology was integrated, so I am interested to learn how it can be done throughout the course.

The first time I visited the UBC farm, a friend who was doing a practicum there showed my friends and I around, and we got to check out the Indigenous garden. Something about it really stuck with me, I think because I realized at that time that I had never seen a garden that was 100% native. Landscapes have been so heavily altered that it is hard to see what may traditionally be considered an unruly mess and understand its undeniable positive impact on local ecologies. On a smaller scale, my mom used to pull out these “weeds” from her garden, but decided one year to let them grow and see what they did. It turns out that the bees cannot get enough of them, and so she has decided to let them do their thing. Instead of draining wetlands and introducing alien species, we should all stop and understand why Indigenous peoples’ culture is so strongly linked to the natural world.