BEMIDJI 鈥� A joint partnership to bring a community garden to Bemidji's New Day Center finally came to fruition on Thursday, May 29, with a ground blessing ceremony and planting that took place the following day.
The process began in 2024 when Laura Robertson, the support housing director at Bi-County Community Action Programs, presented the idea of creating a community garden to Reed Olson, executive director of the Nameless Coalition for the Homeless.
ADVERTISEMENT
鈥淚 was actually at Cap Agency Leadership Institute up in Mahube-Otwa, and they have what鈥檚 called a turtle garden filled with herbs and medicines for the Native American culture for White Earth,鈥� said Robertson. 鈥淪o it worked out perfectly for that idea to come here.鈥�
The community garden is just one way the New Day Center is helping create accessibility and opportunities for members of the local Indigenous community to reconnect with their culture. About three years ago, the center also built a traditional sweat lodge.
鈥淲e try to provide access or connections to people鈥檚 culture. It鈥檚 really meaningful for people,鈥� Olson said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e done some painting workshops, we鈥檝e got the sweat lodge, and we鈥檙e trying to just grow and add more and more cultural programming.鈥�
Before tilling and planting the land, Charles Grolla, a teacher at Cass Lake-Bena Public 歪歪漫画s, led a ground blessing ceremony Thursday evening.
鈥淚 love hearing about these things, where even when I heard about the sweat lodge this year 鈥� my grandma is still alive, (so I couldn鈥檛 wait to) tell her, 鈥楾here鈥檚 a sweat lodge in the region.鈥� And that鈥檚 a win,鈥� Grolla said.
As the air was filling with the strong, earthy scent of sage, the ground blessing ceremony began. Gathered in a circle, burning sage was brought around to purify and bless the land and people while Grolla smoked tobacco and talked to the Hall of Creation.
During the ceremony, everyone was given a tobacco offering to put into the ground at the very end to bless the land.
ADVERTISEMENT
鈥淚t鈥檚 a big thing for me to come help Reed and everything he does,鈥� Grolla said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 a really good guy and I love how he sees the community and betters the community. (This is) something nobody else is doing and it鈥檚 something that even research shows works.鈥�
According to Robertson, the community garden would not have been possible without the grants received through the Northwest Minnesota Foundation and the Racial Equity and Accountability Project. Part of the funding was used to purchase equipment for the garden and plants at Nature鈥檚 Edge Garden Center.
They also received plant donations from the Boys and Girls Club, as well as tobacco from Sanford Behavioral Health.
The new community garden is located next to the sweat lodge and will boast vegetables, fruit, herbs and traditional medicines such as dogwood, tobacco, sweet grass and sage.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be here for everybody, so anybody can come and help tend,鈥� Olson said. 鈥淗opefully, people will kind of have a sense of ownership, help plant and then also help consume.鈥�
The Trust Project
