INDIGENOUS HEALTH GARDEN 

UNCEDED ANCESTRAL MUSQUEAM TERRITORY AT UBC FARM, VANCOUVER, BC

This project was a unique opportunity to design and facilitate the implementation of a healing community garden. The aim of the xʷc̓ic̓əsəm: Indigenous Health Research and Education Garden is to reflect the community members spiritual and physical use of space. Through stories and research shared by the local Musqueam garden elders, inspiration for the project’s direction and design took shape. The new design moves away from standard row crops into a space that reflects the communities values and the wisdom inherent within universal patterns found in nature. The axial of the design aligns to the cardinal directions, while symbolic geometric garden beds hold companion healing plant groupings. Local stones form a symbolic core and are used as a sacred central space for meetings and ceremony. Additions to the garden include a yellow cedar sculpture hand-carved by Algonquin artist David Robinson.

Info on Indigenous Initiatives at the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems
Photography Martin Dee, Eduardo Jovel, Olivia Szostek