Statement on Covid

Horŝe Tuuxi (Hello)!

Sogorea Te’ Land Trust is sending greetings and prayers for all of you during this incredibly difficult time. The world as we know it is profoundly and rapidly changing and the earth, our collective Mother, is calling on all of us to change along with it. In the past few weeks we have seen inspiring examples of people reaching out to help one another, heroes working on the front lines in the medical field and other essential services, those feeding and attending to those without homes, without healthcare, without access. We have shared prayers, zoom meetings, creative food ideas, dance parties and of course, gardening. Whether that is pulling weeds, planting seeds, pruning trees, showing the little ones not in school right now about planting flowers for the bees and butterflies, or getting a food garden ready for your family and community, there is something really powerful about getting your hands in the earth, getting back in touch with the land, slowing down and letting healing happen.

This is a tremendous opportunity to remember what’s most important, to realign ourselves with our values and listen to what the earth is saying. As we take care of ourselves and each other and the most vulnerable members of our communities, how can we reconnect to the sacred and embody the world we want to live in? The air has become cleaner, the ozone is repairing itself, our animal relatives are showing up in cities and waterways again, proving that humans can adapt our behaviors to make it a better place for all living beings on this earth. We can return to our place in the sacred circle and live in reciprocity with all that we share this earth with. Let us continue to be compassionate with each other and ourselves.

Here at the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust, we are continuing to engage in our ongoing land stewardship. While our offices at the First Congregational Church of Oakland are closed, we are working remotely on many different projects, small and large. One major project that we were able to complete this month was the installation of a rainwater catchment system at our Lisjan Site in East Oakland. This was made possible by the incredibly generous contributions of our community through the Shuumi Land Tax. Thank you all for making this possible! And special thanks to Planting Justice’s Transform Your Yard crew for your support!

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We are grateful for the wonderful community members that have reached out and have offered to volunteer on the land. For your safety and the safety of our crew, we are practicing social distancing which includes at this time no volunteers. We do look forward to many more community work days and will need many hands to help once we are all clear. We are excited to finish the community garden beds at our Rammay site in West Oakland and other opportunities to work together throughout the rest of the year. Until that time, we encourage you to grow your own food if you can, plant some flowers or herbs, take care of your house plants or scatter wildflower seeds in your neighborhood. We are looking forward to seeing you all soon.

We will continue to light a fire
and pray for each of you and your families.

The Sogorea Te’ Team