The Elder's Garden began in 2022 with an initial planting of strawberries and tobacco seeds outside of Engineering 7. Plans to indigenize the winter garden on the 4th floor of Engineering 5 are currently underway. Check this page for regular updates.
Significance of Tobacco
First Nations peoples have been using traditional or sacred tobacco for thousands of years. Traditional or sacred tobacco differs from commercial tobacco in that it is used in ceremonial or sacred rituals for healing and purifying.
It is grown and dried and so has no additives. First Nations elders teach that tobacco was one of the 4 sacred medicines (Tobacco, Cedar, Sage and Sweetgrass), which was given by the Creator to the first peoples of this land. To read further about traditional tobacco purposes, visit the Indigenous Tobacco Program website.
When an Elder is invited to share their knowledge, it is customary to gift them a tobacco tie with homegrown tobacco. If you would like more information about tobacco and the protocol surrounding offering it, please contact eng.edi@uwaterloo.ca
Significance of Strawberries
For the Haudenosaunee, the juicy red berry is culturally significant.
According to the Haudenosaunee Creation Story, Skywoman brought strawberries with her as she fell from Sky World onto the back of the turtle. When Muskrat delivered to her that tiny clump of earth in his paw, she planted the seeds she carried. And when she died and was buried, they say, strawberries and medicines sprung up from the ground above her feet.
For more information, visit this article on the Two Row Times website.
The Winter Garden on the 4th floor of Engineering 5 is currently undergoing plans to revitalize the space as part of the Faculty's efforts to indigenize the campus. In May 2023, three white pine trees were planted in the main bed. A cedar tree donated by a faculty member can also be found in the second planter.
The white pine tree was the tree chosen by the Peacemaker as a symbol of the unity of the nations of the Haudenosaunee confederacy. Its needles which always grow in clusters of five are symbolic of the uniting of the nations. The white pine also has broad branches that can provide shelter and it is beneath the tree that the Peacemaker asked the Chiefs to join him. For more information, please visit the Haudenosaunee Confederacy website.
Cedar is one of the four sacred medicines used in everyday life and ceremonies of Haudenosaunee people, along with tobacco, sweetgrass, and sage.