Marique “Miriguá Miásh” Moss and her partner, Naawakweose, are no strangers to the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.
Together, the pair introduced Indigenous stories about maples while making maple candy at the Arbor Day celebration and told sacred Ojibwe stories during the Full Sugar Maple Moon Hike. They co-own Mashkiki Studios, an apothecary, educational space and creative studio in South Minneapolis.
This summer, the duo is co-curating two different garden exhibits that will bring centuries-old traditions to fresh, colorful life for thousands of Arboretum visitors.
The Hidatsa Earth Lodge Agriculture exhibit is modeled after the ways of the Hidatsa people, featuring mound-based planting and a Four Sisters Garden. It is located in the Home Demonstration Garden behind the Oswald Visitor Center.
Anishinaabeg Gitigaan, the Original People’s Garden exhibit, focuses on Naawakweose’s experiences as a seed keeper and the impact of preserving ancient plants of sacred significance. It is located in the Teaching Garden behind the Oswald Visitor Center.
“I hope visitors come away inspired to be good stewards of the land,” said Naawakweose, a traditional Ojibwe seedkeeper, educator, woodworker, herbalist, cultural practitioner and enrolled member of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe. “We are related to the world around us, the food, the land, the animals. It’s a circle, and within the circle, we have the responsibility to caretake the land and water and not pollute.”
Brownson Arebojie and Rachel Neal of the Arboretum’s Interpretation team plant the Hidatsa Earth Lodge Agriculture exhibit garden in early summer. Photo by Lynette Kalsnes
Hidatsa Earth Lodge Agriculture
The Hidatsa Earth Lodge Agriculture garden is modeled after the traditions of the Hidatsa people, also known as the People of the Willows.
For centuries along the Missouri River, Hidatsa women farmers stewarded large garden systems in fertile floodplains. Through careful seed saving and observation, they developed regionally adapted varieties of corn, beans, squash and sunflowers. These crops sustained villages and far-reaching trade networks across the Plains region.
This garden exhibit reflects traditional Hidatsa mound planting. The garden features small circular mounds representing “earth lodges,” circular homes built of earth and timber. The circle reflects balance and relationship to the natural world. Gardens planted nearby extended that circle into the land.
The exhibit also features the Four Sisters method of planting, which creates a resilient and productive system rooted in Indigenous science:
- Corn anchors the center of each mound like a hill.
- Beans (awáasha) climb the stalks and restore nutrients.
- Squash (gagúwi) spreads across the soil surface, protecting it.
- Sunflowers increase biodiversity around the edges and help to strengthen the ecosystem.
“Anishinaabeg Gitigaan, the Original People’s Garden” is located in the Teaching Garden near the west entrance of the Oswald Visitor Center. Photo by Caitlin Cave
Anishinaabeg Gitigaan, The Original People’s Garden
Relying on knowledge passed down through grandparents, the Original People’s Garden features plants that the Ojibwe people of the Woodlands and Great Lakes regions use as food and medicine. Naawakweose chose plants that are meaningful to him and his stories.
Rather than representing Ojibwe cultural plant traditions as a whole, the exhibit focuses on his experiences as a seed keeper and the impact of preserving ancient, sacred plants.
For Ojibwe (Anishinaabe) tribes and many other native and Indigenous communities, the practice and maintenance of traditional customs are vital components of daily life. These communities have historically worked in tandem with nature to protect, honor and sustain its sacredness and abundance. The Ojibwe people have traditionally thrived through fishing, maple sugaring, harvesting wild rice, and cultivating crops such as corn and squash. Historically, they relied on a seasonal, nomadic lifestyle centered on lakes to meet their daily needs.
For many Ojibwe people, food is closely connected to spiritual life. “The Original People’s Garden” reflects the principles and practices carried on from generation to generation.
“Everything is done with ecological sustainability, and it’s also a huge part of our worldview as Indigenous people. Everything we do is thinking seven generations ahead of us,” Naawakweose said.
Visitors will find plants significant to the Ojibwe people of the Woodlands and Great Lakes regions in “the Original People’s Garden.” Photo by Caitlin Cave
Meet the co-curators
Mashkiki Studios focuses on reconnecting people to land, language and plant knowledge through decolonial storytelling, traditional arts, Indigenous food systems, seed-keeping traditions and integrative health practices.
Moss is an Afro-Indigenous poet, educator, legal scholar, cultural strategist and enrolled member of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, with Dakota roots in Saskatchewan. She holds degrees in Native American Studies and Indigenous Peoples Law and is committed to reclaiming narratives, building equity and uplifting community through culturally-grounded approaches. Marique’s traditional name is Woman in the Water (Miriguá Miásh). She has written on issues including missing and murdered Indigenous women, the Indian Child Welfare Act, American Indian education and Black liberation. Her most recent book is “My Afro-Indigenous Superpower.”
Among many roles, as an educator implementing Indigenous Education for All in Minnesota, Naawakweose teaches schools and the public about Ojibwe plant traditions. Through this program, he and Moss co-curated a Three Sisters Garden at Fort Snelling in partnership with the Minnesota Historical Society through the Native American Initiatives Program, a space that holds deep significance within ongoing truth and reconciliation efforts.
Entrance to the exhibits is included with daily general admission, which is free for members and children 15 and under, and $20 for non-members ages 16 and over who have made advance reservations.
Cover photo by Caitlin Cave