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Abstract
Eurocentric conceptions of human-nature relationships render non-human flora and fauna as objects to be manipulated for anthropogenic purposes. However, in Indigenous worldviews, the boundary between ‘human’ and ‘nature’ is oftentimes more fluid, presenting diverse views of who – and what – has agency in shaping a community. This project is part of an ongoing collaborative partnership between the researcher and Semillas y Raíces, an Indigenous-led nonprofit which hosts a chapter of the Native American Church in Chicago’s neighborhood of North Lawndale. Their mission is committed to building community and healing trauma through Indigenous practices, with a central focus on restorative justice. This research finds that historically marginalized groups living together in diaspora actively collaborate with non-human flora and fauna in community building, challenging long-held Eurocentric assumptions regarding strict boundaries between ‘human’ and ‘nature’. This research utilizes a mixed methods approach to investigate questions regarding human-nature relationships. Firstly, it uses ethnobotany and ethnography to learn about human relationships with plants. Secondly, it uses Geographic Information Science (GIS) to visualize the spatiotemporal relationships that Chicagoans have with their environment. The mixed methods approach in this project presents a unique opportunity by which quantitative data can be personalized by presenting it alongside the concrete experiences of the people, plants, animals, and land at Semillas. The narratives presented here by the members of Semillas demonstrate a worldview that construes humans and nonhumans alike as relatives in resisting environmental racism and the aftermath of colonialism.