In 2021, Wakáŋ Tipi is home to thousands of plant species. Considering the devastating pollution European settlers and industrial capitalists brought to this sacred site, the revival of a diverse and thriving ecosystem is no small feat. Yet there is at least one relative that has borne witness to the destruction and regeneration of this place. A cottonwood tree, potentially over 200 years old, sits at the edge of a wet prairie and looks east to a restored oak savanna. This tree is home to eagles, relatives who have only recently returned to this place. This waǧačhaŋ — this čaŋ wakáŋ — lived at a time when nearly the entire sanctuary surrounding Wakáŋ Tipi was a true floodplain forest, intertwined with the ebbs and floes of the Wakpá Taŋka, and it has remained here as this area becomes cared for and respected once again.
In Gifts of the Cottonwood, our July 7th webinar (full recording here), we explored the strength and versatility of cottonwoods, from their role in traditional Dakota stories and in ceremony, to their gifts of medicine and food to humans and non-humans alike. From salicin to the five-pointed star; from temperature control to cambium — the cottonwood has long been an anchor of the Mississippi River floodplain and a beloved relative to us all.
A slide from our webinar describes the distinctive bark (thick, dark gray, and deeply ridged), leaves (teardrop-shaped, with flat stems and toothed edges), height (from 75 to 100 feet tall), and seeds (cotton-like, white, and fluffy, shed from the branches in the millions in warm-weather seasons) of the cottonwood.
We began the webinar by sharing a story that was once shared with us: the traditional Dakota story of the star in the cottonwood tree, as told by Mary Louise Defender Wilson.
Nakota/Dakota elder Jim Red Eagle carried this story into a beautiful conversation on the deep value of the cottonwood in Dakota culture and lifeways. The language alone — waǧačaŋ, čaŋ wakáŋ, čaŋyaȟu — reflects this. Jim spoke to the many ways cottonwoods feature in Dakota life. Watch the webinar recording from the 21-minute mark to the 32-minute mark, and from the 41-minute mark to the 1:03-minute mark to hear this wonderful knowledge directly from Jim!
In perfect harmony with Jim’s portion of the conversation, Mishaila Bowman, our Cultural Programs Coordinator & Communications Specialist, walked us through the myriad medicinal and edible gifts provided by cottonwoods. The slideshow above describes how the nutrient-rich cambium (inner bark) of a cottonwood trunk can be safely and respectfully harvested for use in food preparations. The slideshow below describes how naturally-occurring salicin (found in the bark) and sticky resin (found in leaf buds) provide numerous medicinal benefits to human bodies.
As valuable as cottonwoods are to us, they are also critical to a healthy ecosystem. As the fastest-growing tree on Turtle Island, cottonwoods rely on resilient characteristics — including an extensive root system and the ability to process up to 200 gallons of water per day — to thrive. But yet another way in which cottonwoods are unique is in their ability to process a range of contaminants and pollutants. This series of processes, collectively known as phytoremediation, is when a plant relative graciously takes toxic substances and makes them less harmful to the surrounding ecosystem, by either trapping and isolating these substances in one spot, filtering the substances through its system, or breaking down and eliminating the substance from the environment altogether!
Keeli Siyaka, our Environmental Justice Educator & Organizer, explained to us how cottonwoods reduce the presence of toxic substances in our soil and water, from elemental heavy metals like nickel and lead, to man-made industrial solvents like trichloroethylene. There is something deeply beautiful about a relative that knows how to gather elements that pollute and harm others, and has learned how to untangle the toxic and unnatural compounds our society has forced upon our world. Cottonwoods, then, don’t just carry out the same functions in the same places year after year — like any good relative, they’re listening and paying attention, adapting to the world around them, and acting not only in their best interests, but in the interests of their surrounding community.
Any conversation about phytoremediation should also include consideration of what causes the need for these restorative practices. Humans have been pumping chemicals like trichlorethylene into the environment for roughly 100 years, but these actions have had devastating, and in many cases, permanent consequences for life on this planet. Poly- and per-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), commonly known as forever chemicals, will persist in our soil and water for thousands of years, and to this point, no amount of phytoremediation has been proven to degrade or diminish their volatility.
It should be mentioned that research is underway to study whether plant-based phytoremediation can reduce the impact and presence of PFAS. As exciting as this possibility may be, though, it begs the question: How much should we ask our plant relatives to take on the burden of our mistakes? Is it right to seek reactive practices that address pollution only after it has occurred? In learning more about the deeply fascinating and powerful properties of the cottonwood, we must also reflect on the appropriate ways to work with this knowledge. Below, Sam Wegner, our Environmental Stewardship Program Manager, walked us through some of these considerations.
There are so many more questions we could ask, and so much more we could learn! Please pay the same respect to this knowledge that you would share to cottonwoods themselves — consider whether it is appropriate for you to harvest from cottonwoods, or how you might contribute to their continued health. Consider that cottonwoods are regenerating at a concerningly low rate along the Mississippi River valley, as a result of long-term intervention by humans in the natural ebbs and floes of a floodplain ecosystem, and with increasing pressures from climate change. Consider that Dakota communities have few places where they are able to practice their culture and lifeways, and few opportunities to relate to plant relatives in the ways they are accustomed to. Consider that we are all bound together in this ecosystem, and that we would do well to support each other as cottonwoods support us.
