Healing Grounds Chapter 3

Due to my dad, I have taken up an interest in Etymology. What stood out to me in this chapter was the underlying theme of how language shapes culture and societal views. In the indigenous languages of Nahuatl and Maya there is no word that directly translates to the English word “agriculture,” with the most similar phrase being “MeyajbilK’aax,” meaning “working with nature.” Notice how fundamentally different those words are. One specifies the process of working WITH something else, in this case nature, which carries generations of reciprocity, communication, and heritage. The word agriculture, as defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, means, simply, “the science or occupation of farming.” Merriam-Webster Dictionary then goes on to define occupation as “ the act or process of taking possession of a place or area.” The English language directly reflects the lens in which western culture looks at nature: as something to obtain and “own.” While other cultures, in this case specifically indigenous cultures, look upon nature as something to collaborate with to strive for mutual flourishing. These lenses can be seen in the “agricultural” practices and methods implemented by these cultures within, and beyond, this chapter of Healing Grounds. With evidence of indigenous complex agriculture landscapes of biodiverse home gardens that blended and mimicked the forests surrounding them through modern day Mexico and into Central America. This harmonious way of gardening is a stark contrast to the monoculture and chemical fertilizer practices common to “modern” western farming, highlighting the cultural views that stem all the way back to language.