Stewardship And the Autumn Harvest
By A. Kimimila Crow Dog
Nothing is quite as satisfying as the taste and sight of food you've grown yourself.
The harvest season is here, and the fruits of our labor include Potawatomi Mskigwat maize (pictured above), heirloom tomatoes, varieties of beans, potatoes, peppers, garlic, greens, sunflowers, and thousands of flowers just for our pollinators and resident beehives. 2026 has been a growing season of seed weaving, community education, land stewardship, and feeding local families. But beyond providing participatory learning spaces to grow food and medicines, I'd like to speak on the healing that happens through this way of life.
Plant Native Inc., is a nonprofit organization that facilitates environmental education and land stewardship through classes, events, and research projects with youth and communities.
Our nonprofit organization, Plant Native Inc., plants and grows seeds along with their stories and the teachings of the thirteen moons and seasons recognized by the tribal teachings of Turtle Island. We reflect on how spring, summer, autumn, and winter feel for us and recognize the symmetry of this same unfoldment in our ecosystems. This process is a walking prayer and a practice of mindfulness. How can we protect and walk in balance with nature if we do not understand it? This autumn season, we say, "Wopila and thank you!" for the blossoming abundance rooted in songs, community gathered, and many hours of sowing seeds under the bright season's sun. We welcome the messages passed by knowledge keepers carrying the sacred seeds and stories that go with them.
We entered autumn with the Moon of the Bear on September 10 for a time of reaping what we've sown and the season of future sight. October 10 brought our Moon of the Spider, and on November 9, we have the Moon of the Grandmothers.
Moon of the Bear reminds us to prepare for our time of hibernation, dreaming, introspection, and visioning for the months to come because, as we know, winter is coming, followed by a whole new growing season.
Are you saving your seeds? What have you learned this year? How will you preserve your harvest of abundance, and what is your role in your village and ecosystem? Mato the Bear reminds us to prepare to rest and process at this time, just as the land does in the Northern Hemisphere, for we are indeed nature in human skin.
Chaské Crow Dog of Istayapi Drum Group and Plant Native Inc. singing Lakota social songs
at a community gathering in July 2026.
Iktomi the Spider brings a moon of understanding our relationships. She says that all beings are connected by a silver thread, heart to heart to heart. We get to discern for ourselves how to manage healthy relationships and uphold healthy boundaries. She reminds us that sometimes we get tangled in many webs of our own making, and at any time we can choose to set ourselves free and set others free if we have been holding them hostage in our minds. How can we cultivate healthy relationships and prioritize opportunities to collaborate with our communities? What are you doing to uplift your village and contribute mindfully to your environment? We are all connected.
Finally, the Moon of the Grandmothers brings the remembrance of strength, health, and happiness. We come from generations of mothers and grandmothers, keepers of the womb and birthing body. The Grandmothers have a certain reverence and wisdom as they have walked the phases of maiden, mother, and crone. Have you made time to check on your elders? Have you heard the stories of resilience of those who came before us—stories of canning, growing victory gardens, and making time to sit at the table and eat together?
Potawatomi Mskigwat maize harvested from Four Acres Garden. Working alongside local growers on a shared plot, Plant Native Inc. helps keep this locally endangered maize growing for future generations.
Going back generations, women of all cultures have carried the gift of nurturing the family. What herbs can you incorporate into your home to enrich the health of your family? Perhaps simple things like warm broth and tea can comfort and prevent sickness, as the body is more resilient to sickness when it has the building blocks it needs for wellness and immunity. My grandmother taught me to sing up the sun in the morning to greet the day, ancestral instructions that hold weight in modern research where we can measurably see the positive impact of morning sunlight exposure.
So for this season, how will you prepare for the winter and the challenges ahead? Will you take the time to preserve your seeds and surplus in remembrance that prosperity is cultivated over time? Will you look forward to seven generations in your decisions to make space for a beautiful future? Whether you're a master gardener or not, everything we do in this life plants a seed for what is to come, so we invite you to sit with the fire and sit with yourself to contemplate your legacy on this Earth. At the end of your time here, will you see that you were a steward or simply a visitor? Will you have left behind, at the very least, a legacy of kindness?
Ama is a holistic wellness mentor, ancestral philosophy teacher, Reiki master teacher, and astrologer with a practice rooted in ceremonial song, eco-conscious land stewardship, and community healing. She is the founder of Medicine Dreams Wellness and co-founder of Plant Native, Inc., a nonprofit organization that facilitates environmental education and land stewardship through classes, events, and research projects with youth and communities in Indiana and beyond.
“I always want to recognize my elders and teachers who encouraged me on my wellness path. My grandmother Unci Kiaya Barbara MorningStar taught me so much and helped me heal when I was at the edge of my life. The teachings of naturopathy, along with Lakota healing ceremonies and language, brought me back to life, as did her kindness. Wopila Unci Kiaya na Wopila Deksi Wambdi Izanzan Itancan (Thank you, Grandma, and thank you, Uncle Loren Zephier).
“Chief Standing Elk (Loren Zephier) recorded the ancestral and universal teachings of the Maka Wicahpi Wicohan, Iktomi Wicahpi Wicohan, and Can Wakan Wicohan, publishing these as well as the Anpao Wicahpi Wicohan (Healing Altar of the Hands - Nape Owankan). His teachings guided me for many years until his recent passing, and I teach these lifeways with the blessing of both my teachers. They told me in 2016, after seven years of dedication and personal healing/initiations of the Star Altar, that it was time to teach and that this knowledge is meant for everyone. My dream is that we get to work together across humanity and ecosystems to create a beautiful future for the next seven generations.”
Join our global virtual community to keep building the village and subscribe today for our 13 Moons of Peace cohort, where we connect on Zoom weekly for reflection and ancestral teachings. All subscription proceeds support our work with land stewardship, pollinator gardens, local community food access, and education. Find us at patreon.com/medicinedreams/membership
Thank you for your legacy of kindness!