Protecting Land and Culture by Jennifer Eis & Don Ward

Jennifer Eis and Don Ward

"With all of the many satisfying experiences we have had on these 50 quiet acres over the past 25 years, it is hard to realize that we are only three miles north of Harbor Springs. By day and often by night, we have shared fields and hardwood forest with those who also call this ‘home.’ Our encounters with coyote and fox, ‘possum and ‘coon, badger and deer, skunk and black bear, hawk and owl, turkey and songbird have been poignant, funny, and enriching (unfortunately, often too close and personal for our dogs). We have seen birth, life, and death move seamlessly through the seasons. The comings and goings are a persistent metaphor for our own lives. The land calls us to value life, accept change, and affirm impermanence.

“There is also a rich Native American heritage here. It was hunted and farmed by the Odawa, the people of the Crooked Tree, for centuries. Our research shows that the first deeding of it was given on July 31, 1855, ‘by the acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs in accord with the treaty signed by President U.S. Grant, to Louis and Mary Ann Waw Squaw Nui Gegui for the sum of $100.’ They sold it in 1877. Since then, it has changed han ds 12 times in the past 128 years.

“Over these past years, we have sought to honor the cultures of those who have held the land as sacred. Our experiences with elders, teachers, and artisans has led us to build, as they would build, to better understand their relationship to the earth: the astronomical Medicine Wheel, Lakota lodge, Navajo Hogan, talking circle, turf labyrinth, and other forms made of earth, stone, and wood. The doing has been invaluable and its meaning enhanced by sharing with curious and respectful people attending summer programs. In time, the forms now so visible will be reclaimed by forces of forest growth, winter winds, and summer rain. All will disappear and that is as it should be.

“None of us really owns the land. We can only be stewards of it. But live its rhythms long enough and the land owns you. It is our privilege to pass on its beauty and strength to those who follow…the two and four leggeds, and to remove it forever from residential or commercial development. With the decision to enter into a conservation easement, the age-old legacy of stewardship of the land reaffirmed. It is with a deep and heartfelt sense of relief that we can now say, the selling stops here.

“We want to thank the LTC for its vision and commit-ment to the future. It is also important to recognize the skill, professionalism, and patience of their field staff as they helped us to understand our rights and responsibilities as property owners and the important obligations assumed by the Conservancy, in creating the easement. The process was enjoyable and a valuable learning experience.”

- Jennifer Eis and Don Ward