Allen Centennial Garden is a special place. For much of the past 12,000 years, Ho-Chunk people have called this place on the shore of Waaksikhomik home. Waaksikhomik means “where the man lies.” Its name comes from a Ho-Chunk story: A young man fell in love with a water spirit who lived in this lake. In order to be with his love, he transformed himself into a fish to be able to live in the water. Allen Centennial Garden, the University, and the city of Madison continue to occupy space that is imbued with meaning from hundreds of generations of stories and spiritual practices.
Though the garden and the surrounding area are scenic and aesthetically beautiful, we believe that people, their experiences, and their stories are what really create a place. This place is more than somewhere with pretty flowers. We envision it as a place where growing plants nourish our relationships with the land and all of our human and non-human relatives. It is a place for teaching and learning. It is a place for each of us to share and write our own stories.
Gardens and ecosystems thrive on diversity. Monarchs, milkweed, and soil microbes have very different ways of being in the world, but one could not exist without the other. As gardeners, we see this even more clearly when we notice that introducing more different kinds of plants means we need to weed our garden less or when a new insect helps to reduce the damage another animal does to our crops. Similarly, diversity is an essential part of human communities. Different ways of knowing, understanding, and being enrich our understanding of the world.
The past eighteen months have revealed many fractures in our civil, social, and ecological relationships. Systemic racism, inaccessible healthcare systems, inequitable economies, and ongoing droughts are just some of the symptoms of our compromised wellbeing. While we may look forward to a more familiar future, it is not time to simply get back to normal. It is time to struggle with these challenges and to reimagine the ways in which Allen Centennial Garden can be a place for healing—where our relationships with the land and each other can flourish.
With gratitude,
Reba Luiken | Executive Director