Story Info
Story Info
Mike. Beck & Rusty Gasparian
Walton, FL
2011
Type of Wounded Place
Story & Experience
The Emerald Coast 2011 Global Earth Exchange was conducted by special access to the top of the Ft Walton Indian Temple Mound, a National Historic Landmark located in center of the small coastal village in NW Florida by the same name. Built as a ceremonial and political center by the Mound Builder Culture between 800-1400 AD, this mound, thought to have built over a prehistoric earthwork, is the largest on salt water and is the most westerly structure of its kind on the Trail of Florida’s Indian Heritage.
Because of year long grief and protest gatherings along the Emerald Coast resulting from the devastating Deep Water Horizon, the public invitation to this year’s Global Earth Exchange were offered the opportunity to bring objects symbolizing wounded places they are attached to but were unable to physically visit any time soon.
As is often the way when I’ve come with a nurturing attention to the other-than-human natural world, I was only slightly surprised to find the natural world had already identified the location for our assembly. In this case it was a Red Tail Hawk that lives among the oaks and other hardwood trees that populate the Ft Walton mound sometime in the last 24 hours. This place was just in front of the main entrance to the longhouse replica on top of the mound. There we found a small mound of fine gray-white feathers that used to belong to a Mourning Dove. After meeting and sharing stories of our ancestors and losses, we marked our event by creating a symbolic bird from feathers left after this meeting of raptor and prey.
Must we call it death
For wanting a better name
or call it life.
Life unfolding
The Emerald Coast 2011 Global Earth Exchange was conducted by special access to the top of the Ft Walton Indian Temple Mound, a National Historic Landmark located in center of the small coastal village in NW Florida by the same name. Built as a ceremonial and political center by the Mound Builder Culture between 800-1400 AD, this mound, thought to have built over a prehistoric earthwork, is the largest on salt water and is the most westerly structure of its kind on the Trail of Florida’s Indian Heritage.
Because of year long grief and protest gatherings along the Emerald Coast resulting from the devastating Deep Water Horizon, the public invitation to this year’s Global Earth Exchange were offered the opportunity to bring objects symbolizing wounded places they are attached to but were unable to physically visit any time soon.
As is often the way when I’ve come with a nurturing attention to the other-than-human natural world, I was only slightly surprised to find the natural world had already identified the location for our assembly. In this case it was a Red Tail Hawk that lives among the oaks and other hardwood trees that populate the Ft Walton mound sometime in the last 24 hours. This place was just in front of the main entrance to the longhouse replica on top of the mound. There we found a small mound of fine gray-white feathers that used to belong to a Mourning Dove. After meeting and sharing stories of our ancestors and losses, we marked our event by creating a symbolic bird from feathers left after this meeting of raptor and prey.
Must we call it death
For wanting a better name
or call it life.
Life unfolding
Walton, FL
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