Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1464360
12 UCW APRIL 13 - 19, 2022 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Natural and cultural resources are inextricably linked to each other and the landscape. "Natural resources, for the most part, become cultural resources and serve many diverse life-saving functions," wrote Linda Carnes -McNaughton, curator, Cul- tural Resources Management Program, Fort Bragg Directorate of Public Works (DPW). is is how Carnes -McNaughton opened a National Public Lands Grant application for a Native American Pol- linator Garden on Fort Bragg. e grant was awarded in the Spring of 2019 for $9,500. en COVID-19 lockdowns began in Spring 2020, and the garden project was indefinitely delayed. Eventually, the funds awarded for the garden were reallo- cated, and the project was in limbo. at is until Carnes-McNaughton, and the Fort Bragg Arbor Board breathed new life into the project. is new life has seen the project metamorphose into a three-phase plan and be located in a new place. Originally, the garden was to be placed near McKel- lar's Lodge, but with the inception of the Liberty Trail, a series of parks and green spaces planned to connect throughout Fort Bragg, the garden was moved to the Willow Lakes Park near Pope Army Air- field. A triangular tract of land at a trail in- tersection was selected, and the final part of what Carnes-McNaughton describes as Phase I was completed. Phase I of the project involved the adaptation of the concept, planning, plant selection and purchase, and finally, planting the garden. e choice of each plant and the placement of each plant are rife with meaning and importance. Carnes-McNaughton designed the garden with collaboration in mind. e plan was to engage and include local Native American youths and Army communi- ties, building a platform for interaction between the military community and the Catawba nation. e garden will be a place for education, teaching the public about the types of native plants with cul- tural, historical and natural importance. "It was correspondence back and forth with the Catawba nation, and they are one of our geographically closest federally-recognized consulting groups," Carnes McNaughton said. "ey have helped us select the plants and narrow it down to the ten we are putting in this special garden." While Carnes-McNaughton consulted primarily with the Catawba nation about the plant choices for the garden, this consultation was done in tandem with insights of the Fort Bragg botanist and DPW's Endangered Species Branch. e ten plants were chosen, all serve a purpose as pollinators, and all have cultural uses. Butterfly weed, Ascle- pias turberosa, can be used for cordage, medicine and benefits the Monarch but- terfly. American Beautyberry, Callicarpa americana, can treat malarial fever, colic and dysentery. Tea made from New Jersey Tea, Ceanothus americanus, treats upper respiratory illness, is a natural caffeine source, and the roots can be used for as- tringents. Purple istle, Cirsium repan- dum, is used to make blow darts. Wood- land Sunflower, Helianthus divaricatus, is edible and a major pollinator. Blue Wild Indigo, Baptisia australis, is used for tea and is a blue clothing dye. Pawpaw, Asimina tribola, produces an edible fruit and can be made into a yellow dye. "[Native peoples] used plants intimate- ly in everything they did all their daily lives. Whether it was a medicinal, ritual or even cosmetically or eating," Carnes- McNaughton said. With the help of soldiers, members of DPW and the military community, the garden was planted last Wednesday, April 6. In the next phase, Phase II, Carnes- McNaughton said visitors to the garden would see the addition of trilingual inter- pretive signage and the addition of a tra- ditional wattle fence. A more prominent ign will be placed at one of the triangle's vertices. is sign will describe the gar- den. Additional signs will be placed with each plant species that will list the com- mon name of each plant, the Latin name, and the Native American name and detail the plants' function and use within Native American culture. "If we have the opportunity on the signage, it might include what I think is cool, illustrations of some of the hand tools that they [Native Americans] used to cultivate and harvest these plants," Carnes-McNaughton said. e traditional wattle fencing will also be added and will likely be made using willow saplings. A wattle fence is created by weaving long green and bendable saplings through larger stakes. e result is a basketweave textured traditional Native American style fence. e hope is that Native American youths and perhaps an Eagle Scout group will be able to help build the fence; this would align with the themes of collaboration, education and public engagement central to the garden's inception and design. Harvesting and maintenance are Phase III of the garden plan. is will ideally involve the Catawba and the public. e overall goal of the project is education. "e educational component, think of it as an outdoor classroom or what we call a demonstration project to educate the public on the types of plants and not only for their wildlife value but their cultural and historical significance," said Carnes- McNaughton. Native American pollinator garden planted in Fort Bragg park by EMILY SUSSMAN FEATURE EMILY SUSSMAN, Editor. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomin- gweekly.com. 910-484-6200. Coming Soon! May 2nd 2828 Raefd Rd. 910-988-7777 www.fayettevillepiccadillycircus.com SAVE THE DATE! Left: A hand-drawn schematic for the Native American pollinator garden. (Image courtesy of Linda Carnes -McNaughton, cura- tor, Cultural Resources Management Program, Fort Bragg Directorate of Public Works) Right: Soldiers with the 82nd Airborne Division and 3rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command and the DPW teamed up to plant an indigenous pollinator garden, April 6 in the new Willow Lakes Park and along the new Liberty Trail. The garden is part of DPW's overall plan to increase green spaces across the installation. (Photo by Jacqueline Hill, Fort Bragg Garrison Public Affairs Office.)