Ibulliance: The Three Sisters
The goal is not sustainability, says the Mexican-born, London-educated designer at the podium, sharing images of his work with humble materials—corn husks, avocado skins, sisal—all from the rural regions of his home country. Fernando Laposse’s words ring in my ears. The goal is not sustainability . . . but regeneration.
In Tonahuixtla, Mexico, corn was cultivated for over 7,000 years in the indigenous milpa system, growing the Three Sisters together—corn, squash, and beans—each benefitting the other and the soil fertility. When corporate companies convinced the farmers to turn to chemicals instead and grow corn alone, the farmland degraded, eroded, and the corn eventually became too toxic to consume.
Fernando works with farmers who are returning to the Three Sisters, the ancient ways which enrich the soil for future generations and yield healthy food for those nearby. The land is responding to this change, again building up nourishing soil that can sustain life.
I’m attending a conference, Dignify by Design*, taking in Fernando’s images of the eroded land, rocks bulging, where for thousands of years, wise farmers, in collusion with the Three Sisters, had known better. Again, I’m inspired by the mind and memory of the indigenous who live in continuity with the past and in concert with their present community. Their knowledge is long and deep. This archive of lived wisdom, I think, may be what saves us.
Our artisan partners reviving the old ways: natural dyeing in Bangalore, back-strap loom weaving in Mexico, alpaca knitting in Peru.
In Bangalore, India, Anita is passionate to teach hundreds of women the old ways of dyeing cloth with plants. They had forgotten; turned to toxic chemical dyes. In Chiapas, Mexico, Margarita is keeping the 3,000-year-old back-strap loom a vital conduit of culture and story—and income for women. In Peru, Jennifer and 250 women are knitting alpaca tended in the old ways, regenerative in the high country, while making lush Ibu sweaters.
When these leaders come together in our Ibu Atelier this year, their practices and challenges shared, they are nothing short of Three Sisters learning to thrive by anchoring each other. Regeneration means to give birth again to something old. It isn't enough to refrain from doing harm to the earth. We're being asked to bring back to life that which has almost passed out of our reach—the wisdom of many generations, a beautiful reciprocity with the land and with each other.
I have faith, more than ever, in growing number of Three Sisters—3 times 3000 and many more—coming together to remember, to revive, to pick up the old ways and reinvigorate them. I listening. I'm learning. The sisters among us, I think, just may know a better way forward.
All the Best,
Susah Hull Walker
