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Mutual Flourishing

My interest in this project stems from the desire to use my skills as an artist to draw attention to helping beings that are underserved, and to be an advocate for those whose voices are not heard—humans and plants alike.

Mutual Flourishing is inspired by the concept of “mutual flourishing” put forth by Robin Wall Kimmerer, where flourishing is not just about us as individuals, but also connected to the land and is interdependent with other humans and ecological systems.

This prairie scene features a rare native prairie plant with a unique relationship to bison. Among other names, the plant is known as the prairie turnip (Psoralea esculenta), timpsila, or Indian breadroot. It was once prolific on the prairies, but agricultural development displaced it and it has become rare in Manitoba. It was an important food source—its roots were dried, braided, stored and eaten by Indigenous people of the plains. In order to grow, its seeds require scarification, which means they must be scraped to break down the outer coating to aid in germination. Bison would have had a hand in this process as they walked through the prairies with their large heavy bodies and sharp hooves. There have been accounts of this plant returning when Bison were re-introduced to the land!

Around the same time that the prairie turnip blooms, the wild rose and wild strawberry also bloom. The bison’s head is adorned with a wild rose, and strawberries which are both traditionally known as heart medicine. It is symbolic of leading with love. The sun on its forehead and moons around its neck represent the cycles of time. The birds on the bison are all migratory birds who benefit from the presence of bison by snacking on the 100 or more species of insects that flourish in bison dung. The cowbird specifically is known to follow the path of the bison, and later cattle.

In North America, wild bison herds were abusively slaughtered en masse by European settlers, and perhaps the story of this disappearing prairie turnip is also linked therein. Because we are symbolically returning bison to the landscape, this painting draws attention to the relationship between these two species—bison and prairie turnip. One could liken the symbolic presence of both bison and prairie turnip to restoration, healing and to the return of harmony to the land, which is also what we desire for children at Toba Centre for Children & Youth: mutual flourishing for both human and animal kin, and the land.

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Artist: Jodi Hildebrand