James Etcitty and Mary Blackmountain talk about working with BRIDGE

James Etcitty and his grandson stood among raised beds. Families gathered around them on a long summer day, on the earth where they were growing tomatoes and chiles, onions and squash — deep yellow, flame orange, blood red.

For four years, Solidarity Farm has grown food on 1.5 acres at the Great Barrington Fairgrounds, in support of a BRIDGE program that brings food to 200 families. They are cultivating a meditation garden for their families. And Etcitty has come to bless the plants and the community  on the ground. 

Gwendolyn VanSant has known James for 22 years, through healing circles and cleansing rituals at local farms on summer nights. And James has come to BRIDGE many times since BRIDGE has started the farm and their Solidarity House as a place for work and gathering, studying and sharing books, sharing food around a long table, and giving shelter to folk who need a safe place to regroup.
 
He has offered blessings for the house and the farm, for their continued growth. BRIDGE's food sovereignty and sustainability programs  And this winter BRIDGE has bought the Solidarity House for their own.

James: We started off over there at the garden. 

Gwendolyn: At the garden, yeah. 

James:  At the garden, there and then over here. So now it's going to grow. It's going to grow with the prayers and all that. It's going to continue to grow. 

Gwendolyn: Yeah, thank you. 

All the people that come and help here, you have a real nice heart. You help each other that way. It's really good. I'm glad to be here. 

Gwendolyn: Thank you. And we have our farm plot and everybody says, Who's James? This is James. And that's our meditation plot. And Cherami takes care of it. 

James: Cherami.

Gwendolyn: Yeah. The farm. The garden. That's Maya. James. Thank you for taking care of it. Thank you. Maybe when we close, maybe we'll do a prayer or a song? We didn't sing together this week. But I know some people might have some questions or reflections for you. But thank you for sharing. Thank you. 

Mary: I know Gwendolyn is familiar with the medicine.

Gwendolyn: Yeah. 

... We first met at Hawk Meadow Farm, it was a llama farm that I used to go to. The person that owned the property invited me to a ceremony. ...

Gwendolyn: ... I went to a lot of fire and water ceremonies 20 years ago. They were going through the Berkshires on the way to Maine, I think, and other places, but in Lee. And first there was a fire ceremony, then there was a water ceremony, then there was the big circles in Richard's place, and then the sweat lodges. 

And the big circles when people would come, they would say to take the medicine, and you would have a choice not to. So I think many times I passed it along, because I was scared. But I finally did it. 

And all the testimonies were that people's lives changed, you know, that when they did the prayer and they took the medicine and they got well, which means they were throwing up, which everybody knows I can't handle vomit. So it was, I was very scared. It was the whole thing. 

But I finally trusted after being in many circles and I did. And my life changed and I was inspired to do bridge and make a lot of different changes in my life. And so I think that everything that's here today that we experience is because of those times and those circles that I did with James. So I'm really grateful for the healing that's provided me and for the support. Yeah. 

Since then, James Etsitty has come to BRIDGE and has worked with Gwendolyn many times over the years, and he has offered blessing and healing to BRIDGE and the solidarity farm. 

Gwendolyn: The last few years he's been blessing the farm. The four directions.

Mary: My husband, he's been doing that, yeah. Yeah, he's been coming here and praying for the farm, and he's been blessing the farm during the planting season. He did that, so just praying for the program to succeed, to be successful. James has done that three times. 

I came here, I think it was in August, when I came here, we talked to the kids at the farm. We were here in August for a few days, but the situation, we had to leave quickly and go back home. So this is probably my second time here, but James has been here before. 

Gwendolyn: Always speaking of Mary, saying, when's Mary coming? When's Mary coming? (laughing) Finally, Mary came and Mary's making a tipi for us, for me, and also starting to work with some of the women at BRIDGE, and we hope to do the women's circle more often. 

Mary: Yeah, I wanted to come back later on, but I had to take care of my grandson. Yeah. I wanted to come back and spend a few more days here just to, you know, meet the people, the ladies, the women. I wanted to come back and do that. But the way things are at home, I just couldn't get away. Maybe in the future. I can come back and really be part of the program. Help. Do something. Make my bread or something. (laughter) (46:00