Fresh Banana Leaves: Healing Indigenous Landscapes through Indigenous Science

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During the civil war in El Salvador that began in the 1970s, an injured Victor Hernandez hid from falling bombs beneath the fronds of a banana tree. The child soldier, a member of the Maya Ch’orti’ group indigenous to the region, made a crutch from a branch of the tree and limped toward Guatemala, toward freedom. “I strongly believe that it was this banana tree that saved my life,” he told his daughter, Jessica Hernandez, who shares the story in Fresh Banana Leaves: Healing Indigenous Landscapes Through Indigenous Science. “It is ironic because banana trees are not native to El Salvador,” he said. SN: You also write about how many non-Indigenous scientists practice helicopter research. How does this affect Indigenous communities? Environmental scientist Jessica Hernandez is the author of Fresh Banana Leaves. Univ. of Washington In certain areas of Thailand, most notably the southern regions, Banana Leaf features high on the list of staple ingredients used in the preparation of local dishes. One distinct difference between Banana Leaves and other ingredients, is that the Banana Leaf is most often used as a wrapping or container for the completed item of food. For example, they may be used to wrap fish before it is barbequed or to hold rice which is being steamed or baked. Using Banana Leaf in this way also adds a flavour and aroma to the food during the cooking stage.

Fresh Thai Banana Leaf (leaves) 200g Imported Weekly from Fresh Thai Banana Leaf (leaves) 200g Imported Weekly from

SN: You write about how ecocolonialism — when non-Indigenous “settlers” govern Indigenous lands without consulting Indigenous people — can exacerbate climate change and result in Indigenous displacement and ecological grief. What is ecological grief?SANDY GRANDE, professor of political science and Native American and Indigenous studies, University of Connecticut DR.MICHAEL SPENCER, Presidential Term Professor of Social Work and director of Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and Oceania Affairs at the IndigenousWellness Research Institute (IWRI),University it truly pains me to rate this book so low. i was SO excited to read this--i've been looking for writing on this topic for a few months--and While ecological destruction has intensified, many of the approaches intended to minimize cataclysmic harm continue to emerge from the Global North. What has long been ignored are the practices and world views that Indigenous peoples have with our nonhuman relatives. Fresh Banana Leaves offers seeds—through the form of lived experiences and historic practices that come from the author’s own ancestors and relatives. We are invited to take heed, to be part of rebuilding a world that is more dignified and responsive to our environment and nonhuman living relations. Our collective futures hinge upon us abiding.” Hernandez: Invite them to the table or let them lead their own table. Indigenous peoples know their lands, know their environments, know some of the changes resulting from climate change. When you’re connected to your environment, you know best how to approach it. Conservationists should include Indigenous peoples as stakeholders, as opposed to always focusing on governments as the stakeholders.

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Conservation is very linear, focused on one species, and doesn’t necessarily look at the entire landscape. Look at the contributors of why a certain species is declining, and sometimes it’s not even that people are overharvesting — it’s climate change and other environmental impacts we tend to ignore. instead, i found it to mostly be about how indigenous voices, experience, and knowledge should be central in discussions about land use. however, the thesis kept jumping around and so did the content. in the chapter about indigenous food, the story suddenly switches to the Jan 6 Capitol Riots and how there can’t be a comparison between them and the Banana Republics of Latin American history. the sudden diversion to geopolitical content really caught me off guard. Jessica Hernandez, an environmental scientist, draws parallels between her father’s story and that of the banana tree. The banana tree’s journey from Southeast Asia via colonial European ships forced the resilient plant to adapt to its new home in the Americas. Similarly, her father adjusted to being displaced, eventually settling in the United States, often experiencing less-than-warm welcomes along the way. It's a beautiful book. In it, Hernandez processes her grief and trauma around violence towards her people and others'. I was drawn to this book because she was interviewed in one of Jonathan Van Ness' podcast episodes, where she presents a much kinder view of invasive species - that of a displaced relative, which makes much more sense in the settler-indigenous landscape we occupy.

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It saddens me that people continue to impose that we have to make our race "better" by living in and adopting western ways. This book excelled in talking about this issue and the consequences it brings. She also talks more about the classic construct of conservation as we know it today saying, “conservation is a western construct that was created as a result of settlers over exploiting indigenous lands, natural resources, and depleting entire ecosystems.”.

Fresh Banana Leaves by Jessica Hernandez, Ph.D Fresh Banana Leaves by Jessica Hernandez, Ph.D

Inspiring and sobering, philosophically powerful and practically grounded, this book weaves together storytelling, razor sharp critiques of oppression, and liberatory pathways for how we can achieve transformation in solidarity. Dr. Hernandez offers the instructions so many environmental protectors and conservationists need toknow. Hernandez: [Conservation] professionals. People take actions once they start reflecting on how something that they uphold — like the field of conservation — can cause harm. But after they buy them or cut the banana leaves from the plant, the greenish and fresh appearance will lose within a short time. Mostly just around 1-3 days, you may have to throw them away. So, people are searching for methods to preserve banana leaves. Hernandez also claims at one point that she cannot speak for all indigenous people, but that's kind of what she seems to do at multiple points in the book (e.g., claiming that all indigenous cultures respect nature and never exploit animals).On a positive note, the personal anecdotes and references did make my blood boil, and I feel called to do more for indigenous communities. I just wish this book educated me more on how I could do that. For example, Dr. Hernandez talks about community based participatory research (CBPR) which is excellent, but I wanted more suggestions like that that weren’t limited to an academic setting. What can a “regular” person do to support indigenous people? That was the question I wanted answered and I feel like this book fell short when it could’ve been an invaluable resource. Melissa’s Banana Leaves are large with a solid dark green color and clipped edges. They give off a wonderful, subtle sweetness, adding their flavor to the foods that are wrapped in them. Use these leaves to barbecue, boil, bake, or broil a variety of sweet and savory foods. Melissa’s Banana Leaves range from six to eight feet in length and up to two feet in width and are carefully folded and rolled for shipment. Because of their large size, whole banana leaves are commonly used to wrap a whole pig for roasting. In addition, the leaves can be used in many ways for festive decorations. Overlap whole leaves on a table for an eye-catching tropical table covering! In Fresh Banana Leaves, Jessica Hernandez weaves personal, historical, and environmental narratives to offer us a passionate and powerful call to increase our awareness and to take responsibility for caring for Mother Earth.” A must-read for anyone interested in Indigenous environmental perspectives.” An Indigenous environmental scientist breaks down why western conservationism isn’t working–and offers Indigenous models informed by case studies, personal stories, and family histories that center the voices of Latin American women and land protectors.