<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class="">Tending the Sedge<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">The land was first the land’s. Then, the Pomo,</div><div class="">the Miwok and the Wappo lived on it.</div><div class="">The tribelets of the Konohomtara,</div><div class="">the Kataictemi and the Biakomtara</div><div class="">settled on different sections of the wide</div><div class="">Laguna for over 10,000 years.</div><div class="">Little changed except the roots and stalks of</div><div class="">the coarse sedge plants that grew half-submerged in</div><div class="">the water. The Pomo basket weavers</div><div class="">cultivated the sedge fields, passed prayers</div><div class="">for straight stalks and supple roots from mouth to</div><div class="">ear to mouth. Prayed and sang, untangled and threaded.</div><div class=""><i class="">The basket is in the roots, that’s where it begins.</i></div><div class=""><i class=""><br class=""></i></div><div class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>- Iris Jamahl Dunkle</div><div class=""><i class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></i></div></body></html>