Ekvn-Yefolecv, which means “returning to the Earth, returning to our homelands,” is an intentional Indigenous ecovillage located on Maskoke ancestral homelands. Designed as a holistic, decolonial model of sustainable living, residents of the ecovillage are building an off-grid income-sharing community with natural building construction and renewable energy. They are also reintroducing threatened animal species sacred to Maskoke people, growing heirloom crops, and practicing ethnobotanical conservation, particularly for the preservation of women’s medicinal knowledge and food foraging. With only a handful of speakers remaining, Ekvn-Yefolecv is also revitalizing the Maskoke language with children through an immersion program, in which Maskoke language is the sole medium of instruction, that is centered on traditional agricultural and ecological knowledge curriculum. Ekvn-Yefolecv was established for the purpose of revitalizing the Maskoke worldview, language, and traditions, while also serving as a model to inspire other Indigenous communities in manifesting similar initiatives.
