Ritual, Refuge, Reverence, and Reflection: Landscapes of the Soul 3 Scott A

A Publication of the

Foundation

for Landscape Studies

A Journal of Place Volume xvı | Number ı | Fall 2020

Ritual, Refuge, Reverence, and Reflection: Landscapes of the Soul 3 Scott A. Heyes: Embracing Indigenous Knowledge Systems: the Spiritual Dimensions of Place Willis Jenkins: Listening to the Hidden Land Tradition in Bhutan Allison James: The Ritual Practice of Making Semeni in Northern Turkmenistan John Beardsley: Sacred to the Memory: Richmond’s Cemeteries in Black and White Reuben M. Rainey and Kim Tanzer: Spiritual Places: The Design of Sanctuaries in 21st-Century Hospitals

Review 21 Reuben M. Rainey: Spying on the South: An Odyssey Across the American Divide by Tony Horwitz

Contributors 23 Letter from the Editor

ike “mind” and “the god within you” – a Reflection: Landscapes of Allison James documents worship and meditation in “heart,” the word sense of our core being as an the Soul.” the influence of Sunni modern hospitals as spaces “soul” is often on animating spiritual force. Here we consider the Muslim and pre-Islamic catering to the spiritual our lips. But what However we may wish to significance of faraway traditions on the commu- needs of patients, staff, and do we mean by our define it, the soul and the ritual places in cultures that nity’s spiritual relationship visitors of various religious Lrespective use of these three meaning of place are inter- may be unfamiliar to us. to nature. persuasions. Their study words? woven in our consciousness. Scott Heyes, an Australian Within our own culture, focuses on who uses these We have a clear associa- “Soul space,” as it might be landscape-studies scholar, cemeteries are places of spaces, how they are used, tion of the mind with the called, is for many a psy- writes about conceptions of memory. Hospital sanctuar- and the manner in which brain and the heart with chologically resonant place the sacred among the Indig- ies are places of prayer for they are designed, drawing the organ that pumps blood in nature; for others it may enous peoples of Nunavik, the sick and the dying as on examples from hospitals throughout our bodies and be a sanctuary for worship, Canada, and the Fiji Islands, well as meditation refuges across the United States. also acts as the sentimental prayer, or meditation. For and how, for both the Inuit for institutional caregiv- Reuben Rainey, the coedi- symbol for love. “Soul” is members of particular faiths and the iTaukei, such con- ers. In his essay “Sacred tor of this issue of SiteLines, a more ambiguous word. it is a pilgrimage site: a place ceptions are inseparable to the Memory: African joins me in reminding you Because of its immaterial- for demonstrating religious from the land itself. Willis American Cemeteries in that the intellectual qual- ity, some deny its existence reverence through celebra- Jenkins of the Department Richmond,” John Beardsley ity and literary lifeblood altogether; others use it tory worship after long of Religious Studies of focuses on the neglect of of this journal comes from metaphorically to denote and arduous travel by foot. the University of Virginia two historic Black cemeter- donations by our readers. a particular quality – as in Cemeteries, if undisturbed discusses how Bhutan’s ies in Richmond, Virginia, We urge you to mail us your “soul food.” More often it by neglect or vandalism, are traditional landscape hosts, highlighting recent efforts contribution to the Founda- is linked with the notion of landscapes where the souls interprets, and manages to restore them and inter- tion for Landscape Studies the spiritual, often as the of the dead rest in peace; the external forces bearing pret the rituals of remem- in the enclosed envelope. means of communication institutional sanctuaries, if upon the perceptions of its brance associated with with God, however elusive thoughtfully designed, are sacred Himalayan Buddhist them. In “Spiritual Places: With good green wishes, that may be. Think in this refuges for prayer and medi- features. In recounting her The Design of Sanctuar- regard of the word “enthu- tation. To explore these participation in a ritual cele- ies in Twenty-first Century siasm,” which is etymologi- phenomena in various brating the advent of spring Hospitals,” Reuben Rainey, cally derived from the Greek ways – religious, psycho- in a village in the northern professor emeritus of the adjective entheos, meaning logical, political, practical, region of Turkmenistan, University of Virginia, and Elizabeth Barlow Rogers cultural – the theme of this Kim Tanzer, former dean President issue of SiteLines is “Ritual, of the university’s School Refuge, Reverence, and of Architecture, examine the designs of places of

On the Cover: The recently restored Walker family gravesite, Evergreen Cemetery, Richmond. Photograph by J. Matthew Cowan; courtesy of Enrichmond Foundation.

2 Ritual, Refuge, Reverence, and Reflection: Landscapes of the Soul

Embracing Indigenous Knowledge Systems: “layer.” (Authors of landscape The Spiritual Dimensions of Place assessments and cultural- e inhabit and traverse many landscapes in a heritage reports are prone to lifetime. We learn to love the land, connect this oversight, albeit gen- to it, and belong. And those who are lucky erally without malice.) To enough to know their surroundings well may compartmentalize a spiritual even learn to feel part of them. But do we ever understanding of the land, Wtruly know the essence of a landscape – its soul and its spirit? reducing it to its own cat- Are we ever an integral part of a landscape system, or do we egory of knowledge, is to dis- merely scrape the surface as passengers through it? I write regard holistic thinking and this essay – as a non-Indigenous Australian who has spent being. All land is sacred to two decades encountering and studying Indigenous land- Indigenous peoples, and all scapes around the world under the tutelage of First Nations living and nonliving things people – to explore the spiritual dimensions of land. are connected; indeed, rocks My reflections on spirit landscapes in this essay are based and plants and mountains on the time I have spent with the Inuit in Nunavik, Canada, are often considered sen- and the iTaukei of Fiji. I am humbled to have been given the tient beings. The stories that opportunity to learn about Indigenous homelands through follow from my feldwork in my Indigenous friends and informants. I use this moment to Indigenous settings expand pay my respects to First Nation Peoples around the world; to on this way of knowing and honor their past, present, and future Elders; and to acknowl- seeing the environment. The edge the rich and diverse ways of knowing in Indigenous Indigenous storytellers who contexts. In Australia I live and work on the lands of the passed on these stories to me Ngunnawal and Ngambri peoples, where the country’s capi- and consented to them being tal, Canberra, is located. I thank all my Indigenous friends shared did so to illustrate the who have shared their knowledge and entrusted me with their deep connection they maintain with the land. The stories of as in interviews with male Tertiary design students in Teeluk, stories – some of which are presented here. the Inuit and the iTaukei highlight how the land is narrated and female Elders, I learned South Australia, learning about During my training as a landscape architect and in my in their respective cultures, and how such conceptions of about the signifcance of the Aboriginal culture as part of their role as a professor, I have often felt uncomfortable with the place give meaning to it. sea-ice (siku) realm. Made up coursework on indigenous land- notion of non-Indigenous landscape architects and others of more than seventy types scapes. Elder Doug Nicholls talks in the built-environment professions serving as “experts” in My understanding of Inuit conceptions of place has devel- of ice, it serves as an impor- to students about his Country. All designing, managing, and maintaining land. For this reason oped over the course of twenty years through ongoing inter- tant platform for Inuit to photographs by Scott Heyes. I have made it my mission to expand landscape-architecture action with Inuit of Nunavik, Eastern Canada. My frst visit to reach their favorite hunting thinking to embrace Indigenous knowledge systems – partic- Nunavik, facilitated by Peter Jacobs (a landscape-architecture grounds. The hunters are well acquainted with the proper- ularly in Australia, where Indigenous Australians have been professor with forty years of experience among the Inuit), ties of this ephemeral environment. It is named vertically custodians of the land for more than sixty thousand years. was in the early 2000s, as part of my graduate studies. I lived and horizontally, above and underneath, and regarded as an One important lesson I have learned through my inter- with Inuit families and traveled with them on land and sea to integral part of the Inuit homeland. Elders tell stories of how actions with Indigenous communities is that the spiritual document their understanding of and connections to place. the frst breakup of the sea ice each year is caused by Nanukul- dimensions of landscape should never be regarded as a I recorded oral histories and traditional place-names; I also luk, a giant polar bear jumping up and down, causing a wave traced how land-based knowledge was transmitted among to form under the ice that generates enormous cracks. The and across hunting-family units and generations. I learned bear’s huge paws are mighty. that the land and its bounty belonged to all Inuit. And on many hunting and fshing excursions with Inuit, as well

3 The sea ice is a highly volatile and moveable space; it f sh, and other animals. The The Lumauk Inuit legend. The story two loons when lifts and tears and repairs with the passing of each storm feather-covered mitilik, for is interpreted here in an illustration fetching water and tide. Children are told that they should never enter example, tricks unsuspecting by Inuit Elder Tivi Etok in 2005. for his family at a sea-ice caverns, or play with crystallized ice – a type of hunters by lounging on the Scott Heyes, private collection. nearby lake. They freshwater ice that forms giant chandeliers that sparkle edge of an ice floe disguised explained that they and make inviting sounds but can be dangerously brittle. as a seal or some other creature. When approached, it reveals could help him Elders explain how malevolent spirits such as Sedna, a its true form and calls upon other mittiliit to chase down the regain his sight if female spirit with power over all living and nonliving humans in its domain. The hunters can only escape capture he followed their things, will try to draw children into such perilous places. by racing towards nuna (land), where the mittiliit are unable instructions. The Whether traveling on foot, by dog team, or on a snowmo- to follow. loons encouraged bile, passing over sea ice is a hazardous and unpredictable It has been documented in oral-history projects in other him to go beneath venture. parts of the Arctic that portions of the sea ice are often the cold water until In my feldwork with the Kangiqsualujjumiut (the Inuit avoided by traveling Inuit in the belief that these regions are he ran short of from the community of Kangiqsualujjuaq), Elders related haunted or occupied by spirits. In effect, such places have breath. When they a treasure trove of stories that revealed their connections become preservation zones, akin in function to no-go areas brought him to the and associations with sea ice. In these narratives the sea within national-park systems and reserves. Such is the rever- surface, they asked ice is described as harboring a number of nonhuman enti- ence afforded to these places that Inuit refrain from setting him to open his ties, some benevolent and f shnets in them in order to leave food for the spirits that eyes; yet the boy Kangiqsualujjumiut fishing for Arctic others malignant, that dwell there. If they must pass through, they speak softly while saw nothing. Next char along an ice lead in early spring can transform them- doing so, to avoid drawing attention to themselves. Small the loons asked at the mouth of Ujarasujjulik Lake, selves into foxes, wolves, offerings such as a cigarette, rifle bullet, or tea bag may be him to dive down Nunavik, Canada. bears, birds, caribou, made in such places, to lessen the chances of being annoyed again and stay at night while camping, for under for longer. example. Stories abound This time, upon resurfacing, the boy told the loons that he of upset spirits disrupting could see “a little bit of land.” Again he went under, this time sleeping hunters by pull- to the point of struggling to breathe. He surfaced to say “On ing out tent pegs or flicking that faraway mountain I see green grass and lemming holes.” stones onto the canvas. With his eyes now sharper than those of an eagle, the boy was Appeasing these spirits is a instructed by the loons to go under one last time to enable time-honored tradition. him to see as other humans do. The Inuit story “Lumauk” With his sight repaired, the boy returned to the camp unfolds in the sea-ice realm, pretending to be blind. On a hunting outing with his mother as explained to me by Inuit and sister at the edge of an ice floe, the boy observed a young, Elder Tivi Etok. The story grey-skinned beluga whale pass by, swimming alongside its (considerably abbreviated mother, who was pure white. Deceiving his mother to avenge here) tells of a young blind his mistreatment, the boy told her to tie a harpoon tether boy who was mistreated by around her waist. The boy then harpooned the white whale, his mother. He was fed dog which instantly dragged his mother into the icy waters. She meat and forced to live in yelled out “lumauk, lu lu lumauk” (my son), but he looked on as the entrance of his family’s the white whale took her further out to sea, refusing to help igloo. His sister, unhappy her because of the way in which she had treated him. She with his mistreatment, remained alive for a long time, becoming a half-human, half- cared for him without their beluga creature, and the sound of her cries could be heard mother’s knowledge. One from great distances. Tivi Etok tells of how his father heard day the boy encountered them and had even seen relatives of the lady beluga along the coast. It is said that hunters who heard her cries eventually captured her and buried her on land, so that she could be f nally at peace.

4 “Lumauk” draws attention to harsh aspects of human appreciation of the iTaukei’s deeply rooted sense of place can of-chiefs) village and is believed to have been Fijians’ frst nature, revealed in an unforgiving landscape. But it also only be accessed through rituals that enable one to become a landing point in the archipelago. It is said that the rest of Fiji highlights how natural phenomena – in this case, sounds part of a particular vanua. sprang from it. For countless generations Vuna ruled several that move across the water – are imbued with stories that are I was introduced to the Fijian village of Vuna in 2014 by an distant villages, controlling tremendous tracts of land and central to Inuit belief systems and perceptions of the envi- iTaukei architect, Setoki Tuiteci, who was working on a proj- sea. And although the nearby village of Somosomo now holds ronment. It also suggests how porous the boundaries between ect there. Knowing of my interest in documenting Indige- the title of the region’s paramount chiefly village as a result of the environment and the animals that inhabit it can be: a nous oral histories, he connected me to the Vuna people, who internal wars, the Vuna people remain proud of their heri- lake contains legendary properties revealed by two birds and wanted to record their oral history for future generations. tage. In Fijian society, Vuna is a revered ancestral space. a woman who lives on land is transformed into a creature My perspectives on the spiritual dimensions of vanua are Paramount chiefly villages are said to have been created enslaved by the sea. Legends such as this not only emerge based on that cultural-heritage research. Whereas the Inuit by the gods, and oral histories mention ten gods of Vuna. Its from a hunting-and-gathering life but also are interwoven regard the land and its stories as belonging to everyone (flat chiefs are anointed by these gods, and therefore they hold with it; although these legends animate the landscape, the structure, no hierarchy to ownership), the iTaukei guard their special powers compared to other citizens. The paramount Inuit ability to hunt on land, sea, and sea ice is critical for land and its stories tightly and enforce a strict set of rules for chief ’s vanua is also regarded as a product of their traditional them to sustain the resonance they hold. Both the rituals entrée. gods, and all living and nonliving things associated with of daily survival and the stories they generate embody the All villages in Fiji operate under the direction of a chief, Vuna carry symbolic power: wherever Vuna villagers travel, Inuit’s spiritual understanding of place. who is appointed from members of a “chiefly” clan. Besides they carry the power of the vanua with them. For this reason Inuit society has changed drastically in the last few gen- the clan of the chiefs, the main clans that defne each vanua the Vuna people are deeply admired throughout Fiji. erations. Most Inuit are now Christians. Their economy has are the heralds, warriors, fshermen, carpenters, and priests They say in Fiji that there is a key to every village. Setoki gone from preindustrial to cash-based in just under sixty (through birthright). Conduct within the vanua is also served as mine, accompanying me on my frst visit to Vuna. years. Making a living through hunting and fshing is not monitored by ancestral spirits; repercussions may follow Even though Fijians have largely converted to Christianity, possible for all, and seasonal camps have been replaced by misbehavior or disrespect. In the past transgressions could the procedures surrounding village entry and conduct upon permanent villages where nine-to-fve jobs are the norm. even lead to death – sometimes through accidents, sometimes acceptance have been strictly maintained, as gaining formal As a result, regular, extended travel across the land, sea ice, through execution. entrance into a village carries with it the responsibility and and sea is far less common for current generations of Inuit Vuna, however, which is located at the southern end of honor of admittance to the vanua. By means of the welcoming than it was for their grandparents. And yet one still has the Taveuni Island, is no ordinary ceremony, the guest becomes a citizen of the vanua, sharing feeling, when out on the land with their descendants, that Traveling on the sea-ice terrain by village: its name means “root” in its wealth, bounty, and pride. the old ways are present and giving meaning to the natural snowmobile near the mouth of the or “origin.” It was founded as The type of ceremony performed depends on the tradi- world. Sensing the spirit landscape that initially grew out of George River, Ungava Bay, Canada. a “paramount chiefly” (chief- tional societal status and hierarchy of the guest, and whether shamanistic beliefs honors the land and the ancestors who that visitor is arriving by land or sea. A wel- inhabited it, thereby bridging the past and the present. In coming ceremony called an isevusevu is the this sense, the act of hunting and fshing across these territo- most common. In it guests state their busi- ries is sacred. The spirit landscape is there for all Inuit, and ness in the chief’s (Ratu’s) bure (house), always it will remain there, ready to be engaged with, provided that from a seated position on the floor and in the the names, places, and stories that defne it are passed on to presence of the chief’s heralds. They speak future generations, to bring the landscape and seascape softly with heads bowed in deference. They to life. are accompanied by a village spokesperson known as a matanivanua, a hereditary posi- The stories told in Fiji reveal a very different spiritual land- tion. The matanivanua speaks and chants in scape. There is an adage among the Fijians (iTaukei) that the the Fijian language on behalf of the guest “the land has eyes,” a reference to the spirits that are said to and presents the chief with a gift of grati- watch over their territories (vanua). In Fiji vanua denotes more tude, usually a bundle of dried yaqona roots. than just the environment itself; it also encompasses the spir- The guest is invited to speak briefly towards its that animate the land of any given region and the societal the end of the ceremony, and then the chief relationships among the people who live there. This means decides whether or not to grant entry. If that, for outsiders, a sense of the sacredness of land and an he agrees, the mood becomes more relaxed. A drink made from yaqona is carefully prepared and inspected, with the frst bowl

5 The bathing pools at Vuna, visible within the vanua. One of the last stages in the process at low tide amongst the rocks, are a involves the designate bathing in a small and inconspicuous short walk from the village. Vuna is rock pool near the village. Wearing traditional masi (fber) protected by a ring of coral reefs. clothing, he or she wades in the pool in the hope that a shark might be drawn to the shore. It is said that a shark passing by served to the honored guest the soon-to-be chief is acknowledgement of an old agreement and the next to the mata- that the frst paramount chief in Vuna made with sharks: nivanua before the rest in that the Vuna people would not hunt them if the sharks did attendance are served. A not attack them. This mutual engagement has ensured that certain pattern of clapping, the Vuna people can swim on the reefs without fear. The rock using a hollowed hand, pre- pool is maintained out of respect by the clan members associ- cedes and follows each drink. ated with it, and villagers steer away from it in recognition of The entire ceremony is at its signifcance. As inviting as it may be, it is taboo for anyone once precise and eloquent. except incoming chiefs to enter its water. Upon leaving the chief’s The pool is one of four along Vuna’s coastal frontage bure, the guest is free to where freshwater upwells. In each of these pools water passes move about – and even enter through aquifers in the bedrock with enough force to gener- people’s homes – in accor- ate a patch of freshwater within the seawater. The non-salt dance with the customs of area can be seen as a rippled flm in the water column. The that vanua. The entire village other pools include one used by women and young children is informed through word of for bathing and cleaning, another exclusive to men, and a mouth of the new addition to third where teenagers of both genders socialize and play. the community. My accep- These gender- and age-specifc pools are used daily by all tance into the vanua of Vuna residents of the village, for they provide the only access to was a critical frst step in freshwater, and therefore are critical to life. There are no learning about its spiritual signs describing their meaning and designating their use, landscape and documenting but these facts are known to all who live in the vanua. its history. I was now on the other side of an invisible border – To faithfully document such places, the turaga ni koro and The women’s bathing pool is also connected to the impor- albeit one that was invisible only to me. I carved paths through dense rain forest. We entered remote tant harvest of balolo, an eunicid worm that comes to the Building trust in Fijian society occurs through italanoa, caves, fshed and dived off of reefs, interviewed pig hunters, surface of reefs around Vuna to breed in the last quarter of effectively a form of conversation devoted to sharing informa- and spoke with farmers who were working their crops in the the moon in October and November. Elaborate ceremonies tion freely and patiently with each party present. This can mountain mist. The vanua is replete with both war stories and rituals take place to ensure a bountiful capture. The sig- include communicating deeply personal narratives. It is a and battlegrounds that bring the past to life. There are forts nal that the worms are preparing to surface and ceremonies form of deep listening and storytelling and is often carried and ramparts and stone prisons throughout the vanua, now should commence is frst received at the women’s bathing out while consuming yaqona together. Italanoa allows time overgrown with forest or trodden on by feeding cattle. The pool. The chief’s fshermen await the arrival of little red fsh to get to know one another. The village headman (turaga ni end of a battle between Vuna and Tongan warriors is marked that are the harbinger of the balolo run. After these special koro) in Vuna was appointed by the Chief to help me engage in by a large tree. A Tongan warrior was hiding behind it when f sh appear, the village must remain perfectly quiet for sev- italanoa with knowledgeable Elders in the village who could the head Vuna warrior threw a spear straight through its eral days so as to not disturb the waters, and those involved in speak with authority on Vuna’s oral history. The turaga ni trunk, piercing the heart of his foe. In this critical moment, the harvest abstain from certain activities. koro’s devotion to the project, which also included taking me the spirits of the vanua assisted the Vuna warrior in the defeat The balolo harvest is a feast enjoyed by the entire village. to the signifcant cultural sites identifed by Elders through of the village’s longtime enemies. The power and presence of But there are years when the red fsh do not appear, causing italanoa, allowed me to gain a detailed picture of the vanua’s this tree, which stands proudly in an open feld used for graz- consternation among the local villagers, who wonder what spiritual realm. ing, is palpable: it embodies the venerated stories of the past. has been seen by the “eyes” of the land and caused its displea- Many cultural sites around Vuna are spiritually very pow- erful; I share only what can be retold. The appointment of a paramount chief in Vuna, a highly detailed, secretive, and lengthy process, involves the use of many landscape features

6 sure. Indeed, the absence of a freshwater stream in Vuna is Listening to the Hidden Land Tradition in Bhutan In December 2019 the lab team gathered in Bhutan, a land said to have been the result of transgressions that upset the f a sacred forest is desiccated by warming temperatures dense with sacred sites, some of which have been continu- gods. The villagers have trouble accessing freshwater to this or a mountain hermitage is overwhelmed by tourists or a ously protected for many centuries. An independent Buddhist day, other than what falls on their roofs. pilgrimage circuit is abandoned during a pandemic or a kingdom never conquered by Britain, India, or China, Bhutan Stories abound of those who try to lay pipes and make venerated river is polluted into eutrophic death, how do has long been a sanctuary for Vajrayana Buddhism. In recent dams only to find themselves with problems. It is said that the communities who value these sites make sense of such decades Bhutan has gained global prominence for prioritiz- the only place where freshwater could be collected in historic Ichanges? Sanctuary Lab, a transdisciplinary research ini- ing Gross National Happiness (GNH) over GDP and, through times was a small rock overhang a short canoe ride from tiative at the University of Virginia (UVA), investigates how its mandated forest cover, sequestering more carbon than it Vuna; the rock itself was said to produce water. This place planetary stresses interact with places set aside from everyday emits. Its leaders often emphasize that these policies protect was guarded fercely by two blind, white-skinned sharks that activities and managed as special. All our research locations its Buddhist heritage. At the same time, its enlightened eco- encircled the waters beneath the rock. Their role was to pro- are UNESCO World Heritage sites that are both suffering nomic and climate policies have made it in the imaginations tect the place from desecration by warring parties wishing to from significant ecological degradations and regarded as of admiring outsiders yet another kind of sanctuary: a refuge harm the Vuna people because of their status as residents of a sacred by some religious community. A scholar of religion from excessive capitalism. Our team of ten scholars included paramount chiefly village; the villagers had to be constantly and environment, I codirect the lab with two other UVA five specialists in Himalayan Buddhism, three of whom were on guard to defend their land and people. The blind sharks Religious Studies faculty, Martien Halvorson-Taylor and from the Royal University of Bhutan (RUB), as well as UVA aided them in that effort, serving as sentries of the vanua. Kurtis Schaeffer – scholars of the Hebrew Scriptures and faculty from environmental science, law, music, and religious Tibetan Buddhism, respectively. For each site visited, Sanctu- studies. Through our different ways of knowing, we asked In Vuna yavu is the name given to the solid stones that form ary Lab assembles a team of researchers from multiple fields – how Bhutan’s traditional land- building foundations: yavu support the vale (thatched houses) always including the sciences and the arts – along with local Sanctuary Lab codirectors Martien scape hosts, interprets, and built upon them. It seems ftting to end a discussion of spiri- experts. We work together to create lines of inquiry into how Halvorson-Taylor and Kurtis Schaef- manages the external forces tual landscapes by introducing the concept of yavu because it a particular sacralized landscape interacts with the anthropo- fer approach a stupa overlooking bearing upon it. illustrates how the vanua grows and renews with every gen- genic shifts and forcings of planetary ecological systems, as Phobjika Valley. Photograph by Bhutan’s identity as a place eration. In Fijian villages it is customary to build upon yavu exemplified most acutely by the climate crisis. Willis Jenkins. of refuge is shaped by the that were laid out by one’s ancestors rather than choosing a Vajrayana tradition of the new site. If a vale collapses, burns down, or is damaged by a beyul, the “hidden land.” A hurricane, it is generally restored in the same place. Modern concept with several lay- buildings use the same yavu as those that supported tradi- ers of meaning, beyul may tional vale. Each generation lives upon ground where their mean a secluded valley, a kin established themselves. In this manner yavu embody the place with spiritual trea- spirit of ancestors. Their reuse both extends and renews the sures hidden by previous vanua with every generation, carrying stories from its past masters, a location apt for and expanding it with the stories yet to come. a meditation retreat, or a The braiding of ritual and story and landscape seems an sanctuary for those seeking apt metaphor for the sacred in Indigenous environments. For political asylum. Across the Inuit, it may be that hunting along vast networks of ancestral Himalayas there are places trails over land and sea keeps their invisible landscape alive. designated as beyul that have The tangible and intangible home territory of the iTaukei is been associated with great contained within a much smaller, well-defned, and collec- masters and the discovery tively held space. And yet in both cultures the landscape is of spiritual treasures (usu- inseparable from the spirits that inhabit it, the stories that ally scriptures or teachings) are told about it, and the actions that are performed within for centuries. We decided it. There is no layer. And only if one is willing to listen to and to visit one of the most embrace different ways of knowing can one begin to compre- significant of the traditional hend such Indigenous landscapes and the people who call beyul, the Bumthang Valley, them home. – Scott A. Heyes

7 a religious site associated with the fourteenth- Matthew Burtner prepares to among scholars should grow” century master Longchen, as well as a modern record the bell at Tharpaling Mon- when they arrive in the valley, secular sanctuary, the Phobjika Valley, which astery. Photograph by Erika Share. Longchen proclaims, for just is a conservation site associated with recent one particle from the place efforts to protect the Black-necked Crane. could transport them across “the ocean of conditioned exis- Our itinerary of inquiry included both types tence.” of special valley on the hypothesis that the Despite the billing, my own expectations were low. Expert beyul tradition probably informs how Bhutan neither in Himalayan culture nor Buddhism, I was already negotiates new political forces and ecologi- weary of temples when our little convoy stopped outside the cal pressures and may itself be changed by gates of Tharpaling Monastery. We had visited dozens of the process. We wanted to ask if this tradi- monasteries, stupas, shrines, and temples over the previ- tional notion of sacred landscape was being ous week as we made our way east toward Bumthang. While mobilized by Bhutanese to interpret climate the subtleties of each site absorbed our expert scholars, the change, reckon with globalizing capitalism, interest among the rest of us novices had begun to dim. As or manage tourist flows. We also wished to we stepped out into the plaza of the main temple and our ascertain how such responses might alter the colleagues from the RUB, who often lead fields trips here for way that landscapes are experienced. their students, began explaining the layout of the monastic Our hypothesis was informed by con- complex, I looked longingly up the ridge. A few hundred textual precedent. Through a process that the scholar Toni connections between the two kinds of pilgrim and their meters above and a couple kilometers away, something Huber calls “mandalization,” Himalayan Buddhism has for patronage. Perhaps the whole of Bhutan might be regarded as glinted in an inviting cleft of sky and rock: a good place to centuries incorporated regional landscapes into a universal a hidden land with invaluable treasures that must be pro- clear one’s head, I thought. cosmography through narratives of great masters taming tected from dynamics of global change. Meanwhile the music professor with us, Matthew Burtner, the powers of unruly regional deities and enlisting them as had been attracted to the massive iron bell in front of the protectors of Buddhism. Local deities or beings that predated Located midway up a 4,000-meter-high mountain ridge above main temple at Tharpaling Monastery. The bell was sus- Buddhism, along with their places of dominion, were thus the Bumthang Valley, Tharpaling Monastery lies near the pended from its own shelter; this had four posts ornamented assimilated. Might we see that process playing out anew, center of Bhutan, about 50 kilometers due south from, and with norbu (stylized gems that represent Buddhist teachings inscribing sacred places into a geographic mandala that several thousand meters below, the high mountain border as valuable jewels), and a ceiling filigreed with lotus petals depicts the subduing of the suprahuman forces of climate with Tibet, and about 150 kilometers due north from, and and sacred syllables in religious script. Nearby, four elderly crisis or global capitalism? several thousand meters above, the Brahmaputra River. It women, their time-creased faces surrounded by red-wool The beyul concept also seems apt for describing the rising was in this spot, seven centuries ago, that Longchen, who had head coverings, slowly turned a row of five prayer wheels, international regard for Bhutan. With its many Buddhist been abbot of an important monastery of Tibet until he was each twice their height and inscribed from top to bottom pilgrimage sites, Bhutan attracts thousands of pilgrims to forced into exile, sought political refuge on the other side with mantras in Tibetan script. As they circumambulated the important temples, monasteries, and festivals. Some regard of the mountains and discovered a hitherto unrecognized cylinders, spinning them on their axes, a high-pitched chime the entire nation of Bhutan as a kind of sanctuary for authen- beyul. At Tharpaling he composed a famous synthesis of Bud- rang out every few seconds, marking another prayer made tic or pristine religion. These patrons are underwriting a dhist teachings known as Seven Treasuries, as well as a poem and released. religious building boom, making it possible for many mon- describing the valley of Bumthang as a divine hidden land. From our first day in Bhutan, Matthew had been drawn asteries and temples to restore their buildings, add capacity, Translated from Tibetan into English as Forests of Poetry and to the soundscape of prayer: the gongs and bells, the hand- and commission religious art. Bhutan is also a significant Rivers of Composition by the contemporary Bhutanese scholar turned prayer cylinders, the water-driven prayer wheels, and conservation destination, attracting thousands of visitors Dasho Karma Ura, the poem is influential across the region, especially the prayer flags. He repeatedly asked the Buddhist to its protected lands. Some patrons from this constituency quoted in many folk songs and stories. It recounts Longchen’s Studies scholars to explain how the flags and waterwheels are regard the country as a refuge from overdevelopment; they felicitous discovery that the valley in which he had taken involved with human prayer. After these items are imprinted are underwriting nationally scaled public-private conserva- asylum turned out to be a beyul, especially apt for pursu- with mantras, the scholars explained, the flags are strung and tion partnerships. By moving from Bumthang to Phobjika, a ing liberation. In Ura’s translation the master asserts that the waterwheels installed so as to let wind and water make traditional beyul to a new sacred valley, our lab could explore “this mountain is the key sacred center of precious attain- continuous prayers. In contrast, chimes and bells are often ment.” He describes a mandala with Mount Tharpaling at the designed to translate the kinetic action of certain devotional center of the universe, Bumthang Valley arrayed below it, and all beings postured in obeisance toward it. “Happiness

8 movements (circumambulation, for example) into sound or depression that had played a role in Longchen’s life or cylinder answer the slow unfurling of the flag. Then, through waves. Matthew made recordings of all these sounds. texts. Eventually we reached a spine of rock, atop which sits machinations more skilled than I can explain, he had used A three-foot, polished timber gong hangs horizontally next the shrine known as Longchen’s Throne. It turned out that the rhythm of the prayer flags to modulate the pitch of the to Tharpaling’s massive iron bell. Unable to resist its invita- it had been a glint of sunshine glancing off this shrine that large meditation bell so that the wind-tuned flags at the top tion, Matthew arranged a microphone in the bell’s mouth, had caught my eye below. Longchen had apparently identified of the mountain played the bell at the base of the monastery. pulled back the gong, and sent it firmly into the bell’s shoul- the same cleft of rock and sky as a good place to seek solitude Several lab members later referred to hearing Matthew’s der. A deep reverberation resulted, rising in volume as it gath- away from the monastery. composition as a turning point in the team’s collective ered both mountain and valley into its sonic rings. Seconds At the summit we walked through a thicket of prayer flags, inquiry. Up to that point we had approached sacred land- later a startled monk rushed out from the temple, speaking strung from poles and laid out in rows contoured to the slope. scapes as if acquiring data – something that the specialists in a burst of admonitory Dzongkha. The bell marks time for They snapped in the wind pouring over the ridge. From the did with expertise and enthusiasm and the non-specialists monks in solitary retreat higher up the mountain, signaling “throne” at the top marking the spot where Longchen came with faltering confidence and energy. We had not supposed the ritual rhythm of the day. This mistimed gong would con- to liberate his mind, one can look down into the valleys on that the landscapes might participate in the inquiry or ask fuse them, drawing their minds down to the temple complex either side; this particular day was so clear that we could see questions of us. To be sure, scholars will enter a landscape and disrupting the rhythm of the proper cycle of medita- all the way to the snowcapped mountains marking the border through our disciplines’ ways of knowing: philological tion. The elderly women laughed at the exchange, seemingly with Tibet, from whence Longchen had fled. While the Bud- expertise in texts; scientific expertise in ecological dynamics; delighted by the mishap. The monk’s chiding made us realize dhist Studies scholars huddled with the khenpo over Forests of policy expertise in governance. Yet if we cannot express how how the bell participated in a whole mountain of prayer, and Poetry, deliberating various place references in the poem that we are addressed by the landscapes, we may miss a key ques- several of us novices wondered if we might venture into the were visible from the ridgetop, Matthew set up a listening sta- tion. “How can we hear the spirit of this land? That’s what I wider landscape while the experts examined the buildings. tion in the thicket of flags. want us to ask ourselves,” Matthew explained. His composi- We sought out the monastery’s head monk to ask if it After spending a day working with his recordings, Mat- tion was a skilled form of listening, giving expression to would be permissible for some of us to walk up toward the thew invited the lab members to hear what he had made of human and nonhuman relations that sacralize a landscape of ridge. It turned out that he them. Interested in the prayer. By offering his expert training in an interpretive act was a khenpo, a scholar of the idea that each flap of each that fused his own experience of a place with those expres- highest monastic rank. Upon flag represents a discrete sions, he invited the rest of us to do something similar. learning about our purpose prayer released into the Asking ourselves how we experience the aliveness of a in coming – especially that world, he had slowed the place need not compete with the critical knowledge we also we had all read Longchen’s recording to one-quarter seek and produce. Maybe, the law professor in our group ven- poem about Bumthang in speed and filtered out the tured, a lesson we can take from the beyul tradition is that we preparation for the visit high frequencies in order should critically approach the lands we study as if radically and that some of us were to focus audition on the transformative possibilities lie within them. If we thought experts on Longchen’s flag. What remained was that, this specialist in U.S. environmental governance con- Tibetan opus – he suggested a low, “whoom-whoom” tinued, it would change the way that we regard and manage that we might be interested pulse: a bass line of prayer. landscapes. They would be more than places threatened by in hiking to the rock where He joined that line to a environmental problems or shaped by cultural memories; Longchen had composed his recording of the cylinders’ they would also be presences that make their own claims; that master works; from there we chime, connecting prayers enter into the political interpretation of problems and the could better appreciate the from the top and the bot- curation of memories. The music professor’s composition of geography of the text. He tom of the mountain, ones the sacred landscape had, in a sense, opened for our secular offered to lead us himself. from the elders and those scholarship a way into the beyul. It had suggested that there Single file we followed from the wind, letting the may be a hidden treasure by which to mandalize the new his maroon-robed figure up single ching of the turning stresses on this geography. the steep slope, tacking back and forth through winter- Whereas Bumthang is a beyul named by a master teacher and browned grass. Sometimes known for centuries across the Himalayas, Phobjika repre- the khenpo would pause and, sents the emergence of a new kind of sacred valley. Three speaking in Tibetan, point The head monk and khenpo of out a cave or outcropping Tharpaling Monastery leads Sanc- tuary Lab members up the ridge to Longchen’s Throne. Photograph by Willis Jenkins. 9 mountain passes and a day’s journey west from Bumthang, founded by the royal family. Still, protecting crane habitat While we were in Phobjika, the art historian on our team, Phobjika seems in the process of being made special by inter- was not an easy mandate. The wide plains of Phobjika are Ariana Maki, who was on a Fulbright fellowship to the Royal actions between secular conservation projects, cultural tour- also the best place in Bhutan to cultivate potatoes, a valuable University of Bhutan, noticed new murals in a renovation of ism, and conventional religious bodies. It is a valley sought by domestic-market crop. The valley’s vibrant cultural festivals the nearby Longchen temple, Nyelung Dechenling. At the a different sort of pilgrim. had developed a following among regional tourists and were direction of the overseeing lama, cranes had been inserted Each winter, the rare Black-necked Crane migrates from a growing source of income. In the late 1990s a proposal was into the depictions of the masters and incarnations of this Tibet to Phobjika. The glaciated alluvial plain is broad and advancing to drain the marshy plain to expand the potato place. And they were not the generic white Gruidae that often marshy, and its cultivated fields suit the crane’s feeding fields and provide more freshwater infrastructure for guest- appear in Himalayan Buddhist art; they were marked with habits. Seemingly by mutual arrangement, the cranes come houses, creating a wider economic base for prosperity. Even distinctive dark necks and red crowns. The Black-necked just after the farmers finish harvesting and graze through with the support of the popular royal family, deciding to Crane had made its way into the cosmography of this val- the stubbled fields. Tradition holds that when they arrive for manage the valley in a different way would require a compel- ley, taking its place alongside Longchen and his successive the year, they circle Gangtey Monastery on its hilltop promi- ling narrative that could garner broad civic support. incarnations. Remarkably, just two decades after secular envi- nence, paying their respects before settling into the wetlands The story of the Black-necked Crane’s conservation is ronmental governance efforts had made Black-necked Crane below. often presented by government leaders and the RSPN in conservation a priority, an official religious institution had Cranes generally have been regarded as auspicious beings a way that comports with Bhutan’s broader story as a sanctu- adopted and elevated mythmaking around the species. in Himalayan Buddhism; they appear in story and art as ary. Nearly every mention of the bird alludes to the way its Meanwhile, winter migration of Black-necked Cranes has emissaries of gods. In Phobjika their annual arrival has migration connects Tibet and Bhutan. A painting hanging steadily increased, rising to more than six hundred birds. long been noticed and welcomed. In fact, the name of the in the RSPN central office in Thimphu depicts flocks of The RSPN suspects that habitat encroachment on other nearby fortress, Jakar Dzong, built centuries ago, translates Black-necked Cranes flying between the most important winter sites, in southern China, may partly explain the rise. as “white-bird fortress.” Until recently, however, the Black- sacred sites of the two lands. The poignancy of that connec- This, therefore, becomes more than a conservation story; it necked Crane did not enjoy any specific legal protections. tion lies in what is left unsaid: the tragic separation of the recapitulates the story of Bhutan as a refuge for Vajrayana Populations of many crane two Buddhist mountain kingdoms by China’s annexation of Buddhism. As development in China invades crane habitats, species declined across Asia Black-necked Cranes graze a Tibet. The Black-necked Crane, emissary of the gods, recog- the Black-necked Crane finds sanctuary in Phobjika, repeat- over the last century, as recently harvested field in Phobjika nizes no such separation and crosses the border at will, where ing a centuries-old pattern of Bhutan serving as a refuge for wetlands were lost to devel- Valley. Photograph by Erika Share. it finds refuge in Bhutan. emissaries of the gods. opment. By the 1990s the That religiously inflected conservation annual arrivals of Black- success story has in turn become the basis necked Cranes into Phobjika for a new form of cultural expression and a had diminished to fewer new reason for pilgrims to seek out this val- than two hundred birds. ley. Contemporary tourist brochures invite When told of this decline, people to enjoy the protective passion that the fourth king of Bhutan, the people of Phobjika have for the Black- Jigme Singye Wangchuk, necked Crane, which extends even to their charged Bhutan’s Royal dance and religious art. Indeed, in the late Society for the Protection of 1990s the RSPN sponsored the creation of a Nature (RSPN) with pro- new cultural festival focused on the Black- tecting the crane habitat at necked Crane. Although a lay festival, it is Phobjika. nonetheless hosted in the courtyard of the While the RSPN is an monastery and features dancers from both independent conserva- lay and monastic troupes, performing in tion organization, it enjoys elaborate crane costumes. Many visitors popular support and a now come to Phobjika not only to see Black- close relationship with the necked Cranes but also the cultural celebra- government because it was tions of their conservation, narrated within the broader story of Bhutan. While certainly possessed of its own rich religious history and a respectable num-

10 ber of temples, stupas, and monasteries, Phobjika has not The Ritual Practice of Making Semeni Living in Ýylanly, I was acutely aware of the seasons. The historically been considered a sacred valley in the way that in Northern Turkmenistan town of Ýylanly (the name means “with snakes”) is sur- Bumthang has. Now, however, as it is increasingly sought by he transition from harsh winter to spring demands rounded by eight collective farms. The climate is challeng- transnational pilgrims, resonances between religious and ritual. All great religious traditions recognize this. ing, with temperatures dropping below zero in the winter secular mythmaking may be sacralizing it. Chosen as a refuge There is a need to cast off what came before, an and rising as high as 120 degrees in the summer. My first by the Black-necked Cranes that have been celebrated and imperative to shed the problems of the old year few months there were especially rough. As a newcomer, protected by important social institutions, Phobjika Valley is and embrace the new. Thus the Persian New Year every time I walked down the street I was observed with increasingly regarded by people near and far as set apart and Tis celebrated in spring in many parts of Asia. When I was in curiosity and what felt like suspicion. And although many special. In this sense, the valley may represent a new incarna- Turkmenistan in 2000, I had the great honor of being invited people invited me into their homes, as a single woman in my tion of the beyul: a sacred landscape under secular governance to participate in the ritual act of making semeni (its Turkmen twenties – unless accompanied by a male or a group – I was with religiously informed cultural support; a sanctuary in name), a sweet wheat paste derived from sprouted wheat ber- expected to stay with my host family most of the time and be which birds and humans seek different sorts of refuges; and ries for the local Persian New Year celebrations. The holiday, in by 6 p.m. a destination that is sought by pilgrims, both traditional and known as Nauruz, a Persian term that means “new day,” takes Winter was long and grey, and the streets turned to mud. secular, for its spiritual treasures. place on the vernal equinox. The religious history of Nauruz My walks to school took practice. At first I would arrive with Early one morning, well before dawn, I went with Mat- is deep and vast. Of Zoroastrian origins, Nauruz has been mud all the way up the back of my long skirt. I learned to thew and Kurtis as they sought to record the call of the celebrated in Central Asia, Western Asia, the Caucasus, the wear an additional skirt on top, so that I could remove the Black-necked Crane. Eventually, at first light, the birds bugled Black Sea Basin, the Balkans, and South Asia for over seven dirty one upon my arrival. I still don’t know how my col- clamorously. But before then, as we waited, we heard other thousand years. leagues managed the half-hour walk without a single drop of sounds of the valley floor. The calls of Eastern skylarks, ruddy Turkmen and Uzbek cultures are collectivist. Sunni reli- mud to show for it. The streets were laid out on a grid, with a shelducks, little grebes. A mixed herd of yak, horses, and gious practices are embedded in the landscape in every imag- bazaar in the center and a few municipal buildings surround- cattle moving across the frozen ground. Slow-moving water inable way, and nature is sacred. The belief that God is in ing a Soviet-style concrete-block office and a plaza that was gurgling and trickling through marshy soil, gathering into nature stems from Islamic doctrine but also from pre-Islamic named “Santa Barbara” by locals after a dubbed American the concentrated rush of an unseen river. As I stood there in traditions of nomadic Central Asian tribes. The Soviet regime soap opera that played for several years on the Russian TV the dark, I realized that I was listening to the intricate work- forced nomadic families into state-mandated collective farm- station. Few trees could be seen along my route other than the ings of the ecology protected by Phobjika: the range of birds ing communities, where they continued to live after the fall of coveted fruit trees, which held their own power. Superstition who find habitat in its protected marshlands; the herders the Soviet Union. ran high in the culture, touching every aspect of life. Families and their animals that coexist within its diverse ecosystem; In August of 1999, when I was twenty-four years old, I left hung glass bottles of salt in their apricot trees to ward off the the absorbent soils in the glacial plains that slow water as it my hometown of Des Moines, Iowa, and arrived in Ashgabat. evil eye, fearing that jealousy from another would ruin their rushes off the high mountains. I lived in a community just outside of town, where I trained crop. Luck was something that was God-given, but could All the new pilgrims in this valley create new pressures on with a group of five other Peace Corps volunteers, studying also be protected by the one on whom it had been bestowed. the sanctuary. The RSPN worries that ecotourism has begun Turkmen language and ways of life. This was our first intro- God’s grace had to be worked for and, once it had been given, to overdraw the water needed to maintain the marshes and duction to the language, and the culture shock was consider- protected. incentivizes illegal timbering by encouraging the prolifera- able. Three months later, I went to live with an Uzbek family At first, the culture seemed formal, quiet, and reserved. A tion of guesthouses. It is unclear how this kind of threat – the in the town of Ýylanly in the northernmost region of Turk- buttoned-up home with shuttered windows kept the evil eye pressures paradoxically created by the sanctuary’s success – menistan, which borders the Kara-Kum Desert. from wandering in and taking away what had been given to will be negotiated in policy. Yet here too the situation of I was the first Peace Corps volunteer in Ýylanly, and the the family by God. Once invited inside, however, the guest Phobjika exemplifies broader tensions for the nation of Bhu- first Westerner whom most people in the town had ever met. encountered a beautiful world of color. Walls were painted tan, which must negotiate how to protect itself as cultural, (The country had closed its borders after the fall of the Soviet in pastels, adorned with stenciled patterns, and hung with religious, and ecological sanctuary while also encouraging Union.) This role was exciting but also challenging. It took an prized rugs and silk flowers. Furniture was scarce by design, the external regard that helps make that possible. Whatever entire year of rigorous work – baking the bread, milking the but floral-patterned mats were laid out for guests around policies are made in Phobjika, they will likely be informed cow, making the food, carrying the family’s supply of water, tea tables on the floor. Anyone entering a house was offered by the hidden valley tradition: the inherited idea of a sacred and drinking tea in the home of anyone who invited me – to tea, fruits, and sweets – homemade jam and bread at the very place of refuge and spiritual treasures. – Willis Jenkins gain the trust of the community. My assignment was to teach least. Nauruz was a time to freshen the home, let in the sweet English at the Turkmen school for the first year and then to air, clean out the old, and make room for the new. come up with a development project in response to the town’s needs.

11 Courtyard in Ýylanly, Dashoguz, the root cellars, the new cabbages, bright greens, and vibrant Turkmenistan. All photographs by tangerines at the market were a welcome sight. Baljon and Allison James. Dermonjon each bought something new to wear as well – a shirt and a floral scarf. Traditionally, everyone should wear would eat homemade bread at least one new item of clothing during Nauruz, symbolic of with butter from their cow new things in life. Back at home, we made manti (lamb-filled and drink green tea (black dumplings with yoghurt sauce), and Dermonjon baked an tea is a winter-only bever- apple cake. We cleaned the house from top to bottom, wash- age). Before breakfast, my ing everything. Rugs and mattresses were hung outside in the host father would pray for sun, windows washed, walls and ceilings dusted. Spring air the family. was let into the house. At the center of the town’s Also in preparation for Nauruz, a ritual was performed in courtyards there was usu- order to expel the evil eye. My host mother called us into the ally a vegetable garden for corridor. Lighting a metal dustpan full of sage, she circled the growing tomatoes, cab- smoke around our hands and feet to cleanse our bodies of any bage, onions, peppers, and evil that might have crossed our paths. Life in Ýylanly was not garlic. Adjacent wooden easy. Luck came and went. Bad luck is believed to be cast upon barns housed livestock the unfortunate one. (cattle, sheep, and chickens). That first spring I was struggling with a welter of feelings: Mud-brick pathways led the winter had been long, the climate was harsh, our village from the garden to the well, was very remote, and I was an outsider. I missed my family chicken coop, barns, and terribly. One morning during Nauruz, I walked the usual half tandyr oven. Baking bread in hour to the switchboard operator’s office to make a payment a tandyr oven was one of my for my weekly call to the U.S. – the highlight of my week. My All aspects of life in Turkmenistan were structured in favorite ways to pass the time. Bread was sacred in Turkmen community seemed besieged with hardship. Many families support of kin. Rituals were no exception. The rite of spring and Uzbek culture. If bread accidentally touched the ground, were plagued with economic insecurity, especially after the was more than a house cleaning, although that was the first someone had to pick it up and kiss it, then place it on a shelf disastrous salinization of the water following the excessive action taken in preparation for Nauruz. The holiday also or a table. Nothing was ever wasted. Once bread got hard, it channelization of the Aral Sea; heroin use was also rampant. marked the opening of the gardening season. Nature was as was mixed into feed for the animals. I was on the verge of leaving my post and heading back to the much a part of the inside of the home as it was of the outside. My favorite time of day was five o’clock in the afternoon, U.S. Then, when I returned to the house and made my call From late spring through fall, courtyard gardens were the when my responsibility was to collect the household’s supply home, it was inexplicably disconnected after only three min- center of family life. Turkmen and Uzbek courtyards were of water. I would gather nine buckets and rush outside to be utes. I was heartbroken. I sat by the phone for an hour trying surrounded by mud-brick walls, baked hard by the hot sun with all the young women at the water spigot. I would walk unsuccessfully to will it to work. and dry desert air. down a series of mud steps carved into the earth until all I Witnessing my distress, my host mother decided to inter- In spatial layout, adornment, and design, each courtyard could see was the sky and the faces of my friends crowded vene: she came into the room and asked me to get my coat. was as unique as the family that inhabited it. An essential around the hole. The pipes would be flooded with canal water, She said that life there was hard, yes, but reminded me that I fixture within these private spaces was the tapchan, a raised the spigot would begin to drip, and at last the water would had signed up to work. Then she handed me a glass jar filled wooden bed covered in carpets and cushions that is used gush out. I looked forward to the smell of the clay mud, the with sprouted green wheatgrass: I was to accompany my host for eating, drinking tea, and sleeping. After we finished the view of the sky framed by the opening above us, and the latest sister Dermonjon to the collective farm to make semeni for the chores, we would walk to the tapchan, drink tea under the gossip. family in celebration of Nauruz. The act of making semeni, grapevines, and gossip about whom we had seen at the bazaar On the Sunday before Nauruz, my host sisters Baljon and she explained, would bring the family luck in the new year; as buying dresses for a dowry. Every night from spring through Dermonjon went to the bazaar to buy special food. After a an adopted member, I would need to participate. Humbled by fall, my host sisters and I would also haul heavy blankets to barren winter with little more than carrots and potatoes from both her firmness and her kindness, I did what I was told. the tapchan and sleep under the stars in the cool desert air. Spring in Turkmenistan was still harsh, full of cold wind There were moonflowers planted along the path that would and muddy streets. Beyond the mud-clay houses and concrete open up after sunset. After the rooster woke us at dawn, we municipal buildings, the landscape was vast and flat, the same brown color as the houses. Dermonjon and I walked

12 through a sandstorm, our faces covered in cotton scarves. seen as a guest, they refused. After I insisted, After an hour, we came upon a field of garlic shoots. The I was given a bucket and allowed to follow my green of the shoots was a welcome relief after the relentless friend Sonya down the road to the well. The browns and greys of winter. We walked along the raised mud wind picked up and the sand and dust came divisions through the field until we arrived at a large barn. with it. We held on to each other as we fought Dermonjon opened the door. the wind. When we arrived at the well, I gave The barn was made of the same mud brick as the houses, her the bucket and she pulled up the water but the interior had two levels: a ground floor and a kitchen with the rope. On the way back our voices area upstairs, connected by a ladder-like staircase. The floor grew louder as the wind and sand hit the back of the lower level was unfinished dirt. This room was packed of our heads. We finally delivered the bucket with women, all in colorful Uzbek work dresses. The dresses safely, carrying it through the barn door and were handmade of brightly colored floral cloth imported pouring the water carefully into the cauldron. from Iran or Russia. I had been told to dress in work clothes We repeated this sequence of acts over and and so was wearing an appropriate long skirt and sweater. over until no more water was needed. The women welcomed us with tea. Without exception, tea Next I was given a wooden pestle to take is always offered to anyone entering a home. It is a sign of my turn at grinding the wheat berries in the respect for both the host and the guest to drink a cup of tea hollowed log. I stood there pounding until together, while sitting on a mat on the floor and leaning on a the contents were smooth. Then we dumped short table. The elder women yelled across the room, giving the white mash into the cauldron with some instructions on the semini-making process, making jokes and rock candy to sweeten the mixture. After enjoying each other. Just inside the barn’s entrance drying some time, I took my turn at the meat grinder tobacco leaves hung from the ceiling. Below them, lit with as well. On we went, grinding and pounding, a gas flame, was an enormous cauldron customarily used to laughing and talking late into the night. make large quantities of plov – a traditional rice dish of Per- At 11 p.m. we sat on the floor. By now there were so many twenty-somethings gathered Making semeni in Ýylanly, Dashoguz, sian ancestry. women and children crammed together that we were sitting around the cauldron. Turkmenistan. As I drank my tea, I watched the women work. In this shoulder to shoulder. Everyone was either serving or being The lights went out as gendered ritual space, hierarchy was based on age: in recogni- served a bowl of fresh manti and yoghurt. As we ate, we talked the wind picked up and cut off the electricity, and we were tion of their status in the community older women were in about farming, husbands, who was going to be married off, left with the flame beneath the pot. As we took turns stirring charge. One took my jar of wheatgrass, ground it in a meat and who was pregnant or had just given birth, and we gos- the semeni over the fire, the women began to tell stories about grinder, and dumped it into a hollowed log; the next pounded siped about those who were missing. As always, gossip was the year that was passing. One talked about her husband, the grass into a paste. Someone came in from the well with our entertainment at the end of the working day. That was a who had been struggling with addiction (the recent heroin a bucket of water and dumped it into the cauldron of paste. fact of life. Now we talked of these things in the barn while crisis affected every family). To support his habit, he had sold Other women were sitting drinking tea and keeping most of her clothes, the tea table, and the floor mats. They along the wall on the floor watch on the cauldron. had nothing left. The next talked about the drought and how making manti for dinner. All After the meal, those of her family had lost most of its crops that year. The salinated worked seamlessly, creating us in our twenties cleared water that had come on the heels of the Aral Sea disaster was a space for connection in the the plates and heated the to blame. Another talked about her recent stillbirth; still- midst of ceaseless activ- water for washing. We births were common in rural villages in the region. Then all ity, catching up with one worked until all was clean. the women started making wishes for the new year. another and sharing stories Then it was time for the After sitting for a time in silence, one woman began to even as they were continu- older women and children sing. She chose a well-known folk song in Turkmen and ously on the move. to retire upstairs. There was Uzbek, “Eje, Jonam” (“my sweet mother”). In Islam, the I asked them to let me a room on the second floor mother is always honored; this ritual honors the first mother help. At first, because I was next to the kitchen; this was where the old and the young curled up with their coats and fell asleep together. The Turkmen family making bread in a tandyr (traditional wood-fired clay oven). Dashoguz, Turkmenistan. 13 of Islam, Khadijah bint Khuwaylid. Khadijah was the daugh- Sacred to the Memory: first minister of Mount Olivet Baptist Church; Dr. Sarah ter of Khuwaylid ibn Asad, a leader of the Quraysh tribe in Richmond’s Cemeteries in Black and White Garland Boyd Jones, the first woman certified by the Virginia Mecca, and Muhammad’s first wife. Khadijah and her daugh- acial inequities persist even after death, as is all too State Medical Examining Board and cofounder of a hospi- ter Fatimah are two of the most revered female figures in apparent in the landscape. Consider the historic tal for African Americans in Richmond; and Dr. Richard Islam. Shi‘as believe that Muhammad was married to Khadi- cemeteries of Richmond, Virginia. On the west side F. Tancil, a Howard University-trained physician and bank jah for twenty-five years. She is said to have been the first to of town is the storied Hollywood Cemetery, estab- president. But African Americans from all walks of life share convert to Islam. lished in 1847 and designed in a picturesque idiom the ground with them – cooks, porters, barbers, and grocers As the woman sang, she also began to cry. Her crying grew Rby John Notman of Philadelphia. Spanning some 135 acres of as well as ministers, journalists, and bankers. increasingly intense, and she beat her fists into the ground as hills and vales along the James River, it is the resting place of Just as Hollywood and Oakwood were important cultural she sang. The woman next to her starting singing as well, and presidents Monroe and Tyler, who are entombed overlooking loci of white Richmond, Evergreen and East End were sacred soon everyone was crying. The cathartic act of letting go of the river in what is grandly called Presidents Circle. But Hol- spaces at the heart of Richmond’s African American commu- the past year and welcoming the new led to bonding for these lywood is perhaps even better known for its Confederate buri- nity, visited not only for burials and Memorial Day picnics women. I felt a part of the community in a new way. There is als. The South’s only president, Jefferson Davis, is interred but also by relatives who tended the graves. By the end of the a desolation that comes with carrying one’s hardships alone. there along with twenty-eight Confederate generals and over twentieth century, however, these culturally and historically After our collective catharsis, our burdens felt lighter. I now eighteen thousand enlisted men. The soldiers were memori- significant landscapes had largely reverted to woodland, understood my place and felt honored to have one. alized in 1869, when a ninety-foot granite pyramid, designed with a thick, tangled understory of invasive plants like ivy, An hour later, the semeni was done. We washed our hands with the help of engineer Charles H. Dimmock, was erected kudzu, privet, and thorny brush. Some of the reasons for this and faces and went to sleep on the floor with the others. At in their honor conspicuously near the cemetery entrance. are by now familiar: both the economic and political repres- dawn those who were still asleep woke up to the sound of Across town is the city-owned Oakwood Cemetery, estab- sion of the Black community during the Jim Crow era and babies crying and women opening and closing doors. Tea lished in 1854 with the purchase of 60 acres of undulating the exodus of the Great Migration contributed to the virtual was ready. We sat together again. One of the younger women farmland overlooking Stony Run, a tributary of the James. abandonment of these cemeteries. As African American talked about the act of making semeni as an offering to God, The city engineer laid out winding roads and paths remi- families died off, moved away, or were driven out by racially and how the ritual was carried out by Khadijah in the new niscent of Hollywood’s, and individual and family plots were motivated acts of terror, their burial grounds were overgrown year, and so it was passed down to them. The older women sold to “any white resident of the city.” The Richmond Daily and vandalized. What is less understood, however, is the role said that if the first one up sees Khadijah’s handprint in Dispatch soon described Oakwood as a “quiet, well-arranged, that American tax dollars played in the destruction of Black the semeni, the families of the participants are all blessed secluded city for the dead.” During the Civil War, more than heritage and the memorialization of a particularly ugly aspect and good luck will come in the new year. One of the women sixteen thousand Confederate soldiers filled a section set of its white counterpart. announced that the handprint had, in fact, appeared. Then aside for them, with many of the dead brought from nearby Since 1902, when Virginia’s all-white legislature provided we all sampled the semeni with our tea. Spread on bread, it Chimborazo Hospital. A women’s Oakwood Memorial Associ- funding for the care of Confederate graves, those at Hol- tasted earthy and sweet, and had a caramel color almost like ation was formed in 1866 to care for these graves. The group’s lywood have been maintained at least in part with public apple butter. Everyone who had participated left with a full jar work included the raising of a memorial obelisk in the Con- funds – initially through an annual appropriation and later of semeni to bring to their families. Eating it is considered to federate section in 1871. through the endowment of a perpetual care fund. The same bring good luck for the new year. Just across Stony Run to the east of Oakwood, two histori- is true at Oakwood, where the Confederate section has been After breakfast, we walked home with the fruit of our cally Black cemeteries tell a very different story. Founded in receiving state funds for over eight decades – both for imme- labors. The wind was gone, and we moved effortlessly 1891 and 1897 respectively because white cemeteries would diate repairs and ongoing care. These white cemeteries have through the fields of garlic shoots. The night before I had not accept Black burials, Evergreen and East End together benefitted from a larger pattern of support for Confederate been homesick and detached. After this ritual I felt a new cover some 75 acres and contain something in the range of sites across the South. sense of place, and a deep feeling of belonging. I also real- twenty-five thousand graves – the precise number is difficult As detailed in a December 2018 Smithsonian Magazine ized that I had something to contribute to this community. I to determine since many graves are overgrown or no longer article by photographer and journalist Brian Palmer and wouldn’t be going home so soon after all. marked. The two cemeteries are the resting places of many investigative reporter Seth Freed Wessler, “The Costs of A few weeks after Nauruz, I hit upon my development proj- of the city’s leading African American citizens of the Recon- the Confederacy,” American taxpayers have directed over ect, with the help of a local agronomist. We built two green- struction era and beyond, many of whom were born enslaved 40 million dollars in the last decade alone to Confederate houses to produce peppers and tomatoes for our town during and went on to make enormous contributions to Richmond, monuments – statues, homes, parks, museums, libraries, and the harsh winter months. – Allison James the Commonwealth, and the country. They include newspa- cemeteries – and to Confederate heritage organizations, many per editor, civil rights leader, and businessman John Mitchell of which are directly or indirectly engaged in perpetuating Jr.; Maggie L. Walker, the first Black woman to found a bank myths of white supremacy. Virginia has spent $174,000 in the in the United States; pioneering educator and suffragist Rosa D. Bowser; the Rev. J. Andrew Bowler, an educator and the

14 past decade to maintain the A volunteer clearing the grave of decades later by sociologist statue to Robert E. Lee on Samuel Meredith (d. 1927), a director and historian W. E. B. Du Monument Avenue in Rich- of the East End Burial Association. Bois, who said of Confeder- mond, and it cost Richmond Photograph by Brian Palmer/ ate memorials, “The plain police over half a million brianpalmer.photos. truth of the matter would be dollars to protect the monu- an inscription something ment and keep the peace like this: ‘sacred to the memory of those who fought to Per- during a neo-Confederate petuate Human Slavery.’” rally in September 2017. Richmond’s African American cemeteries are sacred to The accounting of public an opposing set of memories. East End is the more modest, expenditures during the with individual headstones and small monuments along most recent protests over the with a few family plots outlined with granite or concrete memorial is still to come. curbs. It forms a rough grid along level ground to the north But it is probably safe to of Evergreen, which is the larger and more imposing of the say it will still be a drop in two sites. Founded by leaders of the city’s African American the bucket compared to the community, the latter might be seen as a response to Holly- funding directed to Con- wood Cemetery or to the grand memorials then rising to the federate cemeteries. Palmer Confederacy along the city’s Monument Avenue. This 60-acre and Wessler estimate that cemetery is situated on a rise above Stony Run, which bor- close to 9 million in today’s ders the site to the west and divides Evergreen and East End dollars has been spent over from Oakwood. Sections, plots, and roads were laid out in a the past century to maintain more or less rectilinear framework in the early 1900s by civil Confederate graves in Vir- engineers and surveyors James T. Redd & Sons. The main ginia, much of it dispersed entrance was from the south, off what is now East Richmond through the United Daughters of the Confederacy. aggression – and not a defense of slavery. John Mitchell Jr., Road. A cobbled drive crossed the low ground along Stony Maintaining graves might seem innocent enough. But an African American journalist and a member of Richmond’s Run and climbed gradually up the slope. This road was lined Confederate graves have been the locus for some disturbing city council during Reconstruction, fought fiercely against with eastern red cedars, some of which still survive; they cre- rituals. Palmer and Wessler attended Confederate Memorial the effort to erect the monument to Robert E. Lee and tried to ate a distinct processional route. The overall effect must have Day celebrations in May 2018 at Oakwood, where participants block funding for its dedication. But the state issued bonds to been one of rolling hills marked with marble and granite included the Sons of Confederate Veterans (established in support its construction, and the city underwrote dedication statues, obelisks, and monuments. Richmond in 1896) and the Virginia Flaggers, a more recent events on May 29, 1890, that were attended by some 150,000 In 1901, eleven years after John Mitchell unsuccessfully group whose Facebook page announces that they are “Citizens people. lobbied against the erection of a statue in honor of Robert of the Commonwealth who stand AGAINST those who would Writing about the celebration in The Richmond Planet, E. Lee in his city, enormous crowds gathered in a square in desecrate our Confederate Monuments and memorials, and the paper he edited, Mitchell predicted, “This glorification the lower section of Evergreen for the August 26 unveiling FOR our Confederate Veterans.” Flaggers are known primar- of States Rights Doctrine – the right of secession, and the of a monument to his younger brother Thomas, who had ily for trying to make the Confederate battle flag as visible honoring of men who represented that cause, fosters in the been his colleague at the Planet and had died the previous as possible, carrying it at demonstrations and other public Republic, the spirit of Rebellion and will ultimately result in year. According to contemporaneous accounts in the same events, and erecting it on private land. These flags can be seen the handing down to generations unborn a legacy of treason newspaper, the event began with a parade eight blocks long along major highways and have been the target of controversy and blood.” His prophesy has been borne out time and again from downtown Richmond to Evergreen, featuring horse- and legal efforts to have them removed. According to Palmer down to the present day, as in the 2015 massacre of nine drawn carriages, marching bands, and hundreds of mounted and Wessler, participants at the Oakwood event stood at African Americans by a white supremacist at the Emanuel and marching Knights of Pythias, uniformed members of a attention for an invocation read by a chaplain in period dress AME Church in Charleston in 2015 or the killing of a coun- fraternal organization and secret society in which both of the and, hands on hearts, saluted the Confederate flag. terprotester during a neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville in Mitchell brothers were officers. It will come as no surprise that African American leaders 2017 – not to mention the relentless takings of Black lives by A crowd estimated at ten thousand witnessed the unveil- have long objected to Confederate memorials, recognizing white police officers. His condemnations were echoed four ing of the 12-foot granite obelisk, which was crowned with an their role in perpetuating narratives of the Lost Cause, the elaborate helmet (since lost to vandals). As told in the Planet, pseudo-historical doctrine that the Southern effort in the “When the cemetery was reached a strange sight met the Civil War was heroic and just – a struggle to maintain state’s rights and a distinctive way of life in the face of Northern 15 eye. All around the square, in the centre of Maggie Lena Walker and grandson had dissolved long ago, and in 2019 a Richmond judge, with which stood the grey monument, were what Armstead Walker III at the Walker the support of the office of the Virginia Attorney General, seemed to be black walls, formed by the thou- family plot in Evergreen Cemetery, awarded ownership of East End to Enrichmond. The same sands of spectators who filled the grounds. c. 1922–1924. Courtesy of National year the conservation easement was extended to include To the north and west there were two solid Park Service, Maggie L. Walker East End. lines of humanity. People had crowded to the National Historic Site. Equally as significant, in 2017 the Virginia legislature grounds hours ahead of the parade in order agreed to extend to historically Black cemeteries the same to secure even standing room.” vast piles of illicit trash – benefits it has long provided to white ones. VOF helped craft Burials at Evergreen began on the cem- including fifteen hundred the legislation – ultimately sponsored by Delegate Delores etery’s western edge along Stony Run and tires. McQuinn – that made available a minimum of five dollars in the flat land at the southern edge of the These campaigns caught per grave to maintain both Evergreen and East End. Two site, and over the years expanded uphill to the attention of the Vir- years later, funding was extended to many other Black burial the north and west. Roads and steps connect ginia Outdoors Founda- grounds around the state that are owned by a public body the lower and upper sections. At the top of tion, a quasi-public state or charity. the hill, the road divides; one fork doubles agency set up fifty years ago With preservation assured, the focus at both sites has back to a promontory that offered views over “to preserve the natural, shifted to research, restoration, and community engagement. Oakwood and downtown Richmond before scenic, historic, scientific, Enrichmond established an advisory group for Evergreen reforestation blocked the vistas. Some of open-space and recreational in 2017, including representatives of descendant families Evergreen’s most imposing graves – includ- areas of the Common- and local institutions; the group held a series of community ing those of Maggie Walker and her fam- wealth.” VOF holds one of conversations about the future of the site in 2017 and 2018. ily – and the cemetery’s one mausoleum are the largest portfolios of Subsequently Enrichmond retained the Center for Urban and located here along an oval path: Evergreen’s open-space conservation Regional Analysis at the Virginia Commonwealth University’s answer to Presidents Circle. Photographs easements in the country, Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs to prepare in the collection of the Maggie L. Walker most protecting farmland a report on existing conditions and community-engagement National Historic Site show Walker with various family mem- in rural areas. According to VOF executive director Brett strategies; this was issued in February 2019. More or less bers decorating graves at Evergreen on Memorial Day in the Glymph, the agency had been looking for opportunities to simultaneously, the Virginia Department of Forestry pro- early 1920s – apparently a family tradition. expand its efforts into Virginia’s cities, where it might serve vided a forest-management plan, laying out strategies for con- Unfortunately, both Evergreen and East End were estab- greater numbers of people and more diverse constituencies. trolling invasives, culling trees, and improving the fertility of lished prior to any requirement that cemeteries offer per- “We came across some articles about the volunteer efforts to the soil. That spring soil-restoration work began. Sections of petual care; families were expected to provide upkeep. As they restore Evergreen and East End,” she recalled, “and realized the site were deeply mulched to control weeds and build soil fell behind, volunteer efforts were initiated to help maintain our funding could be a game changer. After meeting with city nutrients. At the same time an urban horticulture team that both sites without the regular infusions of money that local officials, volunteer groups, and potential partners, we asked focused on hiring local residents began work to maintain and white cemeteries received. It was a Sisyphean task. In the the VOF board to allocate four hundred thousand dollars add public amenities, including a picnic area. 1970s, the Maggie Walker Foundation and representatives of from the Preservation Trust Fund to the project, which they Last year Evergreen was accorded both national and the National Park Service mobilized volunteers to clear and did in June 2016.” international recognition. First, in June, it received UNESCO maintain parts of Evergreen. Veronica A. Davis, of a group The Enrichmond Foundation, a local organization with designation as a “site of memory” associated with the African called Virginia Roots, reinvigorated these efforts in the 1990s, a particular focus on improving public space, city parks, diaspora. The next month the National Trust for Historic but the challenge was too great. and recreation, was the fund recipient. The organization Preservation awarded a seventy-five-thousand-dollar grant Then in the last decade, the tide began to turn. Friends had already been in negotiations to buy Evergreen from its through its African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund organizations were established for both cemeteries under the last owner and was able to secure financing to complete the to help launch the first phase of the cemetery’s restoration. leadership of Marvin Harris at Evergreen and John Shuck and purchase in 2017. It received the grant money after record- Volunteer efforts continue to grow – on Martin Luther King later Brian Palmer and Erin Holloway Palmer at East End. ing a conservation easement with VOF on Evergreen in 2018, Day in 2020, five hundred volunteers showed up to work. As of Their efforts have been epic. According to a 2018 article about assuring the cemetery’s status as open space in perpetuity. spring 2020, 22 acres – about 35 percent of the cemetery – and East End in the Richmond Free Press, Shuck reported that vol- Ultimately East End was protected through these efforts as five miles of roads and paths had been cleared of vegetation. unteers had made eight thousand visits to the cemetery over well. Its management entity, the East End Burial Association, Meanwhile Enrichmond hired the planning, design, engi- 360 work days in the previous five years, cleared about half of neering, and construction firm Pond and Company to its 16 acres, uncovered three thousand graves, and removed develop a master plan for managing and restoring the burial ground and enhancing its potential as a public and com- memorative space. The plan was unveiled on February 29, 16 2020, at the Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site in Spiritual Spaces: Most sanctuaries’ plans are created by the hospital’s architect downtown Richmond. The steps outlined in the plan – which The Design of Sanctuaries in 21st-Century Hospitals or interior designer, working in concert with an appointed are designed “to inspire present and future generations to n the hospital environment they are called by many names: design committee. We hope our research will contribute to honor the nation’s African American cultural, historical, “chapel,” “interfaith chapel,” “quiet room,” “reflection the better understanding of this under-studied element of and spiritual inheritance” – include restoring and protect- room,” “reflection space,” “sacred space,” or “sanctuary.” But hospital design. ing gravesites and other cultural resources in the cemetery; whatever the label, these spaces share a common purpose. But what form should these spaces take to meet such a celebrating Richmond’s African American legacy; stewarding They serve the spiritual needs of those who work, visit, diversity of spiritual needs and practices? Should they display the landscape in more sustainable ways; and enhancing the Iand receive care in one of the most daunting and stressful symbols of many faiths? If so, will this offend some individu- experience of visitors through improved physical infrastruc- environments most of us will ever encounter: the acute-care als and discourage their use of the space? If multiple symbols ture, interpretation, lighting, and security. While there is no hospital. They provide a quiet retreat where the bereaved are included, which ones? If all symbols are excluded, will specific timeline in the plan, outlays in excess of 18 million and anxious can seek comfort and spiritual renewal. They the result be a banal, generic space appealing to no one? dollars are anticipated. offer not only venues for traditional religious services, such How does one create a space with an atmosphere that fosters With East End now under the auspices of Enrichmond, as Catholic masses, Protestant prayer services, and Mus- prayer, contemplation, and communal rituals? What materi- some of the same strategies are being applied there – a lim Friday prayers, but also memorial celebrations for staff als contribute to this? What forms, colors, and scale? Is there forestry plan for East End was issued in September 2019. and patients. In essence, they are strongholds of the spirit, scientific evidence that some design elements are espe- Meanwhile, Friends of East End have continued to pursue embedded in the high-tech machine for healing that is the cially effective for relieving stress? Who among the hospital some of their own initiatives. While working with volunteers twenty-first-century hospital. Their quiet otherness, sharply population will make most use of the space – staff, visitors, and descendant families on restoration, they have created contrasting with the disturbing cacophony of their surround- or patients? How will they use it? Where is the best place to an exemplary interactive website that “seeks to reclaim the ings, offers us a place to connect with the deepest values locate it? history of the cemetery and the community it served from governing our lives, whether we are members of a traditional The design of these “sanctuaries” (as we prefer to call obscurity.” Focused on people (the identity of those buried religious community or not. them to avoid the Christian connotation of “chapel”) is no at the cemetery), place (the cemetery’s physical character), As designers with a special interest in creating medical simple task, if they are located in a secular, public or private, and context (its larger cultural setting), the website is also environments that are attentive to not just the physical but nonprofit hospital in the United States. They must accommo- designed to accept content from users, including photo- also the mental, emotional, and even spiritual needs of those date the spiritual needs of all members of a hospital’s com- graphs, documents, and personal narratives. (Full disclosure: in hospital communities, we have just begun to study these munity in the most religiously diverse nation in the world. A the website received modest support through a project grant important spaces. We were surprised to discover that they had recent survey by the Pew Research Center indicates that from Dumbarton Oaks when I was director of Garden and received almost no attention in the extensive literature on 25.4 percent of us are Evangelical Protestant, 6.5 percent Landscape Studies there.) the design of hospitals and other medical facilities. The best Historically Black Protestant, 14.7 percent Mainline Protes- While Hollywood and Oakwood are legacies of the old analysis is found in a single chapter of Wendy Cadge’s Paging tant, 20.8 percent Catholic, 1.6 percent Mormon, .5 percent South, Evergreen and East End are expressions of the post– God: Religion in the Halls of Medicine. Orthodox Christian, 1.9 percent Jewish, .9 percent Muslim, Emancipation era, with all that it promised and then cruelly And yet such spaces are extremely common. Although .7 percent Buddhist, .7 percent Hindu, and .8 percent Jeho- withdrew. They recollect the lives of individuals, to be sure, many people are unaware of this, if you want to build a vah’s Witness. Another 1.5 percent of us are of other faiths, but they also commemorate a vigorous African American new hospital in almost any state, you are required by law to 3.1 percent atheist, and 4 percent agnostic. The remaining urban culture created in Reconstruction and ruthlessly include a multifaith sanctuary in the plan. To receive reim- 16.9 percent responded to the survey either “Nothing in dismantled by Jim Crow. In that sense, they are a reminder of bursement for medical care administered to patients under Particular” or “Don’t Know.” what apartheid looked like in America, with not only sepa- the Medicare and Medicaid programs of the federal gov- But numbers are only part of the story: adherents of a rate and unequal cemeteries, but also separate and unequal ernment, a hospital must be accredited, and that accredita- faith comprising a low percentage of the general population schools, housing, economic opportunities, medical facilities, tion requires addressing the spiritual needs of all patients, nevertheless may use such sanctuaries regularly. Our obser- and justice systems. Evergreen and East End were as much regardless of their beliefs. Also, the Facilities Guidelines vations in large hospitals across the country reveal Muslims sites for enacting rituals of remembrance in the African Institute publishes a set of extremely thorough and detailed to be among the most frequent hospital sanctuary users, even American community as Hollywood, Oakwood, or Monument specifications for the design and construction of hospitals. though they represent only .9 percent of the nation’s popula- Avenue were for the white community. But while the latter Almost all state governments require adherence to them. tion. The geographic location of a hospital also affects which enshrined myths of white supremacy, Evergreen and East End Among these strict requirements is the inclusion of “at least communities of faith use its sacred spaces most often. Rural are sacred to the memory of those who struggled against the one dedicated quiet space to support meditation, bereave- hospitals tend to serve more homogeneous Christian popu- social and spatial inequalities that are still evident all around ment, or prayer.” lations, while larger urban ones often care for and employ us today. – John Beardsley That said, there is no body of evidence-based design people with widely diverse spiritual beliefs. research pertaining to this “quiet space,” nor does the Facili- The importance of hospital sanctuaries is underscored ties Guidelines Institute provide specific requirements for by the results of national surveys indicating that most key features such as its scale, furnishings, form, or materials. 17 Americans view their faith as integral to the outcome of Architecturally the sanctuaries revealed preferences for gens, especially in cancer facilities. The most common color science-based medical intervention. For example, 80 percent certain materials, forms, colors, and floor plans. Most were scheme combined beige or off-white walls with furnishings of Americans are convinced that prayer and other forms of rectangular rooms with fixed pews or movable chairs fac- and other architectural details in cool colors (especially spiritual practice can aid medical treatment. Among this ing a central altar or focal point (64 percent). The remainder green, blue, and grey) (72 percent). Prayer registers were 80 percent, 25 percent believe they have been cured of an ill- displayed a wide array of other configurations, such as circles, included in 75 percent of the spaces, and 90 percent included ness through their individual prayers or by those of others. octagons, and hexagons – some oriented to a focal point and interfaith religious literature. Finally, virtually all of the Such widespread beliefs strongly suggest that places for others not. Some were abundantly furnished with chairs or thirty-eight sanctuaries (98 percent) shared a common trait: prayer, quiet reflection, and group worship should not only be pews while others had almost no furniture at all (like the they were exceedingly quiet. included in any hospital design but also be a focus of exten- Reflection Room in the Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospi- What does this survey reveal other than a wide variety of sive study and inquiry. tal, which had a single couch facing a small, backlit panel of sanctuary forms and varying degrees of symbolic display? colored glass). Most seating, regardless of room form, was Characteristics that stand out are the frequent use of natural Over the past five years we have visited thirty-eight sanctuar- adjustable for various types of ritual activities (80 percent). A material, especially wood, and cool colors. Also conspicuous ies in twelve states. These rooms were situated in both large slight majority had recessed ceilings with embedded lights are the many representations of nature and the lack of noise. urban hospitals and smaller regional hospitals in the Far (52 percent). The most frequently used material was wood, Such design features are identical to those recommended in West, Midwest, Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Deep South. with its natural grain visible (75 percent), followed by colored scientific research studies for effective stress relief in other The purpose of the visits was to study the architecture of the glass (60 percent). Only 42 percent utilized natural light. parts of the hospital environment, including patient rooms, spaces, including their form, scale, materials, location, use Most of the artificial lighting was adjustable (90 percent), staff lounges, and waiting rooms. The type of rigorous of symbolism, and other design features. “Chapel” was the with the preferred setting bright, nonglaring illumina- research devoted to these issues is known as “evidence-based most frequently used name (61 percent), followed by “medita- tion (82 percent). (Duke University’s Cancer Hospital’s Quiet design.” It makes use of a wide range of methods, including tion room” (17 percent). The remaining 22 percent had a wide Room featured a console offering fifteen choices of lighting, surveys, questionnaires, and physiological measurements of range of designations, such as “quiet room,” “sacred space,” including a “one-hour loop of the daily light cycle,” “night,” stress hormones, blood pressure, brain wave frequencies, and and “reflection room.” Scale varied from spacious, church- and “sunrise in motion.”) Depictions of nature were frequent skin conductance. Although many of its findings are observa- like interiors to small rooms about the size of an extra-large in all types of sanctuaries (71 percent), whether or not they tional and establish correlation rather than causality, it nev- walk-in closet. Most, however, had roughly the area of a typi- displayed religious symbols. Natural forms included plant ertheless provides strong circumstantial evidence identifying cal dining room in a suburban house (give or take 500 square motifs on altars, wainscoting, and upholstery, and paintings design features that are effective in relieving stress. feet). or photographs of landscapes, flowers, and birds. However, This is critically important, since science has proven The majority were located on the first floor, near the hos- only 15 percent of sanctuaries contained actual plants, and beyond doubt that stress slows healing, increases suscep- pital’s main entrance (55 percent). The remainder were near half of these were artificial. Pools and fountains were almost tibility to illness, and is highly fatiguing, both mentally waiting rooms for operating suites (21 percent) or scattered totally absent because of the danger of waterborne patho- and physically. Not only do patients suffer from it, but it about in a variety of hard-to-find locations. profoundly affects staff and may make them prone to medi- Twenty-one percent were in Roman Catholic cal errors and depression. Since a primary role of sanctuar- hospitals and displayed religious symbols ies is to relieve stress through serving spiritual needs and exclusive to that faith. Of the remaining practices, those who design them should make the best use 79 percent, 49 percent contained the reli- of cool color palettes, natural materials, representations of gious symbols of a wide range of beliefs. nature, and noise-reducing technology. The latter is espe- The remaining 51 percent totally lacked any cially important, since evidence-based design studies have specific religious symbolism. Seventy-five established conclusively that noise is the number-one stressor percent of the latter contained representa- in a hospital environment. We were pleased to observe that tions of nature – especially trees, leaves, and many of the built sanctuaries in our survey already exhibited flowers – in place of symbols of a specific these evidence-based design features. Some, however, did not, faith tradition. The remaining 25 percent which in our opinion made them less effective. More research lacked any form of representation. also needs to be done to discover additional design strategies Seventy-two percent of sanctuaries offered to optimize such elements as room form, texture of materials, scheduled religious services accommodat- color combinations, and sound. ing a variety of traditions, such as masses, interfaith prayer services, and Muslim Friday After our initial survey, we wanted to learn more about who prayers. (Ninety percent of all hospitals vis- uses these spaces and how. This led us to initiate a study in ited employed interfaith chaplains.) 2019 which focused on four Interfaith Chapel, UF Health Shands sanctuaries of differing design 18 Hospital, Gainesville, Florida. in three separate teaching hospitals – Sanctuary of Silence, UF Shands windows along one wall. They provide a soothing view of The UF Health Shands Hospital (633 beds), Cancer Hospital. (The water wall the lake and healing garden in the middle of the UF Shands the UF Health Shands Cancer Hospital (192 has been removed to prevent germs medical campus. Nature symbolism pervades the space. beds), and the UF Health Heart and Vascu- from infecting cancer patients with Green walls echo the plants of the healing garden. A hand- lar Hospital and UF Health Neuromedicine lowered immune systems.) crafted wooden altar and lectern are backed by a triptych Hospital, which are in the same building depicting an abstract rendering of the fractal patterns of tree (216 beds) – all of which are located on the the quiet ambience render it branches. On the back wall a large color photograph depicts medical campus of the University of Florida a welcome retreat from the the sun emerging from a bank of clouds over a seascape. in Gainesville. Students sponsored by the noise and grim, tile-and- Prayer rugs are stacked in a cabinet and a rear countertop university’s Center for Arts in Medicine chrome décor of the rest contains a prayer box. The floor has enough furniture-free spent sixty-nine hours observing the use of of the hospital. Also, it is space to allow for the traditional form of Muslim prayer. It the four sanctuaries, under the supervision especially well designed for is a congenial space for communal worship services, and it of Nicole K. Morgan, research coordinator the formal religious services serves as a venue for Muslim Friday prayer and memorial for the center. They engaged in “behavioral that are frequently con- services for staff and patients. mapping,” a method for recording the activi- ducted in it. In the building that houses both the UF Health Heart and ties of users by making notations on a floor The Cancer Hospital Vascular Hospital and the UF Health Neuromedicine Hos- plan of each sanctuary. The four sanctuaries contains two sanctuaries pital, one can visit the newest of the four sanctuaries – the fit well on the spectrum of types noted in our dating from 2009. They are Sanctuary of Wisdom – which dates from 2017. It is located survey of thirty-eight national examples, as located on the second floor, on the second floor, near the waiting room for the surgical their symbolic content ranges from the use adjacent to the waiting room suite. Designed by Singer and Mullen, this sanctuary is quite of specific spatial typologies and religious for the surgical suite, and different from the other three. Somewhat reminiscent of a symbols to no symbols at all. share a common anteroom. lounge in a boutique hotel, it is replete with nine generously The oldest sanctuary, the Interfaith The smaller of the two, the stuffed easy chairs and couches arranged in clusters of three. Chapel in the UF Health Shands Hospital, Sanctuary of Silence, was One wall displays large photo portraits of Mother Teresa, Dr. dates from the 1990s. It was designed by Flad designed for individual or Martin Luther King Jr., Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, and Architects and a design committee includ- small-group meditation Mahatma Gandhi, with thought-provoking and comfort- ing local artist Kenneth Pacetti. Located on the first floor by a team composed of Christina M. Mullen, Director of UF ing quotations from each. An illuminated screen features next to the chaplain’s office, it is a typical pew-altar arrange- Health Shands Arts in Medicine; Alana Schrader of Flad a repeating cycle of four different photographs of Albert ment seating forty-eight. The wall behind the altar displays Architects; and Michael A. Singer, a developer of medical Einstein, along with his reflections on the meaning of life, thirteen circular medallions symbolizing the religions of the software and author of books on meditation and spiritual- such as “One starts to live when he can live outside himself.” world, which are mounted on a wooden map of the Middle ity. Its unique elliptical ceiling, soothing pink walls, grey- A unique feature is a sand table with a computerized stylus East, India, China, and Japan. Each medallion is located at green wall-to-wall carpet, dark blue upholstered meditation tracing mandala-like patterns. It both fascinates and calms. the place of origin of a particular religion. Additional panels chairs, and extreme quiet create an atmosphere far removed Prayer rugs are available in a cabinet, along with a Bible and on the rear wall explain the history and core beliefs of each from that of the adjacent surgical suite’s noisy waiting room. collection of Psalms. One wall contains a large, backlit, blue religion at some length. An inscription near the entrance Downlights embedded in the ceiling soffits can be adjusted stained-glass window. Its rippled texture suggests a water- expresses the hope that “worshippers of all faiths feel wel- to control the degree of darkness. Photographs of the plan- fall, and it floods the space with a calming blue light. This come in the chapel.” Also included are a prayer request box ets and multigalactic cosmos adorn the walls, evoking an is an elegantly designed space with captivating distractions checked daily by the hospital chaplains, a small receptacle awareness of the immensity of the universe. Originally this and inspiring quotations. Like the Interfaith Chapel, it has a for holy water, a shelf of Muslim prayer rugs, and a piano. An cavelike space contained a water wall, which emitted a sooth- pronounced didactic quality, featuring the insights of great altar rail with a kneeling pad accommodates those receiving ing sound. Recent hospital-safety regulations mandated its religious leaders. However, its clustered furniture and lack of Communion. A cabinet adjacent to the altar contains vest- removal as a potential source of waterborne pathogens. With an altar table render it a difficult venue for traditional group ments and a cross for the priest conducting mass. In addition its welcome silence and careful accommodations for medita- worship. to the frequently scheduled masses the space serves as a venue tion, this sanctuary is an ideal place for staff and visitors to Although these sanctuaries are distinct from one another, for Protestant prayer services, memorial services for staff and relax and reflect, removed from the hubbub of the hospital. they are located in three separate buildings, so they do not patients, and individual contemplation. Next door is the Sanctuary of Peace, designed by Schrader offer potential users much opportunity for choice. Profes- Despite the pronounced didactic feeling of the space, and Mullen. With its thirty-two wood-backed chairs, sional responsibilities require staff members to remain where whose rear wall reads like a textbook on world religions, the arranged in rows facing a central altar, the room is reminis- they work, and visitors prefer to stay where their friends and extensive use of attractive wood furniture and detailing and cent of a church or synagogue, although it lacks any specific loved ones are hospitalized. The exceptions are the Sanctuary religious symbols. Natural light streams in from a bank of 19 of Silence and Sanctuary of Peace, which are Sanctuary of Wisdom, UF Health floors where patients are cared next to each other in the UF Shands Cancer Heart, Vascular and Neuromedicine for, so as to be easily acces- Hospital. There one can choose a more tra- Hospital. sible to staff and visitors alike. ditional pew/altar arrangement or a unique These would be symbol-free space for meditation. spaces with comfortable furniture, cool colors, wood detail- ing, adjustable lighting, and excellent sound insulation: all What did the students’ sixty-nine hours of proven features for stress reduction and cognitive refresh- observation reveal about the use of these ment. Such spaces could be designed with contributions by four contrasting sanctuaries? Observation of staff on a given floor, which would provide a sense of owner- spontaneous individual or small-group par- ship and empowerment. ticipation indicated 68 percent of users were The other type would be a larger space, located in a con- staff. The remaining 32 percent were visi- spicuous place near the main entrance of a hospital, that tors. Only one patient was observed. This is would serve as a venue for scheduled religious services – but hardly surprising since in today’s acute-care this, too, would be available for individual use. Between ser- hospitals most patients are too sick to leave vices, this sanctuary would not display any religious symbols. their rooms. When they are well enough to They could be stored in cabinets and readily available for move about, they are immediately sent home. rituals of specific faith traditions, such as masses or Muslim Also visitors tend to remain in patient rooms Friday prayers. Other features, such as movable altars and or stay in areas very close to them. Seventy chairs, would allow a room to be arranged to meet the needs percent of participants were female. About of specific types of services; each community of faith deserves half of the visits were brief, lasting one to five a setting tailored to their familiar and time-honored tradi- minutes. Very few were over twenty minutes. Most par- staff and families, with staff the most frequent users; she tions while they are engaged in group worship. Such commu- ticipation was by individuals or groups of no more than emphasized their importance in providing a “quiet space” nal spiritual practice is, for some, a much-needed supplement two. The most frequent activities were prayer or quiet to “step away and see things in perspective.” (Some staff, she to individual prayer and meditation and a powerful source of reflection. (The two were difficult to distinguish.) Infrequent informed us, also make use of small rooms on the floors support, solace, and hope. behavior included checking smart phones, texting, work- where they work to create quiet retreats, perhaps furnished What about materials, lighting, and other design ele- ing on laptops, sorting through documents, and in one case with a rocking chair, sage potpourri, and a CD player.) She ments? Like the small sanctuaries on patient floors, spaces for personal grooming. also felt that the regular scheduled services in the Interfaith religious services should make use of the proven stress-reduc- The four sanctuaries were used with approximately equal Chapel and Sanctuary of Peace were a significant source of ing properties of wood, cool colors, adjustable lighting, expo- frequency, averaging about one visit per hour by individuals strength and comfort. sure to natural light, and quiet. Room forms that contrast or small groups. This low number is most likely accounted Rev. Hepburn also stressed the importance of the prayer with the prevalent right angles of most hospital spaces, as for by constraints on staff, who are the majority of users. boxes in the Sanctuary of Peace and the Interfaith Chapel. well as representations of nature in paintings and sculpture, During their shifts they have to remain mostly on the floors The chaplains read these prayers and, if requested, pray for could be effective in emphasizing the distinct qualities of a where their patients are located. When they visit the sanctu- the patients and visit their rooms. The vast majority of her sanctuary, in contrast to its hectic and jarring surroundings. aries, they tend to do so just before or after their shifts. In the time and that of the other chaplains, she explained, is spent We do not wish, however, to propose a set of rigid design UF Shands Cancer Hospital, where two very different sanc- at the bedside of patients. principles that would constrain the professional experience, tuaries were next to one another, individual and small group Our case studies confirmed how important these spaces intuition, and creativity of those who create such spaces. An usage was virtually the same for both. are to members of a hospital’s community, especially staff. We effective design combines awareness of precedent, science- Observation of participation in scheduled religious ser- were initially surprised that the preponderance of users were based knowledge, and creative intuition, grounded in demo- vices revealed that attendance at Muslim Friday prayers held staff members, but COVID-19 has made all of us acutely aware cratic values such as justice and a deep respect for diversity. in the Sanctuary of Peace was strong, averaging thirty-nine of the critically important and stressful roles staff members Just as there is no one way to design a mosque, a cathedral, a participants per service. Participation in the weekly Catholic play in today’s hospitals. In the face of death and suffering, Buddhist temple, or a Quaker meetinghouse, there is no one mass and Protestant prayer service held in the Interfaith Cha- these sanctuaries provide a quiet place to connect with the way to create an interfaith sanctuary in a hospital setting. pel was slightly less, averaging about thirty for each rite. To deepest values that shape their lives and sustain hope. What we can be certain of is that sanctuaries belong in hos- obtain further information on usage we interviewed the Rev. Usage patterns offer some insights into how better to pitals. They serve an extremely important mission, especially Debra Hepburn, who heads the team of five board-certified design hospital sanctuaries, although much research remains as the coronavirus ravages the nation and the world, creating chaplains serving on the UF Health Gainesville medical to be done. Since these spaces are most in demand by staff, hospital environments that are stressful beyond imagining. campus. She confirmed that the four sanctuaries serve mostly we suggest hospitals should have two types of sanctuaries. – Reuben M. Rainey and Kim Tanzer One type – for quiet contemplation – should be located on the 20 Book Review

Spying on the South: Times, to travel incognito on to the West Texas border ranging: John Brown’s raid, with Mexico, he conversed required him to return An Odyssey Across the two journeys to the South to with Mexico. Traveling in the cultural landscape of the with Southerners in many home to recuperate before American Divide report on politics, culture, Olmsted’s wake, Horwitz Australian outback, Viking walks of life: bartenders, resuming his travels. by Tony Horwitz and the institution of slav- recounts his experiences in exploration of North Amer- waitresses, farmers, factory Horwitz touches on New York: Penguin Press, ery. Raymond wanted a fair the exact locations Olmsted ica, and the voyage of Cap- workers, retired teachers, a number of economic, 2019 account: devoid of invective described, using highly tain Cook. His most popular museum directors, guides at political, and environmental and tempered with “honesty engaging and instruc- book remains Confederates in historical sites, former state themes, highlighting them Journalist and of observation.” tive cinematic flashbacks the Attic: Dispatches from the legislators, coal miners, with poignant, disturbing, travel writer When to compare them to his Unfinished Civil War (1998), in businessmen, shopkeepers, and humorous commen- Tony Horwitz’s Horwitz predecessor’s. The result is which he reported on cur- riverboat pilots, oil-field tary. He notes the decline of Spying on the rediscovered both a succinct biography of rent attitudes towards the workers, clergymen, former American manufacturing in South: An Odyssey Olmsted’s vivid Olmsted that focuses on his Civil War, primarily in the sharecroppers, local ama- many areas, especially West Across the Ameri- and insight- early life and a narrative of South. A highly respected teur historians, coal-barge Virginia, and the unem- can Divide is an ful travelogue, two adventurous journeys, historian as well as a jour- workers, historic-figure ployment it leaves in its engaging and written under interspersed with interest- nalist, Horwitz was elected impersonators, traveling wake. He describes strong perceptive tapes- the nom de ing sidetracks into regional to the prestigious Society of salesmen, and immigration currents of racism in East try interweaving plume Yeoman, history and a revealing CAT American Historians and officers. Like Olmsted, he Texas; polluting industries history, biogra- he was capti- scan of Southern politi- served as its president. endured the local food – of enormous scale in Loui- phy, and trav- vated imme- cal and racial attitudes on Horwitz brings to bear monotonous, fried, and siana and historic mark- elogue. While diately. It was the eve of Donald Trump’s his vast experience as a unhealthy. Regarding local ers that whitewash slavery; downsizing his the year of the election. An added attrac- journalist in Spying on the bars as especially important and ugly and dysfunctional personal library, Horwitz tumultuous and contro- tion is Horwitz’s ability to South. He is gifted with the venues for candid opinions, sprawl development in all came upon one of his old versial 2016 presidential provide vivid and sometimes essential ability of all great Horwitz frequented them, the states he visits. He notes college history books, Fred- campaign, and Horwitz humorous descriptions of interviewers: he knows how imbibing a plethora of the prevalence of evan- erick Law Olmsted’s The was struck by “inescapable the South’s cultural land- to get people to talk freely strong and exotic drinks. He gelical Christianity, with Cotton Kingdom, A Traveller’s echoes” of Olmsted’s nar- scapes. and candidly. He strives to also attended a wide range of its anti-intellectual distrust Observations on Cotton and rative reverberating in the Horwitz, who died be a nonjudgmental lis- civic and recreational events: of science, throughout the Slavery in the American Slave contemporary United States: recently at the age of sixty, tener and report accurately a gun show in Texas, a South. He visits the Creation States 1853–1861. This classic “extreme polarization, racial was one of America’s most on thoughts and attitudes. reenactment of the Battle of Museum in Kentucky, which of antebellum American his- strife, demonization of the distinguished journal- On occasion he becomes the Alamo in San Antonio, dates God’s creation of the tory was based on dispatches other side,” and “enflamed ists and travel writers. His an active participant in his and a raucous boat race in world to 4004 BC, depicts to the New-York Daily Times opinion [prevailing] over national reporting for the interviewees’ activities, such rural Louisiana. He went so Adam and Eve bathing in a (now the New York Times), seasoned dialogue and Wall Street Journal won him a as a wild mud fest of mon- far as to replicate Olmsted’s pool surrounded by dino- written by the thirty-year- debate.” Horwitz decided Pulitzer Prize, and his work ster trucks in rural Louisi- modes of transportation, saurs, and claims the Grand old Olmsted well before he to investigate these sober- as a foreign correspondent ana or a service in a black utilizing trains, steamboats, Canyon was created by the co-designed Central Park ing similarities by acting as in Europe and the Middle church in New Orleans. and horses. Riding a mule in flood described in the book and emerged as America’s Olmsted’s doppelgänger. As East was highly regarded. Olmsted traveled four the Hill Country of Texas, of Genesis. foremost nineteenth-cen- precisely as possible, he rep- The subject matter of his thousand miles in nine he was head-butted by his Among the people he tury landscape architect. In licated the second and lon- numerous books was wide- months, whereas Horwitz ornery mount, suffering meets there is much distrust 1852 Olmsted, eager to find gest of Olmsted’s journeys: spent two years and a day a serious concussion that of big government, which is a vocation that suited him, the 1853–54 expedition that covering the same terri- perceived as limiting indi- was commissioned by Henry extended from Maryland tory, ending a week before vidual freedom. Democrats Raymond, founder and Trump’s election. From West are almost nonexistent in editor of the fledgling Daily Virginia to the Texas border

21 most areas. Radical, far- Eagle Pass on the Mexican cultured residents. Olmsted and experienced the white the Gilded Age at the end cattle of the region’s poor right political groups are on border, he is impressed by hoped they would secede supremacist arrogance of of his career. He views this farmers. With Olmsted’s the rise, including one that the family-centered opti- from the existing slave state the Southern upper class. as a waning of his subject’s encouragement, Vanderbilt advocates Texas’s secession mism and energy of descen- of Texas and create their Horwitz highlights the egalitarian and anti-aristo- also funded a well-planned from the Union. In the town dants of Latinx immigrants own free-labor state that young Olmsted’s admirable cratic political views. village for employees of the of Crockett in East Texas, as well as their confidence would block the expansion championship of democratic A once ardent opponent estate. This was to include the author encounters a that they will be able to of slavery to the West. principles and the older of elites and supporter of housing for the scientists group of locals convinced achieve a better life in this The portrait of Olmsted one’s skill as a planner and state initiatives to uplift working in the arboretum. there is a terrorist-training country. While he laments that emerges is nuanced and designer of some of Ameri- the poor, Olmsted ended These initiatives at Bilt- compound in their vicinity. ugly sprawl throughout the well documented. Horwitz ca’s greatest parks and civic up designing an immense more and similar programs Horwitz presents them with South, he finds that some of carefully mined the exten- spaces. But he examines the interpretation of a French incorporated into other clear evidence that this is the beauty of the landscape sive literature on Olmsted complexity and contradic- Renaissance chateau in a commissions persuade me actually the vacation home Olmsted described still produced over the last thirty tions of Olmsted’s personal- dirt-poor region of North that Olmsted’s democratic of a Pakistani doctor, but exists, especially in the pas- years by such scholars as ity as well. At times Olmsted Carolina through which values remained strong. He they refuse to believe it. toral grasslands of Kentucky Laura Wood Roper, Eliza- would behave as an “artist he had once ridden. This expressed them as best he Horwitz’s narrative and the Guadalupe River beth Stevenson, Elizabeth and republican”; at other was Biltmore – the 250-room could in the Gilded Age by is not entirely bleak. He corridor of the Texas Hill Barlow Rogers, Charles C. times act like a “bureaucrat Vanderbilt estate near Ashe- persuading his clients to notes the vitality of mul- Country. McLaughlin, Charles E. and imperialist,” fueled by ville – the largest private include socially progressive ticultural populations in Texas receives the most Beveridge, David P. Schuyler, an obsessive work ethic. residence in America. Hor- elements in their projects. New Orleans and Houston attention. As the state with Ethan Carr, and others. He Horwitz’s biography witz does not give sufficient The alternative would have and the efforts of citizen the fastest growth rate, the is especially indebted to the is not a hagiography. He credit to the idealism of been to walk away and fail to groups to revise histori- most ethnically diverse works of McLaughlin and claims that Olmsted, with initiatives such as this, exert any positive influence cal markers, museums, city in the country (Hous- Beveridge, whom he knew his advocacy of suburbs, was claiming that the Vanderbilt at all. and house tours to reflect ton), and the flash point of personally. Readers unfa- partially responsible for project revealed “a dim- Horwitz concludes his a more comprehensive and immigration along its bor- miliar with Olmsted’s life the cookie-cutter develop- ming of the democratic book by comparing our divi- accurate view of the role ders, Texas is, to Horwitz, a will find Horwitz’s biogra- ments that pockmark the US fire” of Olmsted’s younger sive era with that of Olm- of minorities in American bellwether of the nation. He phy informative, succinct, landscape today. (He does days. While he does note sted’s. He notes similarities: history. He describes efforts notes that Olmsted devoted and perceptive. Those more acknowledge that Olmsted that Olmsted persuaded his “The most glaring parallel to reinterpret the Battle of much of his travelogue to familiar with the subject would be appalled at their client, the young George was the retreat into tribal the Alamo to represent the Texas too and was fascinated will find that Horwitz tra- quality.) He criticizes his Washington Vanderbilt II, and partisan camps, tuned Mexican perspective. While by the diversity of its land- verses familiar ground, but failure to champion the to initiate some socially to frequencies so divergent attending a black church scapes, history, and popula- will appreciate his meticu- welfare of former slaves by beneficial projects – that the reasoned discourse service in New Orleans, he is tion. He especially admired lous use of primary sources speaking out against Jim the nation’s first school of Yeoman had initially sought moved by the openness and the German immigrant and careful selection of Crow laws and the rise of scientific forestry and a was a virtual impossibility.” friendliness of the congre- communities in and around quotations. He skillfully white supremacism in the research arboretum – But he found that many of gation and the strong spirit New Braunfels, with their analyzes Olmsted’s shift South after Reconstruc- he fails to mention that the Trump supporters he of community created by prosperous, free-labor agri- from relatively objective tion. He also appears to Olmsted went even further met on his journey were the hymns and preaching. cultural system and highly reporter to ardent oppo- disapprove of the fact that at Biltmore. He convinced decent, friendly people with At the end of his journey, nent of slavery. The neo- Olmsted accepted commis- Vanderbilt to create a com- severe economic problems, while visiting the city of phyte journalist’s opinions sions from the superrich of mercial dairy, the herds changed as he observed the of which would be used to cruelty of slavery firsthand improve the quality of the

22 Contributors

not hopeless bigots as they times getting lost. Horwitz John Beardsley is an author, sor at Monash University’s Africa. James is also the Reuben M. Rainey is William are sometimes portrayed. tells the boy that Frederick educator, and curator who Indigenous Studies Centre cofounder of Landscape- Stone Weedon Professor He concludes our national Law Olmsted, the man who taught in the Department and a research associate at Culture, cultural landscape Emeritus in the School of divisions are “not by a long designed the park, would of Landscape Architecture the Smithsonian National preservation consultants. Architecture at the Univer- shot” at the 1861 level, but a be pleased he used it that at the Harvard Graduate Museum of Natural History. sity of Virginia. He is sense of national unity and way. As the boy departs, he School of Design from 1998 Willis Jenkins is a professor codirector of the school’s mutual understanding is replies, “Tell Fred he did to 2013. He was director Allison James received her of religion, ethics, and the Center for Design and sorely lacking. good.” of Garden and Landscape B.A. in sculpture from the environment at the Uni- Health and a historian Despite these discourag- This is how Horwitz ends Studies at Dumbarton Oaks Kansas City Art Institute, versity of Virginia, where of American landscape ing reflections, Horwitz the book, not with a sermon in Washington, DC, from an M.L.A. from Cornell he is also a Global Sustain- architecture. His publica- ends with a narrative of about the problems of the 2008 to 2019. Among his University, and an M.S. in ability Fellow. He serves tions cover a wide range hope. In the last chapter he nation, but with an image of books are Gardens of Revela- architecture studies from on the leadership team of of topics, including nine- recounts a visit to Central a black boy happily explor- tion: Environments by Vision- the Massachusetts Insti- the university’s Environ- teenth-century parks, major Park. Observing the eth- ing the realms of America’s ary Artists (1995), Earthworks tute of Technology’s Aga mental Resilience Institute, twentieth-century land- nic diversity of park users greatest civic space, embody- and Beyond: Contemporary Khan Program for Islamic codirecting three transdis- scape architects, and the and their positive interac- ing the deepest values of a Art in the Landscape (4th Architecture. James is ciplinary environmental design of health-care tions with one another, he democratic society. Despite ed., 2006), and the forth- the project manager and humanities labs: the Coastal facilities. His most recent concludes that Olmsted’s his often grim diagnosis coming monograph James research scientist for the Futures Conservancy, a book, coauthored with democratic vision of the of the nation’s current Castle: Memory Palace on the Landscape Studies Initiative listening-focused collabora- J. C. Miller, is Robert Royston Park is alive and vibrant. health, Horwitz reminds self-taught Idaho artist. He in the Center for Cultural tion seeking to integrate arts (2020). This perception is rein- us we have a great legacy is currently curator of the Landscapes, University of and sciences into coastal- forced by a bicycle tour of public places created by Cornelia Hahn Oberlander Virginia School of Archi- change research; the Water Kim Tanzer is an architect, with a former commis- Olmsted and others: places International Landscape tecture, where she also Futures Initiative, dedicated educator, and activist. She sioner of the New York City that nurture tolerance, Architecture Prize for the teaches archival-research to regional water-justice has been a professor at the Department of Parks and mutual understanding, and Cultural Landscape Founda- and fieldwork methods and issues; and the Sanctuary University of Florida and Recreation, Adrian Benepe, strong community bonds tion. cultural-landscape preser- Lab, which studies how the dean of the School of Archi- who remarks that “people through shared rituals of vation. She has worked on stresses of planetary change tecture at the University of come together serendipi- remembrance and celebra- Scott A. Heyes is a land- cultural-landscape preser- bear on places marked as Virginia. She is a past presi- tously; they see others who tion. The fact that these scape-studies scholar and vation with the Aga Khan sacred. Jenkins is author of dent of the Association of don’t look like them, who spaces continue to exist and cultural geographer whose Trust for Culture in India two award-winning books, Collegiate Schools of Archi- are doing and enjoying the thrive confirms that we as a work focuses on native and Atatürk University in Ecologies of Grace: Environ- tecture and edited, with same things . . . . That con- people – despite our all-too- environments and oral Erzurum, Turkey, and is mental Ethics and Christian Rafael Longoria, The Green tributes to a tolerance and evident differences – have histories. He has taught currently consulting on Theology (2008) and The Braid: Towards an Architec- harmony you don’t see in the capacity for mutual and researched in Indig- projects of the World Monu- Future of Ethics: Sustainability, ture of Ecology, Economy, and many other cities.” respect and empathy. enous settings in Arctic ments Fund in sub-Saharan Social Justice, and Religious Equity (2007). The last persons Horwitz – Reuben M. Rainey Canada, Fiji, and Aborigi- Creativity (2013), and the meets in the park are a black nal Australia. He is an recipient of an American boy and his younger com- adjunct associate profes- Academy of Religion Award panion. The older boy tells for Excellence. him his favorite thing to do in the park is to explore and go where he pleases – some-

23 Volume xvi, Number i Fall 2020

Publishers: Coeditors: Lewis Bernard Reuben M. Rainey Vincent Buonanno Elizabeth Barlow Rogers Scott Burns Associate Editor: John A. Pinto Alice Truax Reuben M. Rainey Frederic C. Rich Assistant Editor: Theodore C. Rogers Margaret Sullivan Margaret Sullivan Copy Editor: Margaret Oppenheimer Board of Directors: Frederic C. Rich, Designer: Chairman Griffin + Skeggs Collaborative Elizabeth Barlow Rogers, Contributors: President John Beardsley Antonia Adezio Scott A. Heyes Vincent Buonanno Allison James Scott Burns Willis Jenkins Kenneth I. Helphand Reuben M. Rainey Robin Karson Kim Tanzer Nancy Newcomb Laurie Olin Therese O’Malley John A. Pinto Reuben M. Rainey Margaret Sullivan i

or f

For more information about the Foundation for Landscape Studies,

i i visit www.foundationforlandscapestudies.org, 7 West 81stWest Street7 New York, NY 10024 or contact [email protected]