Pecan: The Intersection of Biodiversity and Human Diversity

In the 2021 Arnold Arboretum Director’s Lecture Series, three gifted writers examine the entwined histories of the pecan tree and humans. From the migrations of this quintessential American tree to its place in Indigenous culture and a searing memory of enslavement, James McWilliams, Robin Wall Kimmerer, and Tiya Miles will explore the deeper meanings of human relationships with trees.

— William (Ned) Friedman

Every Pecan Tree: Trees, Meaning, and Memory in Enslaved People’s Lives
Tiya Miles, Professor of History and Radcliffe Alumnae Professor, Harvard University and author of All That She Carried

Tiya Miles will take up the pecan tree as inspiration for exploring the meaning of trees in the lives of enslaved African Americans. Using a family heirloom passed down by Black women, as well as slave narratives, oral histories, and missionary records, her presentation will consider the importance of trees as protectors of bodies and spirits, as sites of violence, as memory keepers, and as historical witnesses in the Black experience of captivity and resistance. Ultimately, time spent with these examples will underscore the centrality of the natural world to Black, and indeed, human, survival.

This is a Zoom presentation.