Black Mother Earth Rising: An Arts-based Eco-poetic Storytelling

Abstract

This dissertation explores the role of Black and Indigenous women as ecological stewards through an arts-based, eco-poetic, and storytelling-centered inquiry grounded in indigenous, community, liberation, ecopsychological, and depth psychological frameworks. It addresses the erasure of Black and Indigenous women’s ancestral and contemporary relationships with Mother Earth by reclaiming narratives, memories, and healing practices passed through generations. Utilizing Indigenous methodologies, autoethnography, and critical participatory arts-based research, the study engages women who work with Mother Earth in various capacities. Research partners contributed stories and creative works reflecting deep connections to community, spirit, and Mother Earth. Findings highlight the symbolic, elemental, and ancestral dimensions of ecological relationship and emphasize the power of collective memory, sacred traditions, and artistic expression as tools of healing and resistance. This work demonstrates that Black and Indigenous women’s earth-based practices nurture personal and communal well-being and provides liberatory models for ecological justice. Implications for depth psychology include reclaiming archetypal and symbolic language, emphasizing communal witnessing, and recognizing the therapeutic significance of ritual and story. This research affirms that by returning to Mother Earth as source, Black and Indigenous women are shaping an eco-ethic rooted in resilience, reconciliation, and cultural transformation, one that challenges systemic domination while restoring the soul of community.