Seeds of Resistance: Indigenous Ecofeminism in Gardens in the Dunes by Leslie Marmon Silko

This paper explores the ecological and feminist critique of settler colonialism in Leslie Marmon Silko’s 1999 novel, Gardens in the Dunes. Through a narrative that contrasts settler colonial with Indigenous perspectives on horticulture, Silko exposes the enduring impact and violent repercussions of the anthropocentric domination over nature. The story follows Indigo, one of the last surviving members of the Sand Lizard tribe, who is forcibly separated from her family and taken on a journey through gardens worldwide with her white adoptive parents. Through an Indigenous ecofeminist lens, Silko critiques settler colonialism’s exploitation of nature and Indigenous communities, exposing the interconnectedness between ecological domination and the subjugation of Native peoples. Settler colonial horticulture is rooted in the anthropocentric exploitation and commodification of nature for ownership, display, and control. In contrast, Indigenous relationships to the land center on reciprocity, care, and integration of plants and people into a way of life of mutual sustainability and nurture. Indigenous ecofeminism recognizes the relationality of gender, culture, and ecology, exposing how settler colonial violence serves these bonds through the displacement and dispossession of Indigenous peoples from land and culture. Silko’s novel continues to develop this idea as it unravels Indigo’s experience with European botanical traditions as she is torn away from the values and practices of her Native American heritage. In my analysis, I examine the intertwined cultural and ecological consequences of settler colonialism, revealed through the opposing Indigenous and colonial ideologies towards land and nature. Indigo’s journey in Gardens in the Dunes subverts the anthropocentric control of nature and offers an alternative grounded in Indigenous resistance, resilience, and the vital importance of reciprocal, sustaining relationships with the land. This paper will demonstrate how the novel emphasizes the inseparable connection between the treatment of people and the environment within the Indigenous experience.