Whitney Snow: The Women's Grass exhibition

As the United States marks its 250th anniversary, women of the Blackfeet Nation are working to revive a plant pushed to the brink of extinction by the country’s expansion. The spread of farming across the West—particularly when tribes were forced to adopt agriculture or risk losing their allotments—transformed the grasslands and waterways that sweetgrass depends on. Today, prolonged drought and changing water systems further threaten the fragile conditions this plant needs to survive. For the Blackfeet Nation, women have traditionally been the keepers of plant knowledge, passing down skills and teachings through the harvesting of plants. As sweetgrass declined, the cultural practices and ceremonies that rely on this sacred medicinal plant were placed at risk. The Women’s Grass follows a group of Blackfeet women as they work to restore sweetgrass, a plant central to one of their oldest living ceremonies, the Beaver Ceremony. Through practices such as building BDA’s (Beaver Dam Mimicry) to slow and restore water to the land and propagating wild sweetgrass to replenish depleted fields, they are reclaiming both the plants and the cultural teachings they carry. Documentary photographer Whitney Snow follows a group of Blackfeet women as they work to restore sweetgrass, a plant central to one of their oldest living ceremonies, the Beaver Ceremony. Through practices such as building BDA’s (Beaver Dam Mimicry) to slow and restore water to the land and propagating wild sweetgrass to replenish depleted fields, they are reclaiming both the plants and the cultural teachings they carry.