Daydreamer's Tea Service
Tania Willard
Daydreamer's Tea Service took place in October 2022 on lək̓ʷəŋən Territory (Victoria, BC).
"Daydreamer's Tea Service is an affirming of plant relations and an assertion of anti-capitalist time mismanagement through the intentional disruption of daydreaming expressed through Indigenous plant knowledges and the making of tea.
The piece was developed in response to the Dreaming the Land Residency (zoom-based) led by France Trépanier. The plants in the tea were harvested and prepared from plants in Secwépemc and Lekwungen territories and collected with prayers and offering.
The Daydreamer’s decolonial tea blend (and design) features:
Rose hip / sekwéw’
Fireweed / Ts’ixnéllp
Lake Mint
Buckbrush
Coast Salish Kexmin
Brewing the tea in an oversized handmade tea bag and tea cup modelled after distinctive archeological Cahokia black drink cups the tea references a decolonial approach to the colonial culture of tea. Through an attentive process of non-monetary labour and knowledge values the work explores the potential of committing to the time and resources needed to manifest Indigenous resurgence.
Daydreamer's decolonial tea service considers ideas around the right to harvest the forest understory and Indigenous authority as well as relationality with plants and territories.
Daydreamer's decolonial tea service encourages suspending work, school or responsibilities in order to go berry picking, to harvest and gather from the land and enjoy rich daydreaming as an expression of gratitude for our collective and creative potential of transformation towards a culture of abundance and against a culture of extinction."
Written by Tania Willard
We are grateful to Open Space, an organizational partner to the Dreaming the Land project supporting Tania Willard's Daydreamer's Tea Service on lək̓ʷəŋən Territory (Victoria, BC).
We would also like to thank the following people for their support in this project:
Kevin, Skyelar, and Leo Adam - Tania's family
Chris Wilson - videographer
