Question 1

In what ways can I help?

Accepted Answer

Ekvn-Yefolecv’s mission includes serving as a replicable archetype for other Indigenous communities and non-Indigenous communities alike to manifest similar models in their own culturally responsive ways.  We encourage folks to support our work indirectly through the commitment to adopt regenerative communal lifeways in their own bioregional contexts. We occasionally host natural building workshops, during which we invite volunteers.  If you are interested in volunteering to participate in a workshop, please visit the “How Can I Help” page and complete the volunteer form.  We also welcome direct project support through financial gifts.

Question 2

Do you allow visitors?

Accepted Answer

Typically, visitors come to Ekvn-Yefolecv to participate in natural building workshops. Participation in these workshops is by invitation only. We do not host unannounced visitors.  Send an email to info@ekvn-yefolecv.org expressing your interest in visiting the ecovillage. Please share some brief biographical information about yourself or your party and share your interests in visiting. You will receive a response from an ecovillage resident.

Question 3

Do you offer Maskoke language courses to the public?

Accepted Answer

Ekvn-Yefolecv residents have only one goal in our language revitalization efforts, simply to grow new fluent speakers! Endangered languages are unlike widely spoken languages that possess an abundance of literature and media resources that support language acquisition, nor are endangered language communities typically afforded the luxury of having excess fluent speakers to create such resources. The journey to save an endangered language from extinction is not as simple as offering online courses or weekly community classes. Ekvn-Yefolecv’s revitalization philosophy exclusively centers on generating fluency through language immersion methodology with preverbal babies, raising them in the ecovillage as first-language speakers while engaging them in culturally responsive curriculum and pedagogy. We are committed to growing a healthy intergenerational community of fluent speakers to ensure that in two generations the primary mode of verbal communication, for ecovillage governance and socio-cultural relations, is in the Maskoke language. Thus, considering efficaciously revitalizing an endangered language requires an intergenerational lifetime of dedication, Ekvn-Yefolecv, at this time, invests exclusively in supporting Maskoke language revitalization among permanent residents at Ekvn-Yefolecv.

Question 4

What do you mean by income sharing?

Accepted Answer

Ekvn-Yefolecv residents are committed to living simply and reject accumulation of capital and material possessions. In exchange for daily labor in the ecovillage, Ekvn-Yefolecv provides lodging, food and a $400 monthly stipend to each full-time resident. Regardless of one’s level of Western education or skill set, each resident receives the same amount of earned income by serving the wellbeing of the community through language and cultural revitalization work, natural building, and regenerative agriculture. Individuals may maintain their assets upon becoming a full-time resident, but, to embody authentic equitable living, one cannot receive above the earned income amount of another.

Question 5

Do you host festivals, pow wows or other cultural events open to the public?"

Accepted Answer

Ekvn-Yefolecv is not a pan-Indian oriented community and does not engage in such programming. We are committed to the perpetuation of Maskoke language and traditional cultural lifeways and worldview.

Question 6

Is Ekvn-Yefolecv a federally recognized tribe and do you have a reservation?

Accepted Answer

Although residents of the ecovillage are inherently connected to federally recognized tribal entities (Muscogee Creek Nation, Seminole Tribe of Florida, Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, Poarch Band of Creek Indians), Ekvn-Yefolecv stands as an independent community and does not seek, need or value recognition from the settler-state.  All land title is held in common by residents of the ecovillage, not in federal trust (reservation).  Ekvn-Yefolecv is simply a community of like-minded Maskoke persons committed to the genuine revitalization of Maskoke language and culture - given to us by our Creator - while embodying simple-living in right relationship with the traditional homelands on which our ancestors resided since time immemorial.

Question 7

Is Ekvn-Yefolecv a non-profit entity?

Accepted Answer

Yes, Ekvn-Yefolecv is an Indigenous-led 501(c)(3) organization.

Question 8

Where is Ekvn-Yefolecv located?

Accepted Answer

We are located in what is commonly/colonially known as Central Alabama.
2 hours from Moundville ;  1 hour from Horseshoe Bend ;  45 minutes from Fort Toulouse;  1.5 hours south of Birmingham ;  1 hour north of Montgomery

Question 9

What is your lifestyle like at the ecovillage?

Accepted Answer

We strive to live by our Maskoke virtues, including: Vnokeckv, Eyasketv, Kvncvpkv, Mehenwv (love, meekness, humility, truth). Designated Maskoke-language-only zones are integral to effective Maskoke language transmission, which we ask all residents to respect. Our built environment is an intentionally toxic-free zone and deliberately designed for a resilient future amid climate crisis. Ekvn-Yefolecv makes every effort to remain in right relationship with the natural world. We maintain a healthy diet.  We do not permit drugs, alcohol, commercial tobacco, soda-pop, sweet tea, or other junk foods on site. Ekvn-Yefolecv definitely doesn’t have all the answers, but we perpetually seek ways to decolonize our lifeways and worldview in an effort to live more as full-time Maskoke People than we’ve been afforded the opportunity to do in our recent history.

Question 10

What is an ecovillage?

Accepted Answer

The Global Ecovillage Network defines an ecovillage as “an intentional, traditional or urban community that is consciously designing its pathway through locally owned, participatory processes, and aiming to address the Ecovillage Principles in the 4 Areas of Regeneration (social, culture, ecology, economy into a whole systems design).  Ecovillages are living laboratories pioneering beautiful alternatives and innovative solutions. They are rural or urban settlements with vibrant social structures, vastly diverse, yet united in their actions towards low-impact, high-quality lifestyles.”    www.ecovillage.org

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