What question did this study set out to answer?

The main aim is to explore how poetry and nature shape human identity through Indigenous and Settler narratives.

January 16, 2026

I Know a Blessed Matriarch: after Ichot a burde in a bour (British Library, Harley MS 2253, fols. 63r–63v)

Puntos clave

The main aim is to explore how poetry and nature shape human identity through Indigenous and Settler narratives.
Analyzed the text Ichot a burde in a bour from Harley MS 2253.
Identified and connected themes of matriarchal ecology to early middle English poetry.
Examined Indigenous cultural values in relation to poetic storytelling.
Re-envisioned the poem as a reflection of Indigenous sovereignty.
Demonstrated the role of matriarchs in expressing land love and identity.
Highlighted the intersection of poetry, culture, and ecological values.

Resumen

Abstract: Jess H̓ áust̓i is interested in how poetry as a form and the natural world as a space of images and relationships can give shape to human identity and experience through time. They explore this through forms and storytelling practices that blend their Indigenous and mixed Settler roots. “I know a blessed matriarch” brings Early Middle English poetry into conversation with Indigenous cultural values and kin-centric ecology by re-envisioning Ichot a burde in a bour from British Library, Harley MS 2253 as the lyric summation of a matriarch who both embodies and exudes Indigenous sovereignty and land love. Through expressing matriarchal ecology and Indigenous feminism as lyric poetry, Jess challenges the idea that specific forms are the moral or intellectual property of a specific period, place, or people and invites a cross-cultural approach to reading land and culture through body and identity.

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