“Vieques es Nuestra Casa": Ecological Reparation through Embodied Action

Abstract

This thesis is set on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques, a territory subjected to US Navy occupation and decades of munitions testing. To counter the alienation and destruction imposed by military exploitation, this project looks to the activist group the Alianza de Mujeres Viequenses who demanded demilitarization for the protection of their island home. Acts of care by womxn respond directly to postmilitary site conditions to repair toxic and highly disturbed grounds for community access and benefit.

This response to soil (through remediation, composting, planting, and erosion control) generates a series of networked garden landscapes. Tending the soil and plants shifts power over territory from Washington, DC, to locals through reciprocal interactions between human and nonhuman community members.

This approach underscores the impacts of long-term colonial violence as registered in the granular nature of the ground, adding an important sectional dimension to our interpretation of the impacts of colonial military projects and a call for reparative action.