April 1986' - page 3

HOWL creating safe, rural women’s land

By Marianne Milton

"HOWL if you want to Help Open
Women's Land“ is what the flyer says,
and the Grandmother Council directing
Howl, a project of Comvmonwoman,
really is open to any woman who wants
to be involved in creating safe rural
women's land. Commonwoman is the
feminist group committed to building
women's community, that publishes the
currently dormant newspaper by the
same name.

A piece of land bordering Camel’s
Hump Stat Park, about 20 miles
southeast of Burlington, Vt., has been
selected as the site of the Howl project
and is being held until a lease is
drawn up. The lease is expected to be
signed in time for women to be on the
land in some capacity this spring.

‘The land has something for
everyone,‘ said Alverta, one of three
women I spoke with on the
Grandmother Council. The land that
was finally chosen after two years of
looking comprises 200 acres and
includes fields, woods and streams.
Because the land borders on state
forest, which is protected against
building, women on the land will be
assured that the surrounding area
remains rural. The property is on a
town road, and a house and barn with
electricity stand on the land; these
features will help make the land
accessible, particularly to less abled
women who might otherwise be unable
to use it.

The women on the Grandmother
Council are devoting their efforts now
to two main tasks: networking "to all
of our connections that go to Boston
and beyond," said loota, and placing
announcements in selected women's
publications, such as Sinister Wisdom
and Vermont Woman.

They're also
primarily through

raising money,
tax—deductible

donations, in order to buy the land
outright, which they expect to do
within the next few years. No private
ownership is being considered in this
project. Either Commonwoman will own
the land, or a land trust will be
created, to hold the land forever for
the common good of all women who
seek access to it.

"We don't want the issue of having
to pay the rent to divide us. It's been
a source of divisiveness for many
women's lands,” said Leah Wittenberg,
founder of Commonwoman.

‘The land has
somethin for eve one...

A lot ofiwomen on’t even
know what the want from
the land yet. T ey just want

the land to happen.’

 

Women meet monthly in the
Grandmother Council. So far, these
have been "vision meetings‘ to plan
what will happen on the land; in these
meetings, women are ‘operating on
hope, not fear,‘ said loota. The vision
for the land is very much in process,
but possible uses suggested so far
include festivals, gatherings, educational
events, cross-country skiing, camping,
living and farming.

"A lot of women don't even know
what they want from the land yet.
They just want the land to happen,"
said Alverta.

So far, 15 to 20 women have been
involved in the Council, which is open
to all women. The women range in age
from their early 20s to 62; some are
Black, some are white, of different
ethnicities; diverse class backgrounds
and professions are represented; and
some of the women are differently
‘abled. The women thus far involved are
predominantly lesbians. Because it is
vital that all women feel welcomed to
the land, the women I spoke with
expressed concern about making an

issue out of this fact. Leah's response
was, "The truth of the matter is: who
wants to live on women's land?
Lesbians.‘

Some decisions have been reached
by the Grandmother Council, which
makes all decisions by consensus. A
basic philosophy has been adopted:
respect for the land. And several
purposes and guidelines have been
outlined for the use of the land. As
they appear in the flyer:

l. Earth first: trusteeship of the

land

2. Sacred wimmin's land

3. Residential, recreational,

vocational, cultural, educational
networking

4. Safe space for

children

5. Diversity --

non-exclusionism

6. Good neighbors

Beyond these basics, plans for the
land will depend on women's input to
the Grandmother Council. The women I
spoke with believe that there is a trust
level and calmness among the women in
the Burlington area that indicate that
_women will come together to make this

land w_ork.
‘Given the state of the world, it's

necessary to live out our visions,’ loota
added.

Some women envision some
separatist (women-only) space, with
other areas open to men who are
visiting women on the land, as long as
the safety of women and children can
be maintained. Some women are
envisioning a community of older
women living there. but Alvcrta, an
older woman, expressed concern that
"wemight need to be closer to services,
which almost always requires living in
a city." Some women are thinking about
contacting ArcheDykes. a group of
lesbian architects at MIT, to plan any
construction that takes place on the
land.

Remembering the intense time that
continued, page 12

wimmin and

outreach,

 

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155 Pearl Street Burlington