
Native American Heritage Month
November 1–30, 2023
At the Garden | Online
Join NYBG to celebrate Native American Heritage Month. On-site programming in and around the Thain Family Forest as well as digital offerings highlight the plant-based traditions of Native Americans from the Northeast and throughout the Americas.
Fall Forest Weekends
November 4–5 & 11–12; 10 a.m.–3 p.m.
Thain Family Forest
The Thain Family Forest—New York City’s largest remaining tract of old-growth woodland—is your fall foliage headquarters! Leaf locally and explore the Forest’s 50 acres full of vibrant fall color.

Special Lecture: Seeds of Resilience
November 9; 6–7 p.m.
Online
Join Mohawk Seedkeeper Rowen White to explore stories from the Indigenous Land and Seed Sovereignty movement.

Enjoy Digital Content From Anywhere
Plantways of the Lenape People
The New York Botanical Garden is located on land that is part of Lenapehoking, the traditional territory and homeland of the Lenape people. The Lenape use hundreds of plants for food, medicine, tools, building materials, and other purposes. Discover more about Lenape Plantways on The Hand Lens.

Old Man’s Beard: A Medicinal Lichen
Usnea, a genus of lichen known as old man’s beard, is used in traditional herbal medicine in many cultures worldwide—from ancient Greece to China to Native American groups—to treat respiratory and other conditions. It is known to grow on the north sides of trees, earning it the name chan wiziye (“on the north side of the tree” or “spirit of the north wind”) in the Dakota language.
