During the course of the d.Tree studio, the use of specific terminolgy was considered in depth.

African Material Culture: African material culture is deeply rooted in the history, traditions, beliefs, and practices of African communities. It refers to the physical objects, artifacts, and tangible expressions of the diverse cultures and societies across the African continent, ecompassing a wide range of objects and forms, including textiles, clothing, jewelry, pottery, sculptures, masks, tools, musical instruments, architectural elements, and everyday items.

Carbon Sequestration: Trees reduce the amount of carbon in our atmosphere by sequestering (capturing) carbon in new growth every year (tree rings).

Climate Action: Climate action refers to efforts and initiatives taken to address climate change, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, promote sustainability, and adapt to the impacts of global warming. It involves mitigation, adaptation, policy, education, and international cooperation to create a more sustainable and resilient future for all.

Commodity: A raw material bought and sold like grain, corn, or oil.

Decolonization: Decolonization is the process of undoing the systems, structures, and ideologies of colonialism. It involves reclaiming indigenous and world knowledges, challenging dominant narratives, empowering marginalized communities, and seeking social, economic, and political justice by dismantling the power dynamics and legacies of colonial oppression.

d.Tree Studio: An abreviation of Detroit Trees Studio, an atelier creating narrative objects from the trees of Detroit with reference to climate action and material culture

Life Cycle:  A life-to-death-to-life again cycle that occurs in nature. This is characteristic of most types of plants and insects.

Regenerative Design: Regenerative design is an approach to designing systems that mimics natural ecosystem processes.

Tree Equity: Tree equity holds multiple definitions depending on the political, social, and cultural context.  We believe that ancient cultures who have different relationships can help us remember to center trees and to acknowledge the entire life cycle of a tree needs to be considered.

Treeposium: A symposium is short conference with several speakers for the discussion of a specific topic, in this case, trees, hence, Treeposium.

Words Not Used

Certain words we feel are not specific enough are listed here:

Art / Artist: During our d.Tree Studio, we had an indepth conversation that defining a work as art or by artists was insufficient to in addressing the brareadth of material cultural narratives and outcomes.

Sustainability: Sustainability is a process of maintaining a process overtime. This term strives for equilibrium, rather than improvement.