![]() On February 15-16 2019, The College of Menominee Nation hosted the ‘Tribal Farming 101: Starting a Farm’ Workshop. Through guest lectures and readings, we will learn about specific case studies that examine how indigenous communities, and Native American communities within the US in particular, are re-claiming their agricultural traditions to improve public health, economic opportunity, and food and seed sovereignty. In this course, we will explore how agricultural practices and policies have shaped food and seed sovereignty in the US. This means the right to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods and the right to define one’s own food and agriculture systems and to control the mechanisms and policies that govern food distribution. ![]() ![]() Today, indigenous communities are calling for the right to sovereignty over their seed, food and agricultural systems. More recently, as our food and seed systems become more privatized and global in scope, genetic resources from indigenous communities have been transferred into the general public and private spheres. The saving and replanting of seed began transforming local landscapes approximately 10,000 years ago. People have practiced agriculture in about as many ways as there are places around the world since our crops and animals were first domesticated. HORT 375: Seed and Food Sovereignty in Indigenous Communities Develop your seed stewardship leadership skills so that you can share your experience and what you learned with others.Assess seed sovereignty and seed systems in your community.Learn how to grow crops specifically for seed and how to maintain good seed through mindful seed stewardship.This will be a blend of learning approaches spanning both culturally appropriate indigenous techniques and also organic farming and seed stewardship techniques. Have instruction throughout the seasons designed around the seasonal cycle of planning, planting, growing, tending, pollinating, harvesting and storing seed of crops of choice.Choose a crop and variety to grow this summer.Opportunities to connect with other seed stewards from across WI and with the regional Upper Midwest Indigenous Seedkeepers Network.These in-person workshops will connect to the Beginning Native Grower and Food Producer Training Curriculum. Several in-person workshops will be held throughout the growing season, specifically to cover planting, pollination and harvest.We will also incorporate lessons on growing by the moon cycles, assessing seed sovereignty and seed systems in your community, maintaining good seed through mindful seed stewardship, and indigenous plant breeding and selection. Individuals will develop the skills needed for cultivation, pollination, maintenance, purity, and seed increase of their chosen crop/s. Monthly training modules and workshops will follow the seasonality of seed stewardship, from planning out your seed garden through planting, tending, harvest and storage.We will facilitate monthly recorded call/video conferences, outside readings and videos, an interactive online classroom space, and several in-person workshops during the growing season.Starting in February, we will work with future seed stewards who are interested in growing their own plots for seed in summer 2019.Claire Luby- University of Wisconsin – Madison.Dan Cornelius – Intertribal Agriculture Council, University of Wisconsin – Madison – Great Lakes Indigenous Law Center.Jessika Greendeer – Dream of Wild Health.Rowen White – The Indigenous Seedkeepers Network.We will also incorporate lessons on growing by the moon cycles, assessing seed sovereignty and seed systems in your community, maintaining good seed through mindful seed stewardship, and indigenous plant breeding and selection. The sessions will follow the growing season and guide you through planning, planting, pollinating, harvesting, storing and record keeping. The Wisconsin Intertribal Seed Stewardship Initiative is a 9 month educational cohort program for those interested in learning to steward seed varieties and cultivate leadership and mentorship skills around food and seed sovereignty to share with others in your community. Wisconsin Intertribal Seed Stewardship Initiative Photo by Jessika Greendeer of Ho Chunk corn Additionally, we are working with the Ho Chunk and Menominee Nations to grow seed of historic varieties of corn, beans and squash. This page outlines a few of the outcomes of this grant thus far, including the development of the WI Intertribal Seed Stewardship Initiative, a course at UW Madison about seed and food sovereignty in indigenous communities and a series of beginner grower trainings for American Indian farmers. We received a Baldwin Wisconsin Idea grant in 2018 to develop seed saving workshops and re-matriation projects with native nations in Wisconsin.
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