In partnership with NAFSA, the University of Wisconsin, and the Intertribal Agriculture Council, Shakopee’s Wozupi Tribal Gardens is hosting a field day “Food and Agriculture Workshop” focusing on “What is Sustainability” on Wednesday, September 18th from 1:00-5:00pm followed by a Seed-to-Table Dinner prepared by Brian Yazzie, Elena Terry, and a team of Native chefs. Tickets are required for the dinner and are $30/person for the multi-course meal.
Indigenous Seedkeepers Network and the Intertribal Agriculture Council are working together with Wisconsin-based tribes and the University of Wisconsin-Madison to create a collective seed stewardship education program with Wisconsin based tribes and others in the Upper Midwest region. The Wisconsin Intertribal Seed Stewardship cohort program is for those interested in learning to steward seed varieties and be a resource for others in your community.
We would love to invite you to sign up here to participate in the 9-month cohort program for developing seed stewardship leaders. The sessions will follow the growing season and guide you through planning, planting, pollinating, harvesting, storing and record keeping. 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. We will facilitate monthly recorded call/video conferences, outside readings and videos, an interactive online classroom space, and 2 in-person workshops during the growing season.
The Southwest Intertribal Food Summit was held on October 26-27 in Taos, New Mexico at Taos County Economic Development Corporation (TCEDC), Red Willow Farm, and Taos Pueblo. Building upon the success of past Intertribal Food Summits, as well as many past events in the Southwest such as the TOCA Basketry Celebration, this event featured foods and knowledge of the region with additional perspective and contributions from across the country.
The event’s first day was hosted at TCEDC in the morning and Red Willow Farm in the afternoon. The morning included several hands-on sessions and presentations.
As an Intertribal Food Summit, Indigenous and Native-produced foods were incorporated into both the menu and educational programming. Ray Naranjo, Loretta Barrett Oden, Elena Terry, Tanya Brant, Darryl Montana, Kaya Deerinwater, several Taos Pueblo community members, and several others helped make a fantastic variety of foods that kept everyone well-nourished throughout the event.
Red Willow Farm provided a perfect setting for afternoon educational sessions and networking. Among the interactive sessions was a cacao processing workshop led by Julio Saqui from Belize.
Saturday’s events moved to Taos Pueblo, one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities on Turtle Island.
Like other Intertribal Food Summits, the local foods of Taos Pueblo and the broader region were prominently featured throughout the event, including these unique foods within the Pueblo.
The seed rematriation of an ancestral Taos Pueblo squash was one of Saturday’s many highlights.
Weather can be unpredictable for almost every outdoor event. Late October in northern New Mexico can be warm and sunny, cold and snowy, or almost any variation in between. Fortunately, this event had perfect weather, making the event an even more memorable and inspiring experience.
Thank you to Taos Pueblo for hosting.
Join the University of Wisconsin Law School’s Great Lakes Indigenous Law Center and the Intertribal Agriculture and partners, including the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives, the Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance (NAFSA), for a Roundtable on Tribal Cooperative Development and Value Added Products in Madison, Wisconsin on Tuesday morning, June 5th. Register online for the Tuesday morning Roundtable and Indigenous Seeds Project by clicking here. In addition to this half-day session, there are several related events occurring in Madison from June 4-6, including the
Registration for the Ethnobotany Conference is required to attend the Food Sovereignty on Turtle Island Symposium on Monday, June 4th. We do have a limited number of registrations for that conference, as well as lodging support. Please contact daniel.cornelius@wisc.edu to RSVP or for more information.
Great Lakes Region IAC Website 