Cultural Movement of Change Underway at Thunder Valley

Posted on May 18, 2016 by rblauvelt

Nick Tilsen

On a recent visit to Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation (CDC) in Porcupine, South Dakota, something extraordinary was evident. A spark had been ignited and a cultural movement of change was happening at Thunder Valley CDC, which has become a powerful catalyst of innovative change for the Oglala Lakota people of Pine Ridge, South Dakota, and all across Indian Country.

As an enrolled member of the Sicangu Lakota Nation in Rosebud, South Dakota (neighbors to Pine Ridge), and being part Oglala Lakota myself with family still living in Pine Ridge, it struck me how Thunder Valley has been able to create considerable change in the area. What once used to be barren prairie land, a pathway out of poverty has been created with a master-planned community being built at the Thunder Valley Community Development center site.

First Nations Development Institute (First Nations) saw this cultural movement of change first-hand while attending a planning design meeting for phase II of the Thunder Valley community development project on February 8-9, 2016. Three members of First Nations’ staff – Senior Program Officer Catherine Bryan, Grants & Program Officer Kendall Tallmadge, and myself (Program Officer Tawny Wilson) – were able to attend this important meeting with Thunder Valley Executive Director Nick Tilsen, Deputy Director Sharice Davids, Director of Advancement Liz Welch, and Director of Design Kaziah Haviland. Other attendees included BNIM Project Manager Christina Hoxie, BNIM Associate Principals Vincent Gauthier, Laura Pastine and Adam Weichman, KLJ Engineering’s Dana Foreman, and Art Space’s Senior Vice President of Asset Management Greg Handber, as well as Allen Orechwa, Chief Financial Officer of Clearing House CDFI (community development financial institution). Rural & Native American Initiative Director Russell Kaney and National Renewable Energy Lab’s Engineer Chuck Kurnik were also an integral part of the phase II planning meeting.

The plan involves building a sustainable community powered by wind energy and solar panels with strategically designed dwellings aimed at reducing energy costs and improving efficiency. In phase one of the community development plan, a community center and single-family homes will be built at a cost of $9.5 million, and is projected to take three years for completion. Within 10 years, when phase II is fully completed, the community will house approximately 1,000 people. The community development efforts of the people at the meeting and their partners across the country have contributed to this innovative and unprecedented community development project’s growth on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

The Thunder Valley CDC project is the development of a 34-acre planned community with single- and multi-family housing, emergency youth shelter, food-growing operations, grocery store, powwow grounds, youth recreational areas, community and educational facilities, as well as retail spaces for local businesses. As Thunder Valley notes: “It’s not just about building homes. It’s about building up a people and, in the process, creating a national model to alleviate poverty and build sustainable communities.”

Normally hope and inspiration are not easily found in one of the most economically challenged places in the country, but what is happening on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is not considered normal by most standards. Thunder Valley began as a movement and cultivation of being empowered spiritually and taking responsibility for the future by creating a movement to build a healthy and sustainable community. Instead of just talking about creating change, the team members at Thunder Valley have rolled up their sleeves and are making it happen by doing.

First Nations has been an ongoing supporter of Thunder Valley since 2005 and has awarded the organization with various grants and technical assistance through our Native Youth and Culture Fund, Native Agriculture and Food Systems Initiative, and Native Arts Capacity Building Initiative. In addition to providing funding, First Nations administers technical assistance to Thunder Valley CDC.

Thunder Valley has proven that a little bit of funding and a whole lot of hope, belief and sheer determination go a long way.

By Tawny Wilson, First Nations Program Officer

Impact! Cultivating Food & Culture at Nambé Pueblo

Posted on March 18, 2016 by rblauvelt

All food grown by the Nambé Community Gardens is given freely to the tribal community, including to after-school programs, instilling an appreciation for the sacredness of food and improving the health of the entire Pueblo.

“If we didn’t have our culture, we wouldn’t be a pueblo. We would just be another town.” This is why the Pueblo of Nambé in New Mexico is ingraining its rich heritage in every crop, and growing pride with every harvest.

“It’s an investment in not only food sovereignty, but in the future of our people,” said Nambé Farm Manager George Toya.

It’s all happening thanks to the Nambé Community Gardens, which began in 2012 with initial funding from First Nations Development Institute (First Nations). In just four years, the gardens have grown from one acre to six, and have infused life into family farms and public lands that were “drying up” along with the opportunities for young people to learn about their culture and heritage.

Returning to farming, returning to roots

“There was no one left to do the farming, and little for young people to come home to,” Toya said.

Recognizing the need to not only grow food but also reconnect with their culture, the Pueblo of Nambé sought funding for the Community Farm Project. With a $25,000 grant from First Nations, the pueblo was able to clear and harvest land and begin providing locally-grown food to the whole tribal community. They were also able to construct a hoop house to grow food year-round, create a plan for surplus and distribution, and develop a food database.

They did it by involving the community, and by seeking — in the Pueblo way — the input of their elders. “There is a sacredness to food and water. It’s the most important thing in your life. It affects everything you do. The elders knew that, and now we’re just relearning it,” Toya said.

In learning about Native agriculture practices, Nambé youth also discover their identity. “People who don’t have the pleasure of saying ‘This is who I am, this is where I am from’ are kind of lost,” Toya said, “And when that happens, they tend to be vulnerable.”

Through the Nambé Community Gardens, young people learn the practices and customs of their people. This lets them know they have a history, and instills in them a sense of pride.

In addition, the agriculture experience provides another tool in what Toya refers to as a “toolbox” of life skills. “It gives them more things to learn and be exposed to. And if they have an interest in what they learn, they now have a community to stay with and build from, so they don’t have to seek a life elsewhere,” he said.

Growing for the future

Where there’s a need, the crew of Nambé Community Gardens responds. Every year they bring together people to clear and cultivate the lands and restore farming in the Pueblo.

As part of the Pueblo way, the Pueblo of Nambé does the most with what it has, said Toya. And every year since 2012, it’s been able to do more and more.

Since the initial grant, the Pueblo of Nambé has received additional funding through First Nations to build on the success of the Community Farm Project and to launch additional efforts toward food sovereignty and cultural enrichment. The organization has been granted a total of $162,250 through First Nations’ Native Agriculture and Food Systems Initiative, its Native Youth and Culture Fund, and its partnership in the Seeds of Native Health campaign.

“This whole project would have never been started without the support of First Nations,” Toya said. “They saw that there was a need here, and we’ve been very fortunate. The entire community is thankful.”

Today, the Community Gardens cover six acres and include a small herd of bison and a cross-trained staff of three farm technicians, who also act as cultural mentors. The Pueblo of Nambé has developed a new drip-irrigation system and cultivated a 1,000-vine vineyard. In addition, the pueblo is leading a five-year food and health assessment, which will establish a baseline of the community’s health knowledge and provide hoop houses to select assessment participants. It is hoped that at the end of the five-year assessment, the community will have 20 new hoop houses in operation, and a growing number of people will be more focused on health, exercise, nutrition and risk factors.

“Our future is bright and we keep moving forward. We keep doing what we can do, and as much as we can do,” Toya said.

To learn more about the Pueblo of Nambé, visit http://nambepueblo.org/.

By Amy Jakober

Hawaii Organization Farms Farmers and Drives Change

Posted on March 18, 2016 by rblauvelt

Something amazing is happening in Waimea, Hawaii. Native Hawaiians are returning to farming, and driving long-term change for society. Families are coming together, and children are being raised in a culture people take pride in.

It’s all part of a vision of Mike Hodson, president of the Waimea Hawaiian Homesteaders’ Association. He and his wife, Tricia, wanted to bring farming back to the community. But they wanted to teach it in a way their people best learned: Not from a manual, but through hands-on practice, on their own soil.

Mike Hodson

First Nations Development Institute (First Nations) was the first funder of the “Farming for the Working Class” project, investing in the potential that other funders couldn’t yet recognize.

“We approached the State of Hawaii and the Native Hawaiian community, but we had no traction, and everyone looked at our project as just a theory,” Hodson said. “But First Nations saw what we wanted to do, and they believed in us.”

First Nations provided initial seed money of $45,000 through a grant from the Native Agriculture and Food Systems Initiative.

Tricia Hodson

“First Nations sees the power of projects that intersect food systems and economic development,” said First Nations President & CEO Michael Roberts. “What Waimea wanted to do was strategic and community-minded, and the impact it would have on Indigenous people is exactly what we look for.”

With funding from First Nations, the project was up and running, and true to Hodson’s vision, the impact on the Hawaiian people has been three-fold. By giving Native Hawaiians a way to work their land while keeping their current jobs, the Waimea Hawaiian Homesteaders’ Association is benefiting farming, families and the future.

Return to Farming and Sustainable Food

Hodson explained that Native Hawaiians come from a culture of farming, where they have fostered sustainability and a true sense of community. But through the years, they had begun to lose this heritage. Their population in Hawaii declined, and they looked off the island for their livelihood and future. Further, many Native Hawaiians were not farming their land, and were forced to return their allotments to the U.S. government pursuant to the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act.

Through the Farming for the Working Class project, families learn to farm again. They start with a hands-on, 17-week training course, where they study farming from “A to Z” and reconnect with their purpose and responsibility for the land.

From there, Waimea helps families build a greenhouse on their property, laying irrigation systems and providing education and tools. The greenhouse model is an imperative part of the program because it decreases the labor involved in typical outdoor farming ventures by as much of 85%. This makes it possible for families to run a sustainable farm in just a few hours a day and not have to quit their “day jobs” to do it.

Through the project, families grow food to feed their families. They generate extra income, and they trade food with other families, thus reducing their own expenses. In addition, Hawaii gets a source of locally grown food, which has become rare in the state, as 90% of food is shipped in from the mainland or Japan.

A Strengthening of Families

Through farming, the project also brings families together. In the recent past in Hawaii, there’s been a weakening of family units. The divorce rate among Native Hawaiians is 60%, and reports show that children from single-parent homes have been more likely to end up in Hawaii’s jails. Further, the stress of money and bills has contributed to high rates of domestic violence, with nine out of 10 domestic violence cases stemming from financial issues.

The Farming for the Working Class project brings families together to work, and adds as much as $20,000 a year to the family budget, reducing the strain of making ends meet.

“People may just see a greenhouse on a piece of land,” Hodson said. “But they don’t see the social impact that greenhouse has. It lets people invest in themselves, and it keeps families together. To me, that’s the number one thing that is occurring.”

New Vision for the Future

Where once there were only two, now there are 45 out of 115 lots being farmed since Hodson began. The project has increased the amount of farmed land by 50% with hopes to increase it 75% in the next 10 years.

Families are generating additional revenue. Income levels are rising, and Hawaii is able to reap locally grown food. Kids growing up in Hawaii have options for staying on the island and building a life. People are returning to their culture of self-sufficiency and self-determination. Families are seeing the therapeutic effect of farming, reconnecting with the earth and working with the soil. And the concept of community – extended beyond the family environment – is being embraced.

“It’s bringing us back full circle,” said Hodson. “Being a whole community is in our DNA. It’s the way our culture is supposed to be.”

In future plans, more greenhouses are in the works, along with a 35-acre community greenhouse, which will be open for use by Native Hawaiians, those on the waiting list for government lands, as well as all residents of Hawaii.

And now more funding is coming in from state and local sources, as other funders see all that’s possible based on Hodson’s vision.

“They didn’t want to fund us before because our theory wasn’t tested. But now we have that credibility, thanks to First Nations,” Hodson said.

Since 2012, First Nations has provided an additional $76,000 to strengthen the Farming for the Working Class project. With funding from the latest grant, Waimea will have the equipment and tools to develop a Farmers’ Market, a concept they’ve piloted through a three-month trial. Through the new market, farmers will have greater control over marketing and distribution, and be able to get more food directly to Hawaii’s chefs, stores and restaurants.

As an organization that has provided grants to more than 50 organizations in Indian Country in the last year alone, First Nations is proud to stand behind this project. “We invest in communities where others often aren’t. We see what they can do. And how it gives people hope,” Roberts said. “Things like Waimea give us incredible return.”

For more information about the Waimea Hawaiian Homesteaders’ Association, go to http://hstrial-wwaimeahomestead.homestead.com/.

By Amy Jakober

35 Years of History: A Look Back at Some Milestones

Posted on July 17, 2015 by rblauvelt

In observing our 35th Anniversary during 2015, we’ve been taking a look back at some of our history. We’ve been sharing some of these historical tidbits over the course of this year. Here’s our third installment:

In 1986, First Nations testified before Congress on land, trust funds reform, and BIA asset management.
In 1987, the Umatilla Land Project begins. Based on the model established at Confederated Tribes of Umatilla Indian Reservation, First Nations provides technical assistance for land consolidation efforts at other reservations.
In 1991, First Nations is a founding board member of the Association for Enterprise Opportunity. That same year, First Nations initiates a series of tribal investment workshops.
In 1993, First Nations provides information that the U.S. Justice Department will rely on in bringing successful legal actions against two border town banks for their lending policies toward Native Americans.
In 1998, First Nations formed its Native Assets Research Center, consolidating the organization’s long concentration on research as an instrument of policy reform.
In 1999, First Nations created a program called International Funders for Indigenous Peoples (IFIP). Today, IFIP is a separate 501(c)(3) organization based in San Francisco, California.
In 2002, First Nations establishes its Native Agriculture and Food Systems Initiative, or NAFSI.
In 2003, First Nations launches its Native Youth and Culture Fund.
In 2013, First Nations acquires its own building at 2432 Main Street in Longmont, Colorado.
By mid-year 2015, First Nations had given 1,039 grants totaling $23.7 million to Native American projects and organizations in 37 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. Territory American Samoa. (We announced our 1,000th-grant milestone with this press release on July 16.)

Shown at First Nations' 25th Anniversary event in 2005 are, L to R, First Nations President Mike Roberts, Peter and Jennifer Buffett of NoVo Foundation, and First Nations Founder Rebecca Adamson.

Scholarship Recipient is Making a Difference

Posted on July 17, 2015 by rblauvelt

Kyle in his cornfield

In 2015, First Nations Development Institute (First Nations) launched the Native Agriculture and Food Systems Scholarship Program to encourage more Native American college students to enter agriculture and agricultural-related fields. This new scholarship program will help grow a new generation of Native leaders dedicated to reclaiming control of local and traditional food systems.

Current research indicates that many Native youth view agriculture and agricultural-related fields as outdated and irrelevant. According to the USDA, the number of farmers and ranchers nearing retirement age has grown by 22 percent in the past five years, while the number of young farmers and ranchers adequately trained to replace them has decreased by 14 percent.

As a result of this indifference, many farmers, ranchers, herders, etc. are now retiring without qualified replacements trained to take their place. In an attempt to increase the number of students entering these fields, First Nations awarded six $1,000 scholarships to Native American college students majoring in agriculture and related fields.

Kyle Swimmer, an enrolled member of the Laguna Pueblo, received one of these six inaugural scholarships. Kyle is a junior at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology majoring in environmental engineering. In addition to his studies, Kyle also manages his own cornfield that includes nine species of corn that were passed down to him by his grandfather.

Kyle is one of the youngest tribal members to raise a field of corn in his pueblo. Recently, Kyle shared his experiences as a presenter at Native Youth Leaders: Revitalizing and Embracing Wellness Through Food. In February 2015, 30 Native youth from Arizona, New Mexico and South Dakota gathered together at this innovative conference to discuss issues related to food and wellness in their communities.

After he graduates, Kyle intends to use his degree in environmental engineering to build a canal system that will help him and other farmers in his community carry water to their fields. Kyle’s accomplishments and future goals underscore the potential of Native youth to empower themselves and their communities. First Nations is proud to be a part of this effort.

Mississippi Choctaw Put Fresh Farm Produce on Wheels

Posted on March 18, 2015 by rblauvelt

Geographic barriers prevent many tribes from accessing healthy and culturally-appropriate foods. The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians has developed an innovative solution to help them overcome these barriers and increase access to fresh fruits and vegetables: a farmers’ market on wheels.

Nearly 10,000 tribal members reside on the Choctaw Indian Reservation, which is comprised of 35,000 acres of trust land scattered over eight communities in east-central Mississippi. Although most tribal members live near the tribe’s main headquarters, many more do not, making it difficult for them to access certain services such as the tribe’s new farmers’ market.

In 2012, the tribe established Choctaw Fresh Produce (CFP), a series of five farms that have built 15 high tunnels capable of producing thousands of pounds of chemical-free fruits and vegetables. CFP distributes these fresh fruits and vegetables to tribal members through a unique community-supported agriculture program that offers organic goods to tribal members at a low seasonal cost at a central location.

Although this central location is convenient for tribal members living near the farmers’ market, it is more challenging for tribal members who do not live near or have transportation to the market. Some tribal members are located in communities as far as 90 miles away. CFP quickly realized they needed a new and innovative way to reach out to the entire community.

In 2013, First Nations Development Institute (First Nations) awarded CFP $37,500 through the Native Agriculture and Food Systems Initiative (NAFSI) to purchase a vehicle and equipment to launch a mobile farmers’ market. According to John Hendrix, the mobile farmers’ market ensures that “all tribal members have access to fresh fruits and vegetables regardless of their remote location or lack of transportation.”

So far, tribal members have responded enthusiastically to the mobile market, which visits each of the tribe’s eight communities up to twice a month. Last summer, more than 1,000 customers visited the mobile farmers’ market, purchasing approximately 5,000 pounds of fresh, healthy fruits and vegetables.

Typically, CFP’s mobile farmers’ market visits tribal schools, businesses and other popular locations in the community. Last summer, they also visited the local fairgrounds to sell fresh watermelon and cucumber salads at the Annual Choctaw Indian Fair. Hendrix notes that this marked the first time that the tribe sold healthy food at the fair.

Without a doubt, CFP’s innovative mobile farmers market has helped increase access to fresh fruits and vegetables by delivering food directly to the community. However, they have also had a positive impact on the tribe’s economy by keeping spending local.

Another way that CFP is having a positive impact on the tribe’s economy is by selling their surplus fruits and vegetables to communities off the reservation. They intend to sell even more fruits and vegetables to off-reservation communities next year once they’ve finished expanding their high-tunnel farms from eight to 15 – almost doubling their production output.

CFP’s innovative farmers’market on wheel emphasizes the innovation, ingenuity and resiliency of tribes. With this grant, CFP has developed a sustainable solution to help the increase healthy food access and also overcome some of the geographic and economic barriers facing their community.

By Sarah Hernandez, First Nations Program Coordinator

Tradition & Technology: San Carlos Apache Tribe’s Food Database

Posted on November 17, 2014 by rblauvelt

Fluent Apache speaker Twila Cassadore helped conduct, record and analyze well over 100 interviews with Apache elders.

Can tradition and technology co-exist? The San Carlos Apache Tribe, located in southeastern Arizona, has developed a first-of-its-kind traditional food database system that seems to suggest the answer is yes.

The database allows tribal healthcare leaders to preserve traditional Apache recipes so that nutritionists can analyze the nutritional content of these foods to replicate the traditional Western Apache diet. This project will allow the tribe to design a healthy, pre-reservation menu that will help reverse the growing trend of diet-related illnesses on the reservation.

In 2013, First Nations Development Institute (First Nations) awarded the San Carlos Apache Tribe $37,500 through First Nations’ Native Agriculture and Food Systems Initiative (NAFSI) to launch the database. With this grant, the tribe hired a fluent Apache speaker, Twila Cassadore, to conduct 100 interviews with tribal elders. Those elders helped identify more than 200 traditional Apache edible plants and nearly as many traditional Apache recipes.

The traditional food database led to new partnerships that aimed to involve the youth in Native food systems work.

A nutritionist has analyzed more than half of these recipes and modernized them so that they are more accessible to home cooks. For example, some recipes call for wild plants that are not typically sold in the grocery store or sown in the garden. The nutritionist, by finding a modern equivalent to these traditional ingredients, will help tribal members revive their pre-reservation diet.

“This database allows us to approach traditional cultural knowledge as a science,” says botanist Seth Pilsk. “To respect it in a traditional manner, but not shy away from studying and analyzing it. We are using traditional knowledge as a means to solving contemporary problems.”

Traditionally, the tribe incorporated food and food production into every aspect of their lives, from sacred rituals and ceremonies to their social and political structures. This project seeks to re-establish the tribe’s healthy relationship with food and, in the process, alleviate some of their current social and economic ills, including substance abuse, suicide, domestic violence, diabetes, obesity, poverty and unemployment.

Apache elders firmly believe that a return to a healthy, pre-reservation diet will help reverse these negative trends and enhance the lives of their tribal members – culturally, physically, socially and politically. Indeed, the information gleaned from this database has already started to have a positive impact on the community.

Tribal healthcare leaders have partnered with the Diabetes Prevention Program, the Wellness Program, The Department of Forest Resources, and the Language Preservation Office to develop a model program based on traditional – mostly food-related – activities. Most recently, they have held a series of meetings with the tribe’s Elders Cultural Advisory Council to identify the major principles needed to inform a Tribal Food Policy Committee. This committee will recommend policies for the tribal leadership to support traditionally-based food systems, health and economic development.

This project has allowed the tribe to successfully merge tradition and technology to improve the physical and social health of their people. The success of this traditional food database system reiterates that tribes have the knowledge and power to strengthen their own communities.

By Sarah Hernandez, First Nations Program Coordinator

Molokai “Superheroes” See Sustainable Future

Posted on September 15, 2014 by rblauvelt

A bamboo building being constructed by Sust ‘āina ble Molokai in order to store produce.

For a period of my son’s childhood, his daily attire consisted of a superhero costume and cape, flying about the house, working to save us and our dogs from a catastrophic meteor. As his trusty sidekick, I assisted our superhero in saving the world by making sure he had a sturdy cape, healthy meals, and the strength to fight the good battle — sidekick duties I enjoyed just as much as I enjoy assisting with our community superheroes in my work at First Nations Development Institute (First Nations).

Papaya is among the produce under cultivation.

At First Nations, we work with community superheros on a daily basis through assistance and support as they strive to revive local foods systems, combat predatory lenders, and protect the sovereignty of Native people. In restoring local food systems, our superheros work incognito as volunteers, board members, executive directors, staff members and tribal council members. Their work in protecting native seeds, reviving agriculture and rebuilding regional trade routes contributes to the defeat of obesity and diabetes, the increased access to fresh food and restoration of self-sufficiency in our Native communities.

One such organization is Sust ‘āina ble Molokai, located on the island of Molokai, Hawaii, in Kaunakakai. Situated approximately 55 miles southeast of Honolulu and seven miles from the island of Maui, the island has lush, beautiful scenery as well as bountiful land prime for farming. Since 2010 Sust ‘āina ble Molokai has been taking a community-wide approach to restoring a thriving, sustainable Molokai. Efforts that have included conducting community agricultural and energy assessments, installing energy efficient refrigerators, replacing incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs and working toward the availability of electric vehicles and charging stations throughout the community.

Malia Akutagawa, one of the founders of Sust ‘āina ble Molokai

Under the First Nations Native Agriculture and Food Systems Initiative (NAFSI) project, these superheros are working to revive small agriculture and develop a food hub as a pathway to regaining control of their local food system and generate economic opportunities for the island. With 90 percent of the food arriving by barge, the island is designated a food desert, in which residents do not have ready access to fresh affordable foods. This dependency on the twice-weekly barge arrivals is what drives the staff and board members of Sust ‘āina ble Molokai. As one of the founders, Malia Akutagawa notes, “We were called the abundant land and envied by all for the wealth and bounty of our island. We gave from our infinite store because we always perceived that there was more than enough. There was never a lack, only in the perception and limitations imposed by our own minds.”

Today the land has degraded as a result of overgrazing and fish ponds have become catchment basins for topsoil washed away by heavy rains. But, through efforts by Sust ‘āina ble Molokai, gardens are reviving, kids are learning about where their food comes from, and healthy foods are once again becoming a part of the community.

The work of Sust ‘āina ble Molokai helps preserve part of paradise.

Like many of our food superheros, Sust ‘āina ble Molokai works tirelessly. They are dedicated to restoring the local food system and with support and assistance from First Nations through funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, they are making it happen. It was an honor to visit with the staff, volunteers, families and board members during a recent site visit that enabled us to witness the construction of their first “food hub” packaging center and outdoor classroom made of bamboo, partake in the fresh produce grown in the school garden used to educate the students on where their food comes from, and assist leadership in fine-tuning the organization’s compass so that they can continue to excel.

It was great to see on-the-ground efforts that bring to life the inspiration and dedication of these superheros. As their trusty sidekick, we appreciate the opportunity to be a part of the mission, to advocate on their behalf and to celebrate in their success. After all, every superhero should have a trusty sidekick for support.

(For more information on Sust ‘āina ble Molokai, please visit http://sustainablemolokai.org/. To see a short video, visit https://www.dropbox.com/s/tm13v5tteccqmtp/Sustainable%20Molokai%20FINAL.mp4?dl=0)

By Jackie Francke, First Nations Director of Programs and Administration

A-dae Romero: A Happy Success Story for Native Agriculture

Posted on September 8, 2014 by rblauvelt

A-dae at home in Lanai, Hawaii

First Nations Development Institute (First Nations) is always happy and proud when our grantees and the various projects we have supported achieve good success and begin to make positive ripples in Indian Country. We’re happy and proud a lot because we have many of these stories, but one of the recent ones is about our good friend A-dae Romero.

A-dae first flew onto First Nations’ radar in 2011 when we provided her with a USDA Community Food Projects travel scholarship to attend our L.E.A.D. Conference. At the time, A-dae was thinking of starting a nonprofit organization related to food.

That thought soon became reality with a new organization called Cochiti Youth Experience, Inc. at Cochiti Pueblo in New Mexico. (A-dae was born and raised in Cochiti Pueblo. She is Cochiti and Kiowa.) She co-founded this nonprofit so it could create positive opportunities for Cochiti’s young people, and it has a special focus on strengthening Pueblo agriculture as an economic, political and social anchor for the community. First Nations provided a grant to assist Cochiti Youth Experience in 2012 under First Nations’ Native Agriculture and Food Systems Initiative, then another grant in 2013 under our Native Youth and Culture Fund.

Since then, A-dae has continued to accomplish good things, both personally and professionally. She recently received important honors and achieved major milestones that recognize her growing impact, especially in Native American agriculture.

A-Dae (front and center in gray suit) at The White House for the "Champions of Change" honors.

In July 2014, The White House and the U.S. Department of Agriculture honored A-dae as one of 15 local “Champions of Change” leaders from across the country “who are doing extraordinary things to build the bench for the next generation of farming and ranching. These champions are leading in their industries and communities, inspiring others who want to find careers and a life on the land, and providing food, fiber, fuel, and flora around the world.”

Then, she was recently named a U.S. Fulbright Scholar, a very prestigious academic accomplishment. She will use it to study the Maori people of New Zealand. Then Agri-Pulse, a national agricultural news source, included her as one of the most influential rural agricultural advocates in its “50 Under 50” report.

Further, A-dae recently completed her LL.M. (master of law) degree in agricultural and food law through the Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative at the University of Arkansas School of Law. A-dae was the initiative’s first student to complete this multi-disciplinary research, service and educational opportunity, and the initiative itself is the first of its kind nationally. This advanced law degree comes on top of her J.D. (juris doctorate) degree from Arizona State University’s College of Law, and her degree from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs (her focus was on public policy and economic policy).

A-dae now acts as a consultant with First Nations Development Institute on several of our Native Agriculture and Food Systems Initiative efforts, plus she walks in two worlds by farming with her family in New Mexico – raising blue corn and varieties of Pueblo corn – and farming with her husband’s family in Hawaii, growing taro. She also serves on the board of Native American Farmers and Ranchers through New Mexico Community Capital, and on the board of the Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance (NAFSA). And, she was just named a legal researcher for the International Development Law Organization (IDLO), in partnership with the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD), for the new Global Network on Legal Preparedness for Achieving the Aichi Biodiversity Targets.

After earning her LL.M. degree, First Nations honored A-dae at our offices in Colorado. Left to right are Jackie Francke and Marsha Whiting of First Nations, A-dae, and Sarah Hernandez and Raymond Foxworth of First Nations.

It’s no wonder A-dae is becoming a leader in Native agriculture. According to the Agri-Pulse article, her grandfather was a leader among his people. When construction of the Cochiti Dam flooded agricultural land used by their tribe, A-dae was just a child. Yet she remembers playing nearby as her grandfather and other leaders discussed the loss of the land for farming, which was vital to the pueblo’s livelihood.

A-dae said it was “very intimate and powerful time” in her life, as the community, dependent on agriculture, struggled with the question of who they would be without farming. As she began to develop an interest in a profession that could help her to be a voice of her culture, she found a mentor who encouraged her to pursue her dreams of law school. Since then she has found a fertile and fruitful field of endeavor at the intersection of law and agriculture.

“After all,” she said in the Agri-Pulse interview, “farming is about getting our hands dirty, and there is a simple kind of happiness in that.”

By Randy Blauvelt, First Nations Senior Communications Officer

Improving Food Security at the Lac Courte Oreilles Reservation

Posted on July 18, 2013 by rblauvelt

In the Hayward, Wisconsin, area, Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa Community College is pushing forward with its recently funded First Nations grant to increase food security for the Lac Courte Oreilles Reservation. The grant was made available through First Nations’ Native Agriculture and Food Systems Initiative, and is supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

The college’s Sustainable Agriculture Research Station (LSARS) works to increase food security through agricultural production within the reservation. Fish have traditionally been very important to the way of life for Ojibwe people. However, modern issues of mercury poisoning and other types of contamination have limited fish in their diet, so the station proposed providing tribally raised poultry, eggs and farmed fish as a way to incorporate more affordable and healthy protein into the diets of the Lac Courte Oreilles community. An alternative purpose is to inform tribal members so they better understand where their food comes from.

From the program, many tiers of “experiential learning” and “experimental infrastructure” have helped increase the capacity of students and faculty to advance aquaponics research as well as innovation in the community’s agricultural efficiency.

LSARS has run into some challenges with inclement weather since the project began, so its assessments will not be finalized until the end of the growing season. The biggest success so far has been in acquiring a tractor that has significantly boosted production by doubling the amount of tilled space. In addition, many new partnerships have been developed with the Northwest Wisconsin Regional Food Network, WestWinds Community Cooperative, University of Wisconsin Extension, Spooner Agricultural Research Station, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Plant Pathology.

Locally there have been new partnerships forged with county extension offices and the local casino. A unique aspect of these partnerships is that the casino will start composting and will purchase LSARS produce.

The program has been very successful in community outreach and engagement. Some examples of the programs include a farmers market, monthly education activities at the farm, and an annual sustainable fair. The project also plans to start tours and open houses.

By Katy Gorman, First Nations/Ogallala Commons Intern