Seedkeeper rising kingdoms
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When we were strong in our foods on this continent, we were stronger people-we were healthier…. While many communities continue to fight to protect and to access their food systems, new generations still have little exposure to traditional foods and related teachings, creating a barrier to incorporating these foods into their modern lifestyles.įeeding Ourselves: Food Access, Health Disparities, and the Pathways to Healthy Native American Communities describes some of the many challenges Indigenous communities face as they work to restore Native health: These health problems are a direct result of a painful history that has rippled through generations: federal policy and programs have systematically distanced Native people from their traditional lands, ways of interacting with the natural world, food cultivation practices, and diets. While there is some variance from community to community, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and other obesity-related diseases are the top causes of mortality among Native Americans as a group, at rates that are higher than almost any other population group in the country.
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Native Americans today have disproportionately high rates of chronic diseases as a direct result of chronic stress, inflammation, and, most significantly, limited access to good nutrition. Through Dream of Wild Health, Native youth and Elders in the Twin Cities are reclaiming their food heritage-and they are striking back against the dual challenges of chronic disease and cultural annihilation that have threatened Native ways of life for centuries. Just as important, through a combination of youth programs, farmers’ markets, a food share program, and donations, 13,500 pounds of fruits and vegetables cultivated on this farm will feed Twin Cities Native Americans this year. Over the course of a year, nearly 100 Native youth will participate in Garden Warrior and Youth Leader programs, and they’ll teach what they’ve learned to 1,800 more. Thanks to a grant from the Native American Agriculture Fund (NAAF), Dream of Wild Health, 1 a Native-led organization that has been working to restore Native health in the Minneapolis area since 1998, is expanding its reach and impact. The hum of dedicated pollinator meadows nearby is a constant reminder of the interdependence with the natural world that underlies all of these practices. A dozen or more teenagers from Native nations in the region can often be found gathered around a Native American instructor who leads them in a workshop that cultivates cultural continuity, revitalizing the teachings and responsibilities of a Seed Keeper who cares for more than 200 indigenous varieties of corn, beans, squash, sunflowers, tobacco, and other traditional medicinal plants. On a 10-acre farm about 30 miles northeast of Minneapolis, Native youth and Elders together plant, tend, and harvest squash, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, peas, indigenous berries, and more.