Conversation Guide

The current agricultural structure in the US was built on land taken from Indigenous peoples and unpaid work of enslaved people. This can be a tough pill to swallow for so many that have been in this work for generations. How to do we acknowledge the impact of these things and how we work to build a better agricultural framework for our world? 

This panel will include discussion among Indigenous and BIPOC leaders on ways we can reframe our relationship to land and how we can work together to heal soils and other natural systems, grow healthy crops and livestock, and along the way also heal ourselves. We will explore the reintroduction of Indigenous frameworks for psychological connection and relationship with our lands, with a focus on recognizing and dismantling the current extractive systems and structures that continue to colonize the minds of land stewards.

BIPOC- Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (not to be confused with “colored”)

Decolonization- The undoing of colonialism by challenging how systems are, knowingly and/or unknowingly, complicit in the oppression of indigenous people.

Indigenization- The action of bringing something, in this case, agriculture, under the control, dominance, or influence of the people native to an area. 

Food Sovereignty- The right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their food and agriculture systems.

• What does a sovereign food system look like to you? 
  • Are you contributing in a meaningful way to this ideal system?
• What is needed to dismantle the current extractive food system from your organization? local/regional leadership? Government?
• Is your organization structured to support and lift up voices of marginalized communities internally and externally?
  • Is this being led by BIPOC? 
  • How are you / is your organization supporting them to do so? 
    • How can you mitigate the emotional impact of their doing so on behalf of the organization?

• How does my work connect with this?
• How could my work connect more deeply into this space?
• Are there concepts/ideologies from this plenary that I should shape my work going forward?
• Conversely, are there concepts/ideologies in the way that I currently work that need to let go of?  What will it take to do so?

Organizations/Projects to Check Out:

#LANDACK, collectivized by NDN Collective

Intertribal Agriculture Council

A Growing Culture

The Red Nation

Pueblo Action Alliance

Honor Native Land Tax

Tewa Women United

Alliance of Native Seedkeepers

International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs

Additional reading:

Books:

An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States – Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

As Long as Grass Grows – Dina Gilio-Whitaker

Articles:

Decolonization is Not a Metaphor

Red Nation Reclaims Communism

Does Regenerative Agriculture Have a Race Problem? – Civil Eats

Other Media:

All My Relations – Podcast from Matika Wilbur and Adrienne Keene

Indigenizing Big Agriculture – Recorded webinar with Chris Newman

Returning to Native American Agricultural Traditions – podcast episode with Lyla June

Racial Equity in Agriculture Panel- Regenerate 2019

Regenerative Agriculture in Indigenous Communities Panel – Regenerate 2019

Decolonizing Agriculture – Regenerative Agriculture Alliance, 3 part video series

Funding Sources:

First Nations Development Institute

Native American Agriculture Fund

Native Americans in Philanthropy

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