Support the Indigenous Gardens Network
The Indigenous Gardens Network is a hub for Indigenous-led land projects centering on food sovereignty, land stewardship, educational opportunities and habitat restoration. The purpose of the network is to provide accessibility to land and “first foods” for tribal communities. First foods are plant and animal species that Native Americans traditionally relied upon for subsistence, medicine, and ceremonial uses. The network consists of a tribal steering committee and working groups with citizens of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz and the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. Their Indigenous knowledge and expertise of cultivation, harvesting, and stewardship inform and direct each project that the network takes on.
Projects from the past year included listening sessions on barriers to land accessibility for tribal people, planning meetings, site visits, the creation of working groups, an online Acorn Camp, a First Food Stewardship planning project at Vesper Meadow, development of a Shasta/Takelma Learning Garden at SOU, and the purchase of acorn processing equipment and camas restoration tools.