EcoAmbassador Grant:Food Scaping a Tribal College CampusInterns:

Kaytlyn Bergeron Na’ta’ne Miles (Pima-Maricopa)Paul Cline (Nooksack)

Northwest Indian College Faculty:Ane Berrett, Director of Service Learning, Social Science FacultyBrian D. Compton, Ph.D., Faculty, Native Environmental Science

ProgramSarang K. Khalsa, Food Forest Coordinator, WACC Americorps

VISTA

EcoAmbassador Objective

Food Scaping a Tribal College Campus will address the issue of climate change and the impact on food sources of the Lummi Nation. By establishing a sustainable food sovereignty model of a nut and berry food forest on the NWIC campus, it will provide a space to educate and replicate gardens within the community.

Collaboration with:

EPA, AIHEC, Elders, ISL, high school/college students

NIFA Objective

Telling the Story of the Land: Revitalization of Traditional Plant Knowledge and Harvest with a View Toward Sustainability

The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) supports research, education and Extension programs in the Land-Grant University System and other partner organizations

Relationship

Research Project’s Relationship to USDA NIFA Goals

Sustainable use of natural resource of USDA’s Research

Education and Economics (REE) Action Plan

Age-old traditional practices supporting sustainable interactions with the environment included the harvest of plants for use in the family, as trade items, and in other practices that helped enhance plant populations

Research Questions

What was the pre-contact function of these ecosystems?

How can current vegetation be used to determine the footprint of colonization?

What is the feasibility of restoring the ecosystem to its pre-contact function?

Which plant species have the greatest potential for reintroduction success?

What is the potential for restoring cultural interaction within these habitats?

Are small-scale pilot-level restoration efforts feasible and desirable?

Expected Outcomes

Historical baseline of existing plant life to assist in establishing possible restoration

Identification of the long-term experimental capacity for the chosen site

Identification of invasive and other non-native species

Current conditions as compared to pre-contact conditions

Public awareness education

Identification of the feasibility of plant/habitat restoration

Identification of best management practices

Initiation of a stewardship plan for site

Identification of potential barriers to implementation of the stewardship plan and potential activities to overcome those barriers

Community Partners

John Davis Project support; Head of Maintenance

Department

Faculty and students from all campuses Survey

Jim Freed NIFA partner

Bruce Hoestedeer Horticulturist/Permaculturist (meeting TBA)

Site LocationLummi Nation (figure 1)

• just northwest of Bellingham

In 2002, NWIC acquired over 240 acres of land known as the Kwina Estate, which is in the heart of the reservation

The purposed sites are between Coast Salish Institute building 21 and Salish Sea Research Center building 22

One half of this site is a vestige of natural habitat and the second half is a manicured lawn (figure 2)

Figure 1

Figure 2

…In reference to a campus map

Foodscape Design PlanNut Bearing Plants

• Hazelnut (H)

• Garry Oak (G.O.)

Fruiting Plants• Salal

• Wild Blackberry

• Wild Strawberries

• Huckleberry

• Kinnikinninck

• Indian Plum (I.P.)

• Oregon Grape

• Oregon Crab Apple (O.C.A)

• Hawthorne (Haw.)

• Bunchberry

• False Lily of the Valley

(See species list)

Food Sovereignty

Sovereignty “The authority of a state to govern itself”

What does food sovereignty mean? Food sovereignty is when a Nation has control of

their food supplies Define their own food and agriculture; to protect

and regulate domestic agricultural production and trade in order to achieve sustainable development

To be self reliant; to restrict the dumping of products in their markets

To provide local fisheries-based communities the priority in managing the use of and the rights to aquatic resources

Local Food Sovereignty

What does food sovereignty look like for the Lummi community?

“The right of taking fish at usual and accustomed grounds and stations is further secured to said Indians in common with all citizens of the Territory, and of erecting temporary houses for the purpose of curing, together with the privilege of hunting and gathering roots and berries on open and unclaimed lands. Provided, however, That they shall not take shell-fish from any beds staked or cultivated by citizens.”

So What is Next?

Spring Quarter

January Finalize plant species list Meetings with community partners, horticulturists,

and NIFA partners

February Begin plant phenology data collection

March Visit Washington food gardens Finalize foodscape design Select plant providers and gather for groundbreaking

Conclusion

Through support of the EPA, AHEIC, and NWIC with continuing support through NIFA the Lummi campus and community will benefit greatly from the nut and berry garden. This garden will provide a functioning, active example of food sovereignty. We intend to publicize our planning to duplicate throughout the community directly in people’s backyards.

While practicing sustainably, ecologically friendly methods we intend to lessen the food print on campus and the Lummi community.

Work Cited

Compton, Brian. "Telling the Story of the Land." Brians Blog. Northwest Indian College. Web. Dec 1, 2014. Retrieved from http://blogs.nwic.edu/

briansblog/

Deloria, Vine, Jr. 1997. Indians of the Pacific Northwest from the coming of the white man to the present day. Garden City. Doubleday and Company Inc. Print.

Grassroots International retrieved from http://www.grassrootsonline.org/publications/educational resources/download-food-thought-action-a-food-sovereignty-curriculum

Governors Office of Indian Affairs. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2014, from http:// www.goia.wa.gov/treaties/treaties/pointelliot.htm

Oxford Dictionaries. 2014. Oxford University Press. Web. Dec 2, 2014. Retrieved from http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/sovereignty?searchDictCode=all

United States Department of Agriculture. Dec 31, 2013. Web. 2 Dec. 2014. Retrieved from http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?navid=research- science