NATIVE FOODWAYS

Mending the Circle

Through the revitalization of Native foods, lands, and lifeways, our Native Foodways Program mends the circles within our Native communities that have been disrupted by cultural, environmental, and economic destruction. We steward land, grow Native heirloom food and seed, and provide intertribal and intergenerational gathering spaces for community members to teach, listen, learn, dream, and reconnect.

Land Stewardship

The Native Foodways Program supports and manifests a vision of Indigenous health and wellness that extends from seed to plate, soil to sky, song to recipe, and ancestors to future generations. Foundational to this vision is a practice of land stewardship that promotes a reciprocal restoration of ecological health and cultural lifeways.   

We are responsible to two growing sites – Heron Shadow and the Indian Valley Organic Farm & Garden – in the unceded territory of the Southern Pomo and Coast Miwok peoples of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria. 

Through our farming and tending work at these sites, we cultivate growing systems that are:

• Rooted in cultural practices and principles, from basket weaving to harvest ceremonies 

• Guided by the wisdom of Traditional Ecological Knowledge and adaptive Indigenous farming traditions, including polycultures, dry farming, agroforestry, and prescribed burning 

• Integrated with regenerative sustainable farming methods, including low-till and rotational grazing

Our land stewardship work provides the base from which we distribute food, save seed, harvest medicines and materials, and provide land access and educational resources for our community. 

 Food and Seed Distribution

Food Distribution

In collaboration with Native community partners and local farms, we distribute Native foods, medicines, and local organic produce to Native community members and families throughout the Bay Area. Our food distribution program increases access to traditional foods – such as heirloom chiles, corn, and dried beans – and ancestral medicines – such as tobacco, sage, and cota tea.  

Native Seed Library

Each season we grow, save, and share seed from culturally important Native heirloom crops and California native plants. Our Native Seed Library reconnects Native community members with their ancestral seeds and helps to keep alive seed stories and seedkeeping traditions from across Turtle Island. Seeds in our living library include Seneca White Corn, Cherokee Georgia Candy Roaster Squash, Hopi Black Dye Sunflowers, White Buffalo Calf Woman Tobacco, Zuni Gold Beans, and many other sacred varieties.   

In the coming seasons, we will be expanding our distribution to include Native plant starts to more deeply support local community food sovereignty.  

Please get in touch if you would like to learn more, share seed, or request seeds and plant starts! 

 Community Education

Events & Workshops

At our land sites, we host and produce public events and workshops with Native Elders, farmers, chefs, basket weavers, herbalists, and other knowledge holders. We center Indigenous Agriculture, Native cooking & preservation, ethnobotany, and more. From Spring Planting Day to Fall Harvest Gathering, the season is filled with moments of intertribal, intercultural, and intergenerational exchange. Our growing spaces are also open for field trips and other learning opportunities for Native community members of all ages to connect with and learn from the land.    

Farm Volunteer Days

We host regular farm volunteer days for all community members to further connect with our work and get their hands in the soil at our growing sites. From planting to tending, harvesting to seed cleaning, there are plenty of opportunities during the season to support our farm and food distribution. 

Please join our mailing list to keep up to date about events, volunteer days, other learning opportunities, and more.  

Internships & Apprenticeships

Core to our vision is cultivating the next generation of land stewards. We offer Native Foodways internship opportunities for Native youth to dive deeper into farming, plant medicine, ethnobotany, cooking, community education, and more. These land-based learning journeys are grounded in reconnecting to cultural lifeways and relearning traditional practices. We are also building a comprehensive Native Foodways Apprenticeship Program to further our commitment to the future farmers, land stewards, and leaders of Indian Country.   

Visit our Resource Library to connect with more Foodways educational materials and resources. 

Networks & Collaborations

We are active in building networks of solidarity and support between local, national, and international Indigenous communities as we collectively work to strengthen food sovereignty.  

Featured Network:

Slow Food Turtle Island Association – we are a founding member organization of this Slow Food Network, which connects Indigenous food producers, farmers, and more in the fight for good, clean, and culturally appropriate food.

Featured Collaboration:

Native American Food Sovereignty Association and the Indigenous Seed Keepers Network

Also check out our Mini-Niibi Fund grantees to see some of the international foodways projects TCC supports.

Image credits:
Photos by Mateo Hinojosa, Melissa K. Nelson and Wendy Johnson