Upcoming or Past Projects and Programs
Upcoming Projects and Programs
Native Plant Landscape
Originally, the BSS building was designed to include spaces for basket weaving, regalia cleaning, salmon cooking, and traditional arts. The Food Sovereignty Lab chose the location of the BSS 168 in consideration of the history of the BSS building as being originally designed to honor Native peoples and create space for Indigenous programs on campus. We envision a continuity of Indigenous space near the Native Forum, Goudi'ni Gallery and NAS Department, and have been allocated an exterior space stretching approximately ¼ of a campus block. Now named Wiyot PLaza, this space is now under the stewardship of the FSL, and this is the outdoor classroom and laboratory space; this space is subject to the ‘Shared Maintenance and Co-Management Agreement’ developed in partnership with Facilities management. We aim to integrate educational opportunities outside of the BSS building as part of a Native Plant Landscape that is connected to and cared for by the Food Sovereignty Lab- an extension of the classroom space focused on learning Indigenous sciences. This would include the revitalization of the area originally designated to be a salmon smoking pit, and the design of a Native Plant Landscape that incorporates Native artwork patterns and local Native Languages. This space will fundamentally support food sovereignty, and community engagement with traditional foods and food landscapes. Learn more about our Native Plant Landscape and Indigenous Garden in our recent report!
Indigenous Food Sovereignty Guide of Northern California
Supported by a Native American Agricultural Fund (NAAF) grant, we will develop an Indigenous Food Guide, which will support and promote Indigenous food businesses and gardens. This will encourage tourism and create new market opportunities that support Native food practitioners, and producers. This will serve in part as a form of state and national marketing that will increase public awareness of Northern California Native food producers, food sovereignty programs, gardens, and farms. The Food Guide will be designed so that tourists can travel through the Northern California region and visit and support Native food producers through “Indigenous food tours” and excursions. We are aiming for this guide to be released in Fall 2023, including a robust website and printed version.
Food Sovereignty Lab Documentary Film Project, made by the professional film company “The Range”. This will be a series of short documentaries surrounding traditional Foods and Food Sovereignty in the region, oriented around the Lab as a center for housing such practices and knowledges.
“The Range” is renowned for the film projects that uplift Indigenous Voices, particularly in our region. One their projects includes the ‘Tending Nature’ Series.
Tribal Agricultural Native Opportunities and Knowledges (TANOAK) Project
The TANOAK project is currently under development and seeking funding. This project builds opportunities for applied, developmental research, education, and training activities that foreground Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge and food sovereignty to recruit, retain, and support students, youth, and community members to successful careers in agriculture, food, and natural sciences. The project will expand opportunities for preparing and advancing student workforce training through hands-on opportunities that integrate interdisciplinary approaches to rural and Tribal community development and encourage future employment in food, natural resources, and related disciplines. The project will also create and implement student-centered workshops, programs, and training to promote advancements in agriculture, food, and natural sciences and attract youth and other audiences to train and prepare for employment. The project will further create and implement innovative and culturally responsive curriculum and retention activities that recruit and support a diverse student population to build innovative connections between career paths in food, agriculture, natural sciences and the pressing societal challenges of our time.
Project sites include three tribal nations and one community-based organization.
Blue Lake Rancheria: The Blue Lake Rancheria Pathmakers program and the Daluviwi' Community Garden. Earthseed Laboratories: an emerging 40-acre forest farm, Black-owned land justice enterprise. Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation: Tr’aa-may-dvn Xwee-nish (Living Plant Library and Nursery) and Food Sovereignty Center. Wiyot Tribe: The Wiyot Tribal community garden and the Da gou rou louwi' Cultural Center. Students and other learners will benefit from working with tribal agencies and will learn more about connecting with federal government agencies and federal government employment.
Good Healing Fire Coalition: Indigenous Fire Management Resiliency Project
The Good Fire Healing Coalition project is a project under development and seeking funding, which will focus on educational, tribal community, and statewide practices for re-introducing Indigenous fire management in land restoration and building climate resilience. This coalition is led by the Rou Dalagurr Food Sovereignty Lab and Traditional Ecological Knowledges Institute (FSL) in partnership with UC Davis Native American Studies Department, Earthseed Laboratories, the Native Women’s Collective, Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe, and the Wiyot Tribe. Lead project consultants include the Karuk Women in Fire Training Exchange (KWTREX) and Dr. Frank Lake (US Forest Service Research Ecologist). Direct outcomes will include research on cultural burning practices through hands-on site restoration of partnered sites, trainings of Indigenous women, femme, and queer folx as cultural burners and leaders to provide economic opportunities for future fire management; hosting of a statewide Indigenous Fire Summit with opportunities to build further collaboration across tribal nations, state agencies, universities and community organizations; and the creation and implementation of higher education courses and training certificates for building future investment in regional fire management. Training will also address needs in communication strategies as well as advocacy tools and training by increasing the literacy in regional, state, and federal policy and opening pathways for successful advocacy and policy enactment to support the resurgence of Indigenous sovereignty in regards to landscape care.
Project research will develop and enact a fire-centered climate action plan for identified tribal and community partner sites in the region, such as at Mouralherwaqh, a 40 acre parcel with a coastal ecosystem recently returned to the Wiyot Tribe, and Earthseed Laboratories, a black and queer abolitionist land collective. This work will increase regional cultural burning practitioners and therefore expand opportunities for youth engagement and student learning, re-enact generational care for our ecosystems and residing relatives and will train a new generation of fire management advocates and policy leaders.
Past Projects and Programs
Food Soveriegnty Speaker Series
Fall 2020
Nov. 2nd Panel Discussion: Humboldt Food Sovereignty Lab. History & Vision
Panelists:
Dr. Cutcha Risling Baldy, Department Chair Native American Studies
Carrie Tully, Environment & Community Graduate Student
Cody Henrikson, Native American Studies & Marine Biology Undergraduate
Native American Studies is building a Food Sovereignty Lab and Cultural Workspace in the BSS building adjacent to the Native American Forum. In this panel discussion Dr. Baldy reviews the history of native dispossession of traditional foods in the Humboldt region. Students Cody and Carrie share their experience presenting the Food Sovereignty Lab research at the CSU Student Research Competition. The students explain the initial push back received by the University upon review of the space application for BSS building. The panel explains the space will help to strengthen the bond between our local community, Indigenous Nations, and students at Humboldt by providing space which can support cultural resurgence and food sovereignty for Native peoples.
Nov. 9th The State of Indigenous Food Sovereignty in the United States
Presenter:
Dr. Devon Mihesuah, Cora Lee Beers Price Professor in Humanities, University of Kansas.
This presentation explores the meaning and goals of food sovereignty as well as the challenges to achieving control over food systems. Dr. Mihesuah explains how the Indigenous Food Sovereignty Movement (IFS) has exploded in recent years. Examples include tribal and grassroots food initiatives, farms, community and backyard gardens, food summits and school programs. Despite these efforts, high rates of diabetes, obesity and other health issues still remain and food insecurity is a reality for many tribes. Dr. Mihesuah offers several solutions for reclaiming Indigenous Food Sovereignty through education, tribal garden initiatives and invasive species removal.
Nov. 16th Discussion Panel: The State of Indigenous Food Sovereignty in California
Panelists:
Dr. Melissa Nelson, Professor School of Sustainability, Arizona State University
Meagen Baldy, Eating Healthy in Indian Country
Vince Medina and Louis Trevino, Cafe Ohlone
Panelists share their experience as cultural practitioners advancing food sovereignty for their communities. Meagan discusses food sovereignty on the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation in Northern California. Vince and Louis share stories from the success of Cafe Ohlone in the Bay Area. Dr. Nelson discusses California sacred foods.
Nov. 22nd Discussion Panel: Fire and Food Sovereignty
Panelists:
Dr. Frank Lake, Research Ecologist, US Forest Service
Merv George, Forest Supervisor, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest
Jared Aldern, Environmental Historian
Rondo Reed, Wildland firefighter, US Forest Service
Each panelist shares their experience with cultural fire management. Dr. Frank Lake defines Traditional Ecological Knowledge, Indigenous Fire Stewardship and Tribal Agroforestry. Merv George describes his experience as a cultural practitioner and Forest Supervisor. Jared Aldern shares a settler perspective of restoring Indigenous fire and foods. Rondo Reed explains his experience as a cultural practitioner and working for the US Forest Service. The webinar concludes with a Q+A session with the audience
Nov. 30th Food Sovereignty & The Timing of Climate Change
Presenter:
Dr. Kyle Powys Whyte
Dr. Whyte presents how Indigenous Food Sovereignty is a framework for addressing climate change. He explains for many Indigenous peoples food sovereignty is about restoring kinship relationships with food. This presentation describes the different ways of telling time from an Indigenous perspective and compares the past hundred years of colonial history to thousands of years of Indigenous history. Dr. Whyte answers questions from the audience and engages in discussion with the Humboldt NAS Food Sovereignty Lab Steering Committee on why such a space would support cutting edge research on Traditional Ecological Knowledge and support tribes in the local region and beyond.
Zoom-A-Thon
Register: tinyurl.com/FSLtelethon
Join us for a night of joy as we fundraise to build the Humboldt NAS Food Sovereignty Lab and Cultural Workspace. Watch LIVE & Donate!
Comedy | Poetry | Film | Music & More!
Featuring:
Tanaya Winder is an authors, singer/songwriter, poet, motivational speaker and educator who comes from an intertribal lineage of Southern Ute, Pyramid Lake Paiute, and Duckwater Shoshone Nations hwere she is an enrolled citizen. She received a BA in Enlgish from Standofrd Unvisersity and a MFA in creative writing from the Unviserity of New Mexico. She co-founded As/Us: A Space form Women of the World, a literary magazine publishing works by BIPOC women. She is a 2016 National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development "40 under 40" list of emerging American Indian leaders recipeint and a 2017 First Peioples Fund Artists in Business Leadership fellow. For 11 years, Winder served as Director of the University of Colorado Boulder's Upward Bound program where she served hundreds of Indigenous youth. Today, Tanaya serves as the Communications Associate Director for the Conservation Lands Foundation. Her specialities include: youth & women empowerment, healing truama through art, creative writing workshops, and mental wellness advocacy.
Learn more about Tanaya: https://tanayawinder.com/
Ursula Pike has an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from the Insitute of American Indian Arts and a master's degree in Econominca from Western Illinois University. She writes about Native American issues, equity in higher eduction, and travel. Ursula is a member of the Karuk Tribe and grew up in Oregan and California. Her debut book An Indian among los Indigenas: A Native Travel Memoir about Two years in Bolivia, South American, will be published by Heyday Books in April 2021. You can find her work in Ligeia Magazine, Yellow Medicine Review, World Literature Today , O'Dark 30, and the Rio Review
Buy Ursula’s book: https://ursulapike.com/
Michelle Hernandez is a Native American filmmaker and photographer. She is a Wiyot tribal member and grew up on the Table Bluff Reservation. She is currently pursuing her Masters in Film and Electronic Media at American University in Washington, D.C. She received her B.A. at Cal Poly Humboldt in both Film and Native American Studies. Many of her work focuses on the importance of culture, traditions, and identity, as well as dealing with Native American subjects. With her work she wants to give voice to stories that help break down stereotypes.
Learn more about the Douk Film: https://www.doukfilm.com/
Fig Fishkin (also goes by Ariel, uses they/them pronouns) has lived on Wiyot land since 2010. Prior to that, they lived on Yokut and Bay Miwok land. They are obsessed with Transformative Justice, and figuring out how we can respond to conflict in ways that strengthen bonds in our communities. They are also a local musician under the project name Blood Hunny. For paid labor, they work as a Community Health Promoter with Vision y Compromiso helping folks sign up for and access Medi-Cal Benefits.
Listen to their music: www.bloodhunny.bandcamp.com
Jackie Keliiaa (Yerington Paiute and Washoe) is a stand-up comedian, writer, actor and producer based in Oakland, California. You can find her in the 2021 release, We Had a Little Real Estate Problem: The Unheralded Story of Native Americans & Comedy. She was featured on Illuminative's 25 Native American Comedians to Follow, was Comic of the Week on The Jackie And Laurie Show, took over Tig Notaro's Twitter and she was awarded a 2020 Endurance, Hope and Community Commission from the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival to write a TV pilot - and that's just during the pandemic!
Learn more about Jackie: jackiecomedy.com
Jim Ruel is a comedian, writer, director, producer and actor. He is a member of the Bay Mills Band of Ojibwe. He grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with his brother and five sisters. He first tried standup comedy at a junior high talen show. However it was not until after college that he began performing in comedy clubs around the midwest. In 2001, he was a finalist in NBC's Diversity Talen Search in New York City, which ultimately led to his first television appearance on 'The World Stands Up' which was taped in London, England. He was gone on to appear on Showtime with 'Goin Native: the American Indian Comedy Slam,' PBS on 'Crossing the Line: Multiracial Comedians,' and on FNX with "first Nations Comedy Experience".
Follow Jim on Twitter: https://twitter.com/nativecomedian
