Keepseagle Fast-Track Grant Program

The organization will help retain tribal agricultural practices and cultural traditions through six new workshops, field trips and farm swaps, a gathering, and farmer-to-farmer networking. The project will outline best practices for hands-on training, mentoring and classroom-style education.

The Soy STEM Project will serve Native youth by introducing and teaching basic permaculture farming. Four camps will be held throughout the project year focused on raised beds with a hoop house, pollination (bees), landscape mapping, Indigenous land management, plant functions, climatic change, soils, natural propagation, garden contours, cleaning, and composting.

Ben Farms is an Indigenous-owned and -operated, multigenerational family farm on the Navajo Nation. Their mission is to cultivate neeshjhizhii (dry steamed Navajo white corn) that will nourish the body, mind and spirit. Their youth mentorship program shares traditional growing practices with local Navajo youth who have been subjected to significant trauma to foster healing, improve farming skills and promote entrepreneurship.

To build a more land-based sovereign survival structure, the Brave Heart Society will create a Dakota Farm Beginnings training program for new Native farmers. They currently have a partnership with Dakota Rural Action in South Dakota whereby they have promoted solar power in farm and tribal communities. With this Keepseagle funding, they will extend this partnership to adapt and present a culturally specific farm training program.

Youth from tribal communities in rural/remote Sonoma, Lake and Mendocino Counties in Northern California will learn how to create and use cold water leaching stations to process acorns in their acorn foods social enterprise. The youth will develop an educational video and conduct an event to train 10 community members in this method, thereby developing and increasing local producer capacity.

This project will support the development, organization, training and operation of a producer-owned cooperative on the Wind River Indian Reservation. The project will serve farmers and ranchers on the Wind River Reservation, both Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho. These producers include home gardeners and ranchers.

The Chippewa Cree Tribal Range will purchase a Portable Corral System and a Hydraulic Squeeze Chute to assist in outreach efforts and services to ranchers. The corral will provide local ranchers with a more efficient means to aid in animal health issues and potential diseases by reducing transportation costs to veterinarian hospitals in the area.

The Menominee Tribal community will be served through increased produce at the local farmers market. The college, which has run the market since its inception, will give local growers and farmers the opportunity to market their locally grown produce. This program will provide a stipend and gardening resources to individuals interested in producing specific vegetables.

Covenant Pathways has developed a demonstration farm, Spirit Farm, which utilizes regenerative farming practices that heal the hard southwestern soil and recover and reclaim traditional farming and spiritual practices. Each year they hold workshops in Navajo and Zuni communities, assist Navajo and Zuni members with gardens and farms, and employ members from both tribes to learn and work at the farm.

The Forest County Potawatomi Community will purchase maple sugaring equipment and expand the Tribe’s food sovereignty. The project will increase the community’s capacity to produce maple syrup and maple value-added products, which have been a traditional food staple. The farm will process members’ sap with the equipment, or offer to exchange maple sap for other farm products.

Fort Peck Community College Agricultural Department will provide outreach to Native American farmers and ranchers on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, with an emphasis on engaging young people in careers in farming and ranching and sustaining the culture of the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribe as a horsemanship tribe.

Lakota Youth Development’s Honey Lodge is a youth-led social enterprise that develops entrepreneurial skills of youth of the Rosebud Indian Reservation. This project gives resources to leaders to begin their own home grounds projects within their families’ 2.5-acre land allotments. The goal is for Lakota youth to be able to introduce culturally relevant and sustainable home grounds or small business plans as they weave traditional Lakota values, plants, and herbs into their daily lives.

Makoce Agriculture Development has acquired a mobile poultry processing unit (MPPU) that will be the first certified poultry processing system on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The MPPU will create an accessible and certified unit that will give producers a system to create locally sourced poultry. Through this equipment, Makoce Agriculture Development will be the initial incubator for local production growth and an integral part of developing a local food supply chain and food system.

NACDC Financial Services (NACDCFS) has been working to grow and strengthen Native American farmers and ranchers on eight reservation communities by helping them increase financial and business skills. NACDCFS will offer Native farmers and ranchers a suite of wrap-around services that include Native Ag Resource & Training Days, customized one-on-one technical assistance, and direct access to capital.

Pine Ridge Area Chamber of Commerce (PRACC) will facilitate the revitalization of the Oglala Stockgrowers and Landowners Association (OSLA). Previously, there were an estimated 125 Oglala ranchers and landowners with no group solely dedicated to protecting their interests. Customized training for members could also impact the Tribal agriculture industry and, in turn, the Reservation food system. PRACC will help OSLA become a legal entity to increase the capacity of all stock growers and landowners.

The Growing Future Farmers Project serves farmers of the Stockbridge-Munsee Community by creating hands-on learning experiences. The project supports workshops, tours, and an apprenticeship program to increase knowledge of sustainable fruit and vegetable production. This project shares information on traditional growing methods and new technologies and creates opportunities for participants to be involved in the Tribe’s demonstration farm.

The Quapaw Internship Program ensures Native Americans are prepared for careers in agriculture by providing internships to at least four individuals. Interns have the opportunity to develop individual goals and interest areas that will help determine their placement within the Quapaw Tribe. By the end of the project, each intern will gain experience proposing, implementing, and reporting on a project of their choosing.

Ndee Bikiyaa Market Development Project is creating a co-op of community farmers and ranchers to provide local food products to Ndee Bikiyaa Market. This project will create economic opportunities and support farmers and ranchers in selling their products to the community and growing the local food system.

Wind River Development Fund is an educational resource and financial institution supporting Native ranchers and farmers on the Wind River Reservation. This project will use First Nations’ Business of Indian Agriculture curriculum in classes at the Frank B. Wise Center. As a certified Native CDFI, Wind River Development Fund is also increasing its focus on providing agriculture loans, boosting technical assistance, and publicizing capital access opportunities.

The farm is a community-based grassroots effort to revitalize the ancient art of dryland farming on the Tohono O’odham Nation. This project will increase the capacity of a new generation of farmers through hands-on apprenticeships, workshops, classes, events and other forms of technical assistance.

The tribe will conduct an economic and technical feasibility study to examine the benefits and challenges of constructing a multi-species meat-processing plant. The plant will reconnect the community to traditional cultural foods by restoring commercial and wild bison herds, and will improve economic opportunities for producers and communities through value-added agriculture and nature-based businesses.

Choctaw Fresh Produce will deliver freshly harvested, locally grown organic produce to tribal members living on or near the Choctaw Indian Reservation in east-central Mississippi. Additionally, it will host cooking demonstrations to educate tribal members about health and nutrition, with a specific emphasis on working with tribal elders and diabetics.

Coffee Pot Farms is a Native American woman-owned business located in Dilkon on the Navajo Nation. It will establish a Native food co-operative to revitalize traditional corn fields, organize business workshops for local farmers, write and define culturally-appropriate food policies, and educate tribal members about Native food sovereignty. This grant was partially funded by Agua Fund.

Ekvn-Yefolecv is an Indigenous ecovillage that seeks to build an agricultural complex to conserve/restore bison and sturgeon to decolonize the Maskoke diet with traditional, bioregional animal proteins and vegetables. Additionally, the complex also will include a language immersion program where students can participate in agricultural/ceremonial practices involving bison, sturgeon and vegetable crops.

Fort Peck Community College’s Agricultural Department will create a new program to educate tribal youth on farming and ranching in their ancestral homelands. Native and non-Native youth will participate in cultural activities and workshops, and plant a community garden intended to decrease food insecurity and encourage youth to live a healthy lifestyle.

Laulima Kuha’o is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of the Indigenous peoples of Lanai by promoting community-based economic development. Native Hawaiian youth will participate in a series of agricultural workshops and events designed to further their connection to the ‘aina (land) and increase local food production.

The Learning Center at the Euchee Butterfly Farm, Inc. is a nonprofit founded by the Muscogee (Creek) Nation to provide training in butterfly farming to tribal citizens. Muscogee youth and adults will receive on-site training to produce butterflies for commercial sale and learn about economic development regarding small, non-traditional agricultural businesses.

The tribe has depended on shellfish harvesting long before first contact with the pilgrims. It seeks to preserve this traditional way of life by expanding the current shellfish farm to share this tradition with future generations, improve its capacity to engage national markets, and increase revenue to improve the economy.

The Oneida Nation promotes the development of food sovereignty and agriculturally based economic capacity within the 11 Wisconsin Indian communities. It will purchase, install and develop teaching tools for two professional juicers and one freeze-drying unit. This project will increase the skills and capacity of Wisconsin Indians to create and produce value-added products as a means of economic development.

The Pauma Band of Luiseño Indians has managed 160 acres of avocado and citrus groves for the past 30 years. The funding will purchase tools and equipment to increase production by 25 percent, produce 500 pounds of traditional seed crops, and partner with the Indian Health Council to improve access to traditional and healthy foods for a least 100 tribal members through cooking classes, farm tours, farm box delivery, and an improved farm stand.

The pueblo will convert an unused domestic well to an agricultural relief well for delivering water to Jemez farmers via the Pecos irrigation canal, and to add a water filling station for farmers to access water for small gardens and livestock. This project addresses the long-standing problem of water delivery, and increases the number of farmers and youth involved with traditional farming practices.

The tribe owns a meat-processing plant, feeding facility, greenhouses, beehives, row crops and a coffee-roasting facility that aim to increase community access to fresh, healthy foods, bolster the tribal economy, and increase Native food-system control. It will create 10 farmers’ markets, where it can educate 50 tribal members at each location about the health and economic benefits of locally grown foods.

Rosebud Economic Development Corporation established the Sicangu Food Sovereignty Initiative in 2014 to address food insecurity and diet-related illnesses on the Rosebud Reservation. It will launch a pilot program for new ranchers and farmers to implement incubator farm operations, and promote farming and ranching as a viable career option and source of livelihood. A portion of this grant was funded by Agua Fund.

Rosebud Ranch and Farming Enterprise was established by the Rosebud Sioux Tribe to breed and produce Angus cattle. It will offer range workshops to tribal members, ages 8-18, about rangeland grasses and plant identification, including traditional Lakota plants used for food and medicine. The goal is to use ranching to teach Lakota youth about kinship with the land.

Southwest Indian Agricultural Association, Inc. is a nonprofit organization with more than 300 members from 20+ Southwest tribes. This project will provide outreach and hands-on training on sustainable farming/ranching, community gardening, food safety, irrigation and agribusiness to 100 Native farmers. It will also provide technical assistance to individual farmers on business planning and grant assistance.

The White Mountain Apache Tribe established Ndée Bikíyaa (The Peoples’ Farm) in 2010. This project will increase the scope of the farm with a series of workshops focused on agribusiness education and skill-building. Through this education and training, participants will acquire skills to strengthen their identity as farmers and stewards of the land and water and catalysts of local traditional food economies.