Indigenous Seed Rematriation

media release: Celebrate Native American Heritage Month by joining this very special lunch webinar with Jessika Greendeer, a world-renowned seedkeeper who is a Ho-Chunk Nation tribal member from Baraboo. She is a ten-year US Army combat veteran and the recently-elected District 1 Ho-Chunk Legislator. She worked previously as the Agricultural Division Manager for the Ho-Chunk Nation. Now she tends a regenerative Seed Rematriation farm in Hudson called Little Sky's Farm, where building soil is a top commitment with cover crops and compost.

After serving during wartime in Afganistan and Iraq, Jessika recovered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder by connecting with agriculture and specifically, with seedkeeping. She considers it her lifework to grow and protect our seed relatives, as well as to train and inspire future seed keepers. We cannot wait to hear her story and learn.

Ho-Chunk oral tradition indicates the people have always been here, on traditional lands that span Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois. But during times of forced removals to Nebraska, Indigenous seeds traveled with Ho-Chunk people, sometimes swallowed whole and carried in stomachs for safekeeping as they escaped from enemies. The Seed Rematriation movement seeks to find, cultivate and return such seeds to the various Mother lands and Indigenous cultures from which they came. Jessika believes that seed soverienty is essential for food soverienty.

As women committed to conservation and stewarding land, how can we further develop that mission with a deeper understanding of Native American history on this land?   How can we collaboratively do this with respect, love and an open mind alongside a growing awareness of the wounding and traumatic actions of the past?  What roles can we play individually and as a community to together move forward and create healing change?  How can we more proactively use the roles we have --- farmers, business owners, mothers, spouses/partners, local community leaders and more -- to spark connection to and respect for the inspiring Indigenous story in Wisconsin? 

This will be a safe space to learn, to ask questions and to process in community.    We hope you will leave with a richer perspective on Wisconsin's complicated history and a hunger to experience some of the delicious and nutritious Indigenous food varieties being cultivated, shared, and celebrated in our state today.

Session details:

* No past experience or requirements! 

* All women - all those who identify as such - are welcome to attend. 

* This is intentionally a safe and informal space. Zoom-bombing kids and pets are always appreciated.

*It's a Lunch Zoom - feel free to show up on screen with food in front of you.

About Wisconsin Women in Conservation

Wisconsin Women in Conservation (WiWiC) is a state-wide collaborative effort led by the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute in partnership with Wisconsin Farmers Union, Renewing the Countryside and Marbleseed (formerly MOSES).  A five-year multi-faceted project funded by the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), WiWiC brings together Wisconsin's women landowners, farmers, farm workers, urban growers, and conservation professionals to connect and share about conservation practices, resources, and funding opportunities.