Haudenosaunee Three Sisters Gardening and Seed Saving with Rebecca Webster

Friday February 12th, 12pm-1pm

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Haudenosaunee Three Sisters Gardening and Seed Saving with Rebecca Webster

People and garden plants have reciprocal relationships with each other. We need to care for our gardens so the food there can nourish our bodies and our minds. Learn about how the Haudenosaunee people grow the three sisters (corn, beans, and squash) together in mounds and help each other out. Each plant is special and contributes to the garden in a unique way, just like people. It’s this sense of community and responsibility the three sisters shared with us that help form the foundation of who we are as a people. We will also learn about the importance of saving seeds from our gardens and sharing those seeds so we can continue to care for the next generation of our garden foods.

Dr. Rebecca Webster is an enrolled citizen of the Oneida Nation. She is also an Assistant Professor in the Department of American Indian at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Her research interests focus on tribal governance and food sovereignty. Her philosophy is that every time an indigenous person plants a seed, that is an act of resistance, an assertion of sovereignty, and a reclamation of identity. With these goals in mind, an Oneida faithkeeper named their 10 acre homestead Ukwakhwa: Tsinu Niyukwayay^thoslu (Our food: Where we plant things). Based on their farming practices, they started a YouTube Channel called Ukwakhwa (Our Foods) where they share what they learned about planting, growing, harvesting, seed keeping, food preparation, food storage, as well as making traditional tools and crafts. Dr. Webster is also a founding member of Ohe∙láku (among the cornstalks) a co-op of 10 Oneida families that grow 6 acres traditional, heirloom corn together. 

Minnesota Indian Women's Resource Center
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Minneapolis, MN  55404

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