Speaker: Rowen White | Air Date: May 15, 2018 | Run Time: 51 mins | The Native Seed Pod Series: Season 1
The Native Seed Revolution
Host Melissa Nelson visits with Mohawk Seed Keeper Rowen White at her family’s Sierra Seeds farm in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains on the Yuba watershed in Northern California. Rowen shares her journey to grow and restore ancestral seeds and build a special seed kiva. In this session Rowen takes us through her unique holistic, indigenous permaculture approach to seed stewardship which honors the many layers of seed culture that are rooted in an indigenous ecology of interconnected relations. Learn about the beautiful seed legacy of the indigenous peoples of Turtle Island and the work being done today for seed sovereignty and sacred earth stewardship.
ABOUT ROWEN
Rowen White is a Seed Keeper from the Mohawk community of Akwesasne and a passionate activist for seed sovereignty. She is the director and founder of Sierra Seeds, an innovative organic seed cooperative focusing on local seed production and education, based in Nevada City, California. She teaches creative seed training immersions around the country within tribal and small farming communities. As part of this effort she is the national project coordinator of the Indigenous SeedKeepers Network which works to nourish and assist the growing Seed Sovereignty Movement across Turtle Island (North America). She is also the co-author of Breeding Organic Vegetables: A Step by Step Guide for Growers.
ADDITIONAL WORKS BY ROWEN WHITE:
Seed Songs blog
Indigenous Seedkeepers Network
A New Chapter for Food Sovereignty, Indian Country Today, May 2017
Rowen White: The Seed Path, Toasted Sister Podcast, March 2017
Documentary film project Open Sesame: The Story of Seeds
Works about Rowen White:
Documentary ‘SEED: The Untold Story’ Tells of Indigenous Guardians of Seed Diversity, Indian Country Today, by Kristin Butler, April 18, 201
CREDITS
Host/Writer/Co-producer: Melissa K. Nelson
Producer: Sara Moncada
Co-producer: Mateo Hinojosa
Audio Editor and Engineer: Colin Farish
Audio Assistants: Luke Reppe, Maya Harjo
Songs (in order of appearance):
Eagle Dance song, sung by Eddie Madril
Kanyon’s Chumash Grandmother Song - Kanyon Sayers-Roods
Mohawk seed song - Rowen White
Original song in Tongva language - L Frank Manriquez
Ohlone group with Kanyon Sayers-Roods