National Museum of the American Indian Celebrates Earth Day With Its Annual Living Earth Festival

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By Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian

April 05, 2021

Online Festival Features Native American Business Representatives, Films and Youth Leaders on Sustainability and Innovation in Indigenous Agriculture 

In celebration of Earth Day, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian presents its annual Living Earth Festival, available online and on demand this year. The four-day festival will bring together Native innovators and practitioners dedicated to using Indigenous knowledge to protect and sustain the environment. Through conversations, cooking demonstrations and film screenings, this year’s festival explores agriculture trends, innovations and sustainability in Indigenous communities and Native-owned businesses. All events will stream at americanindian.si.edu/living-earth.

The festival will open with a message from Notah Begay III (Navajo/San Felipe/Isleta), four-time PGA Tour champion, sportscaster and founder of the Notah Begay III Foundation, which provides health and wellness education to Native youth. 

The festival is made possible through the support of the Native American Agriculture Fund. This program will be followed by a webinar series in the summer and fall titled “Part II: Voices from the Field: The Business of Native Agriculture.” In the second series, Native farmers and ranchers will discuss sustainable food systems and agricultural economic development in their Nations. 

Schedule:

Building an Agriculture Business in Indian Country 

Experts address a crucial issue—creating innovative, robust and ecologically sound food systems and agricultural businesses in Indigenous communities.  Speakers include Dawn Sherman (Lakota/Delaware/Shawnee), CEO of Native American Natural Foods; Mark N. Fox, Chairman, Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation; and Leonard Forsman, Chairman, Suquamish Tribe. Moderated by Carmen Davis (Makah/Chippewa Cree/Yakama), editor of Native Business magazine.

Youth in Action: Sustainable Agriculture 

This panel discussion brings together young Indigenous leaders to address the role that traditional ecological knowledge plays in their work as farmers and entrepreneurs. Moderated by Michaela Pavlat (Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians). Panelists include Kelsey Ducheneaux-Scott (Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe), Jack Poshano (Hopi) and Marco Ovando (Shoshone-Paiute Tribe).

Cooking Demonstration 

Mariah Gladstone (Blackfeet/Cherokee Nation), founder of Indigikitchen, an online cooking platform, will explore traditional Indigenous foods and show how to incorporate them into people’s everyday lives. 

Film Screenings:  

Gather

(USA,2020,74 min.)

Director: Sanjay Rawal

Producer: Sterlin Harjo (Seminole/Creek)

Gather is an intimate portrait of the growing movement amongst Native Americans to reclaim their spiritual, political and cultural identities through food sovereignty, while battling the trauma of centuries of genocide.

Voices from the Barrens: Native People, Blueberries and Sovereignty

(USA, 2020, 56 min.)

Director: Nancy Ghertner

Canadian Director: Brian J. Francis (Mi’kmaq)

This film documents the wild blueberry harvest of the Wabanaki, who live in both the United States and Canada.

Crow Country: The Right to Food Sovereignty

(USA, 2020, 21 min.)

Director: Tsanavi Spoonhunter (Northern Arapaho/Northern Paiute)

Crow Country follows several tribal members who are fighting for better food and a better future for their community.

One Word Sawalmem

(USA, 2019, 18 min.)

Director: Natasha Deganello Giraudie

Co-director: Michael “Pom” Preston (Winnemem Wintu)

A rare look into the life of Native wisdom keepers, men and women respected within Indigenous communities for their intimate knowledge about living in balance with the natural world.

Guardianes de semilla (Guardians of the Seeds)

(Colombia, 2020,8 min.)

Director: Mauricio Telpiz

Four Pastos community members known as guardians of the ancestral seeds showcase traditional rituals.