Rowen White

Kanienten:hawi ( “she brings the snow”)

"Integral to a more just and beautiful food system is the way we rehydrate and integrate our cultural memories and stories, and how we regain a sense of who we are as a multitude of cultures through our foods and seeds."

-Rowen White

HER CONVICTIONS

She believes that cultivating a culture of belonging needs to be at the heart of food systems change, inviting a diversity of perspectives and voices, cosmologies and values. She believes that food is deeply healing and that when we restore our relationships with our ancestral foods, they help us recalibrate our deep internal knowing of who we are, and this is one of the greatest anecdotes to the diaspora of disconnection that is creating so much ecological and social chaos in these time.

INDIGENOUS SEEDKEEPER NETWORK

"We do not own the seeds, we borrow them from our Children”

-Mohawk Proverb

All across Turtle Island (North America) they are seeing a great resurgence of indigenous tribes building healthy and resilient food systems as a cornerstone to cultural and ecological renewal programs, as well as a means to reclaim indigenous economies and true economic and political sovereignty. The Indigenous Seed Keepers Network is helping leverage resources for indigenous communities cultivating culturally appropriate solutions to restoring seed stewardship of traditional foods.

The mission of the Indigenous Seed Keepers Network is to nourish and assist the growing Seed Sovereignty Movement. As a national network, we leverage resources and cultivate solidarity and communication within the regional grass-roots tribal seed sovereignty projects.

RESEEDING THE FOOD SYSTEM

"Reseeding the Food System" is a pod-cast in an interview style where Rowen White shares her love and passion for seeds, and how everything is being connected back to seeds. She also explains the effects of colonization on the traditional seeds and how she and others are working hard to bring back the seeds where they belong (a bit like different artefacts belonging to Indigenous People). Personally, I really like her view on how seeds are alive and have to be taken care of, and how they are always in evolution.

This podcast was screened in the weekend preceding the UWC day in September. I found it really interesting as local food consumption and healthy food is extremely important for me. This motivated me to start working on the greenhouse and the garden at Pearson College.

Here is the link for the podcast:

emergencemagazine.org/story/reseeding-the-food-system/

HER STORY

Rowen White was born in fall of 1979 in a blizzard, the origin of her Mohawk* name. She is from the Mohawk community of Akwesasne. She discovered her love for ancestral seeds at the young age of 17. She is a passionate activist for indigenous seed and food sovereignty. She resides on a beautiful seed sanctuary farm in Northern California, USA. She is the founder and Creative Director of Sierra Seeds which serves a wide and diverse community, and she also cultivates programs specifically for indigenous communities through her non-profit sister program, Indigenous Seedkeepers Network.

SIERRA SEEDS

Sierra Seeds is a local seed company committed to creating a growing network of seed growers in the Sierra Foothills region of Northern California.

"Local seeds=more sustainable agriculture!"

They have multiple workshops and discussions, where they guide farmers, gardeners, food justice activists to feel nourished, empowered and uplifted to grow their capacity as creative leaders, visionaries, and changemakers through mentorship on seed stewardship and food sovereignty.

Examples of Workshops

Homegrown Tamale

Homegrown Tortilla

WHAT ABOUT NOW?

Here is what Rowen White is up to right now to continue her engaging work in her community:

Launching the first cohort of her creative incubator/mentorship cohort called Seeding Change!
Collaborating with a few creative intuitives on an upcoming online writing course.
Interacting with the students in the community forums of their self-paced online course, Seed Seva Seasonal Mentorship.
Working on her memoir about finding her way home to a sense of place and purpose through restoring relationships to her ancestral seeds.
Sharing glimpses of her creative farm life through Instagram and continually maxing out the character count with her long-form IG captions.
Developing curriculum and providing facilitation for the Indigenous Women’s Flow Fund, a creative foray into radical philanthropy.
Taking a year sabbatical on speaking engagements.