Abenaki Land Link Part I

Food Sovereignty is basically when a person or a people have agency over their foodways.  Many people today do not have this agency, including Vermont’s indigenous communities.  We heard from Chief Don Stevens of the Nulhegan band of the Abenaki in episode 10, Indigenous Food Sovereignty in Vermont, about his three pronged approach to creating more food security for Abenaki citizens.    

For Abenaki people today, growing and distributing culturally relevant and healthy food is challenging because of the limited access to tribal lands.  Chief Don Stevens and others have addressed this difficulty by cultivating partnerships with generous land stewards and organizations like NOFA-VT, the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont.   

In episode 11 we heard about the work of Seeds of Renewal and Alnobaiwi, Abenaki led programs that bridge traditional and contemporary foodways.  Many seeds from Seeds of Renewal make it into tribal gardens and Abenaki Land Link gardens across the state, gardens and growers that are coordinated by NOFA-VT.   

On this episode we get out to the field and hear about growing Abenaki foods in Vermont, while we connect again with Chief Don Stevens and with Zea Luce of NOFA-VT.

This episode was produced by Stephen Abatiell.

Special thanks to Chief Don Stevens, Zea Luce, and all of the Abenaki Land Link growers across the state.

To learn more, check out NOFA-VT’s Agricultural Literacy Week YouTube video on the Abenaki Land Link Project or at NOFAVT.org.  

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