2020 Indigenous Communities Fellowship
Enchant the Environment - Plant is Life
One-line solution summary:
Educate permaculture, share ancestral food, and reclaim ancestral knowledge.
Pitch your solution.
Plant is life, is the foundation for food, medicine, and construction. Community members in rural area increasingly lack nutritious foods, housing opportunities, and economic growth. Enchant the Environment, will support the people through educational trainings and self application by designing a land management plan. Teaching the community how to continually produce and cook food with ancestral knowledge. Utilizing food as medicine to understand ancestral techniques. Provide assistance with shelter or homesite while servicing on tribal land. The solution is food sovereignty and exercising the Democracy rights of the land. The relationship between all life forms are to co-exist. A nonprofit organization will be accountable for the function of aiding the people in respect to all life forms. Multiple communities can advocate and specify details from different regions by networking to correlate information. The alliance of communities will grow to support each other from expansion to emergency.
What specific problem are you solving?
Health equity for the people to experience longevity and continue generational wealth of knowledge. Health and wellness are vital for the people to grow their wellbeing mentally, physically, and emotionally. Self-expression through cultural heritage is part of our identity. Majority of the people are affected from historical trauma, slump of economic development, and injustice from the Government system.
The problems for indigenous
communities are experiencing hunger, unsheltered, and un-employment over %50 in
the Northern Agency, Navajo Nation. The culture clash of US Democracy, US
commerce, and tribal living for tribal sovereignty is difficult or confusing.
Why are indigenous people surviving on their own land when visitors can
generate large some of wealth and disappear?
What is your solution?
Enchant the Environment program, will build community wealth from the land by supplying nutritious food for the people, usage of renewable energy, and educate how to provide from themselves. The solution is creating space to grow food, cook food, and living space to prosper. We are building health equity for indigenous communities. Allowing our mind and body to heal as we reclaim our ancestral way of life in the millennium.
The decrease of hunger and unsheltered people in tribal lands is the goal. Advocate for healthy living through ancestral food and homesite. The program will support families and individuals who live without a natural food system and/or proper shelter. Participants will gain therapy and build relationships with the land, plants, water, and fire.
The process is to identify the participant for eligibility, analyze the land/homesite, address development, develop budget, and recruit individuals to assist with development.
Infrastructures include; small home (earthship/hogan), rocket stove, outhouse, shade house, sweat lodge, green house, flower bed, seed bank, oven pit, bread oven, solar panel, wind turbine, hydro turbine, battery source, swale, irrigation, ditch, and seeds.
Technology required; tractor, backhoe, front-in loader, lever, cultivator, truck, flatbed trailer, chainsaw, power tools, hand tools, and PPE.
Strong preference will be given to Native-led solutions that directly benefit and are located within the Indigenous communities. Which community(s) does your solution benefit?
Based in Shiprock, New Mexico, the target population of tribal members will be the communities (Upper Fruitland, Kirtland, Ojo Amarillo, Nenanezad, Waterflow, San Juan, Shiprock, and Gadii ah) living along the San Juan River, San Juan County, New Mexico. Utilizing the power of the river will generate food and renewable energy. The participant to receive services will be a practitioner of farming, gardening, ranching, or herbalist. Other factors include stability of home if any housing assistance or home improvements are required. Further documentation includes home site lease and land use permit. If no electricity available, eligibility for renewable energy can be applied. If no clean water available, eligibility for water system can be applied. If no heat available, eligibility for rocket stove can be applied.
Benefits of participant receiving services will share knowledge of infrastructure and hold workshops on the land. Outdoor therapy will be beneficial for the people as the plants and animals are nursed. Technology or infrastructure implemented will be environmentally friendly.
The limit of services for a participant will be determined by the Board of Directors and project director.
Which dimension of the Fellowship does your solution most closely address?
Provide healthy and sovereign food, sustainable energy, and safe waterExplain how the problem, your solution, and your solution’s target population relate to the Fellowship and your selected dimension.
The problem, solution, and target population are intertwine to serve indigenous communities. Problems arise from no generational wealth to extend, no shared knowledge, and minimal resources to thrive. Solutions are provided from a perspective of ancestral knowledge and usage of millennial technology. Target population are directly from the Navajo Nation or other tribal nation. Participants will build their set of skills from planning, building, and teaching. The practice of clanship will be applied to understand how to build tribal networks among community members. Overall goal is tribal members to learn how to provide for themselves and protect the community.
Who is the primary delegate for your solution?
Kyle Jim
What is your solution’s stage of development?
Pilot: An organization deploying a tested product, service, or business model in at least one communityIn what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Shiprock, NM, USAPlease indicate the tribal affiliation of your primary delegate.
Navajo
Is your primary delegate a member of the community in which your project is based?
Yes
Which of the following categories best describes your solution?
A new application of an existing technologyDescribe what makes your solution innovative.
Profitable businesses and outside companies are competition for Dine Introspective, Inc. The difference is, Enchant the Environment program will engage the communities from a indigenous perspective and account cultural teachings from the Navajo Wellness Model. The nonprofit organization will exercise advocacy for the people. Networks from across the nation will unite to develop and construct
Describe the core technology that powers your solution.
The technology for the project to benefit the people will have to be correctly operated. Infrastructure from the farm land to the homesite and in-between will maintain the livelihood of the community. As a community effort, the people will be served from the expense from the supporters, donors, contributors, and organization.
Required technology; tractor, front-in loader, backhoe, drill, leveler, cultivator, 4x4 truck, 4x4 van, flatbed trailer, chainsaw, power tools, hand tools, cement mixer, solar panel, wind turbine, hydro turbine, battery source, circuit breaker, water pump, water containers, light post, PVC pipe irrigation, laptop, software applications, camera, external hard drive, and PPE.
Provide evidence that this technology works.
Usage of such technology to build sustainability in the home to the landscape is viable. Creating infrastructure to build the farmland and create a home is sacred. Tribal members can continue to exercise community growth by helping each other and learning together.
The Rain Catcher, Inc.
http://theraincatcherinc.com/a-santa-fe-permaculture-food-forest/
New Mexico True
https://www.newmexico.org/earthships/
STAR School
https://sites.google.com/starschool.org/newsite
Please select the technologies currently used in your solution:
What is your theory of change?
Indigenous communities suffer from poor eating habits, dysfunctional growth developments, and unequal opportunities. The support of the people will help the community understand the collaboration and why the community effort is important. Building relationships with fellow community members is recommended for communities to flourish. Neighborhoods will support each other on a personal level to publicly advocating for economic development.
Solutions provided are opportunities for the people to heal, educate, teach, network, and build on the clanship of K'e. True tribal sovereignty will be the community relying on the neighbors for trade goods, skill, and leadership from all levels.
Select the key characteristics of your target population.
Which of the UN Sustainable Development Goals does your solution address?
In which state(s) do you currently operate?
In which state(s) will you be operating within the next year?
How many people does your solution currently serve? How many will it serve in one year? In five years?
Currently serving three farmers for a total of 10 acres. Services includes seed share, planting, transplanting, de-weeding, water hauling, irrigating, building water boxes, and land management. Other implements include a bread oven, oven pit, green house, harvest rain, solar farm, and wind turbine. Farmers appreciate the services and are willing to donate some produce to conduct food demonstrations and serve as grocery boxes to families. Assisting three famers will allow us in-kind donation to serve over 60 families with fresh produce.
The following year, the expansion of the program will include an additional three farmers/garden/rancher or herbalist. The acreage of the land will be at a total of 20. Assisting six farmers will provide in-kind donation to serve over 100 families with fresh produce.
Five years, the collection of approximately 18 farmers will be assisted to grow food and revitalize the land. Estimated acreage of 60 to produce in-kind donation to serve over 300 families in the local communities.
Farmers will most likely be older adults who are recruiting young family members to practice. Services will also encourage and inspire young people explore, lead, and take action.
What are your goals within the next year and within the next five years?
The next year is to focus on the food aspect of working with the land, atmosphere, and acknowledge where the water flows. Land management plan will be developed at each farm plot/homesite. Also building the seed bank catalog to recognize the benefits of each plant for medicine. Many farm lands have been untouched for several years and contain invasion of unwanted vermin. Removal of unwanted plants and vermin are underway to clear the path for food, water, and construction. Establish networks from the private sector, government offices, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and utility companies, and nonprofit organizations.
Next five years will be the stage of fully constructing earth ships for individuals to provide and protect their crops for the community. Land management will be transparent from the owner, project, and government offices. Funding for projects will be well calculated and out sourced. Materials and labors will be from the local region. The goal is Dine Introspective, Inc., to represent the community and create wealth for the people through the land.
What barriers currently exist for you to accomplish your goals in the next year and in the next five years?
Current challenges are the pandemic of COVID19 and endangering the people to the exposure of the virus. Financially, the organization is not a multi-million dollar company just yet, but we are committed to serve the people. Dine Introspective, Inc., is nonprofit organization that is native owned and native operated. There are minimal resources from business loans, business space, and limited funding to hire people.
How do you plan to overcome these barriers?
From the pandemic, the creation of an emergency plan has been created to provide relief to the community. Usage of PPE, practice social distance, storing goods, and delivering care packages have been executed to serve over 2,000 families within the past 4 months. A storage facility is required to expand our services and reserve items for families for near future disasters.
Funding to operate the organization/program can evolve from in-kind donation, fundraising, selling products, and apply for grant funds from private, public, or government sector.
Business site will have to be allocated by the local governance Chapter House and the Regional Business Development Office. Business plan will be presented and gain the support from the people.
Establish professional relationship to build credit for the nonprofit organization to apply for business loans. Approach banks from credit unions to national banks to gain support for business loans.
What type of organization is your solution team?
NonprofitHow many people work on your solution team?
Four full time staff are community members.
Two part time staff are committed to the organization.
Three contractors play a role toward completing community projects.
Over twenty volunteers are passionate to see the success of projects.
How many years have you worked on your solution?
Two years
Why are you and your team well-positioned to deliver this solution?
The team and I are tribal members, who are from this region of the land. We have experienced torment from oil & gas companies that extract resources from the land to pollute the community health. Dealt with elected politicians stealing money from the public who are suppose to serve the people. Little to no economic development has lead native families to settle outside the reservation and build the wealth of outsiders.
A large sum of our team grew up as farmers, ranchers, artist, musicians, and herbalist. As part of the younger generation, I understand the responsibility of caring for each other and defending all life forms for co-existence. Much of the team members are young parents, community activist, and Dine culture influence.
The team background extends from sacred ceremony to advocating for better quality of life. Team members are college educated, understand community service, and are outspoken to demand positive change. As a team, we are willing to learn from others, build professional relationships, comply with the government guidelines, and outreach for assistance.
What organizations do you currently partner with, if any? How are you working with them?
Dine Introspective, Inc., currently partners with Shiprock Area Food Access Coalition, Vegan Outreach, Shiprock Farmer's Market, Ben Farms Co., Healthy Futures Inc., Capacity Builders Inc., Indian Country Grassroot Support Inc., and Cortez Community Garden/Farm School LLC.
The working relationship is good and transparent. We are able to meet and strategically plan out projects, outreach, and rely on each other for support.
Collectively, we have the similar goals to serve the community and promote longevity.
What is your path to financial sustainability?
The financial sustainability will rely on in-kind donation, product sales, and apply for grand funding. Utilizing renewable energy and selling energy to utility companies. Producing and selling food. Catering events to promote healthy foods, local chefs, and ancestral knowledge. Banks will have to be approached for investments and loans.
What are your estimated expenses for 2020?
Estimated expenses for 2020 will be $40,000.00
Do you primarily provide products or services directly to individuals, or to other organizations?
Individual consumers or stakeholders (B2C)Why are you applying to Solve?
Solve can help aid the barriers of searching for funders, donors, and build the network of the Enchant the Environment program. Assist with gaining funds for a building and the design of the structure. Solve can also promote the program to help other tribes, organizations, or families. Solve will be the repulse to provide extra muscle in the indigenous communities.
In which of the following areas do you most need partners or support?
Please explain in more detail here.
Partnership goals is building health equity within indigenous communities. Resorting on community members for a solution and not relying so much on outside figures to direct the projects. Our goal is to heal the people from historical trauma, PTSD, or domestic violence with building a relationship with the plants, water, air, earth, and the community.
What organizations would you like to partner with, and how would you like to partner with them?
Nation wide, world wide, and tribal organizations are partners to be with Dine Introspective, Inc. Much excite to share ancestral knowledge from the simplistic natural elements of life to the birth of a seed. Build knowledge from the ground, document with current technology to share, and reclaim ancestral knowledge.
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Solution Name:
Enchant the Environment - Plant is Life