What is the name of your organization?
United Indians of All Tribes Foundation
What is the name of your solution?
Restoration Agriculture
Provide a one-line summary or tagline for your solution.
This program restores degraded forests with native food-bearing species to establish food sovereignty for urban Native Americans in the Puget Sound.
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Seattle, WA, USA
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
USA
What type of organization is your solution team?
Nonprofit
Film your elevator pitch.
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What specific problem are you solving?
This program tackles biodiversity collapse, Indigenous cultural marginalization, and food insecurity through an integrated array of solutions. Indigenous people are subjected to disproportionately poor health and economic outcomes across the board, which is heavily related to decreased access to land and resources, especially traditional cultural foods and medicines. This is closely related to environmental degradation and inequitable/unsustainable development during colonization. This problem has only intensified in recent decades, with the lifespan of Native Americans dropping almost 7 years between 2019 and 2021 according to Census data. Currently, the life expectancy of Native Americans is barely higher than residents of Afghanistan, according to the World Population Review and the US Census. According to the NGO Move for Hunger, 1 in 4 Native Americans are food insecure, compared to 1 in 7 Americans. Urban Native Americans in Washington often face increased challenges due to a decreased lack of access to cultural traditions, land, economic opportunities, social services, and traditional foods compared to Natives living in relatively well-resourced reservation communities.
What is your solution?
United Indians of All Tribes Foundation hold the lease to 17 acres of forest in Discovery Park, Seattle. Much of this acreage is in need of restoration due to a heavy presence of invasive cherry laurel. This project would cut down and woodchip these trees (as well as woody underbrush) in combination with fungi spawn (saprotrophic and mycorrhizal), biochar (a carbon sequestering and soil fertility boosting amendment) and native seed balls. This process is an example of how urban forest tenders can simulate the chemical and biotic advantages of a controlled burn without actually having a fire, freeing up space for the planting of a diverse array of edible fruits, nuts, vegetables, and other desired cultural plants. Estimates have shown the potential for the eventual production of as much as one thousand pounds of produce per acre. All food would be given away for free to Indigenous youth, families, and elders through the existing UIATF Food Equity program. An additional project aspect will utilize berm and swale earthworks to capture rainwater on an existing sloped field, exemplifying an integrated system of agriculture and water quality protection.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
Urban Native Americans in the Puget Sound suffer from disproportionately poor economic and health outcomes, both compared to other races and to Native Americans in nearby reservation communities with thriving gaming industries. This program restores one of the only Native controlled greenspaces in Seattle with the aim of proving increased access to culturally relevant foods. Due to the adaptation of native plants, this also increases the diversity of species supported by the land while minimizing project maintenance needs such as fertilization and irrigation. This living laboratory of agroecology will not only help financially/nutritionally support Indigenous communities but will also be integrated into the educational programming of the United Indians Native Educators Consortium and Daybreak Star Preschool (Seattle's only preschool with an Indigenous oriented curriculum). Students of all ages will be able to receive an engaging, hands-on lessons that integrate ecology, anthropology, history, nutritional science, and more. UIATF hopes that increasing access to nutritious food can help to improve educational outcomes for Native students, as food insecurity is a leading cause of poor educational outcomes. Eventually, educational volunteer gardening days will allow members of the public to build community.