Anishinaabe Agriculture Institute is a non profit organization.
The Anishinaabe Agricultural Institute is working to restore agro-biodiversity, through restoring local food systems, hemp, and traditional heritage varieties. We are focused on regenerative and reduced petroleum agriculture.
Our seeds are our future, and they are the future of food
Artwork by Steve Premo
FROM THE SEED TO THE TABLE, FROM THE ANIMAL TO THE PLATE. A RESPECTFUL SET OF RELATIONS TO RESTORE A HEALTHY FOOD SYSTEM TO OUR PEOPLE
Our value adds product development, and training a next generation of farmers for our communities, in our region and nationally. We are working particularly with hemp, focused on hemp fiber and CBD varietals, which we seek to adapt for the north-country, as a part of an integrated agriculture rotation. In the upcoming year, we will work on an integrated marketing program to support tribal agriculture, and a particularly focused program on the development of tribal hemp.
We formed in 2017, we formed the Anishinaabe Agricultural Institute to focus on this work and build a stronger regional and national food and hemp economy. In particular, we are working on tribal hemp ordinances and integrated strategies to restore small farmers.
We are a registered non-profit organization have applied for a tax-exempt status.
REMATRIATION
Elaine Fleming
“Patriarchal repatriation, as it relates to bringing these seeds home again. In many communities, including our Mohawk tradition, the responsibility of caring for the seeds over the generations is ultimately within the women’s realm. Both men and women farm and plant seeds, but their care and stewardship are part of the women’s bundle of responsibility. So the word rematriation reflects the restoration of the feminine seeds back into the communities of origin. The Indigenous concept of rematriation can also encompass the reclaiming of ancestral remains, spirituality, culture, knowledge, and resources. It simply means back to Mother Earth, a return to our origins”
Gitigaanidaa - Let's Garden
featuring Ojibwes and Hoes
2019 features: Frank Bibeau, Christi Belcourt, Elaine Fleming, Isaac Murdoch, Ronnie Chilton, Dakota Water Protectors, Martin Curry and Red Lake Food Sovereignty Project
Outreach Work | Tribal Hemp Education
We are co-sponsoring with Winona’s Hemp the Anishinaabe Hemp Conference, Feb. 28th 2019 at Maplelag resort on the White Earth reservation. Attended by 70 or so people representing Indigenous nations from Saskatchewan Dakota to Ho Chunk and Mesquakie Nations, we were able to provide a forum including horticulture, seed varieties and tribal jurisdictional issues.
Anishinaabe Agriculture Farm
The anchor farm is the Anishinaabeg Agriculture Farm and Research Institute. Here, we have hemp, corn, beans, squash, potatoes, tobacco, basil, farmers market vegetables and hemp varietals- both CBD and fiber varieties.