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Description
At the end of the Mississippi River, in the place the Chahta (Choctaw) call Bvlbancha, the Okla Hina Ikhish Holo, People of the Sacred Medicine Trail, a network of femme and nonbinary Indigenous gardeners, is working urgently to respond to the climate crisis.
As climate catastrophes worsen, and extreme droughts and flooding become the new normal, it is imperative that Indigenous communities lead as we develop renewed systems for climate justice and food sovereignty. Globally, 80% of biodiversity existing within Indigenous territories, and several studies confirm that Indigenous peoples are the best stewards of their homelands, with Indigenous women and femmes providing the backbone of their communities and holding vast knowledge and skill gleaned through their traditional role as healers, culture shapers, and caretakers of water and land.
Okla Hina Ikhish Holo is re-establishing old trade routes and networks while adapting and co-designing new future paths for tradeways that strengthen decentralized systems of support, build circular economies, and support local biodiversity, food sovereignty, and stewardship of their traditional territories.
In the Mississippi River Delta, lndigenous territories are disappearing at one of the fastest rates on earth, due to a legacy of extractive practices and a changing climate. Developing and supporting local Indigenous food networks is crucial for ensuring the continuation of sacred and long-standing cultural practices connected to food, medicine, and the land.
Okla Hina Ikhish Holo, in collaboration with the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN), is working to defend and protect and to restore their lands and waters in the Mississippi River Delta and within the ancestral territories of the Chata and Mvskoke. Network members include: Ida Aronson (United Houma Nation), Dr. Tammy Greer (United Houma Nation), Angela Comeaux (Mvskoke / Cherokee / Chahta), Sasha Irby (Osage / Lakota / Mvskoke), Jenna Mae (Eastern Siouan / Mvskoke / Cherokee), Kellyn LaCour-Conant (Clifton Choctaw/Cane River Creole), Virginia Dove Richard (MOWA Band of Choctaw) and Monique Verdin (United Houma Nation).
Many thanks to:
- The amazing gardeners of the Okla Hina Ikhish Holo Network
- Monique Verdin (United Houma Nation), Project Leader and Co-Coordinator of WECAN Food Sovereignty Program; Director of the Land Memory Bank & Seed Exchange
- Osprey Orielle Lake, Executive Director of WECAN, Co-Coordinator of WECAN Food Sovereignty Program
- Film Editor: Teena Pugliese
For More Information
WECAN International
