Designing Ecological Habitats - Gaia Education

eviving tHe past to sustain tHe future : native sioux agricultural systems 137
In direct response to these kinds of messages, a Native American nonprofit
organization – Ta S’ina Tokaheya Foundation – was established in
1989 on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Ta S’ina Tokaheya, meaning
‘First Robe’, is the Lakota name of the founder: Michael Burns Prairie
Sierra, a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. Michael had been searching
for many years to find a way to address the Third World living conditions
present on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
Ta S’ina Tokaheya Foundation promotes economic self-sufficiency
through sustainable/organic farming, seed-banking based on traditional
farming practices, and Ti O’sapaye development (sustainable community
development based on traditional Lakota models). Green building and
wind energy enterprises also were incorporated. By utilizing affordable
and sustainable lifestyle alternatives and reviving and incorporating
traditional Lakota principles, this model has served as an example and
opportunity to improve quality of life for other reservations and nonreservation
communities.
A key component of Ta S’ina’s work was the creation of a Native
American seed bank to preserve ancient seed species. These seeds are vital
to providing a consistent, reliable, and healthy food source. Traditionally, the
Lakota were nomads who obtained their food primarily by hunting buffalo
and harvesting wild-crafted foods. Eventually they adopted native farming
practices from surrounding plains tribes. On reservations today, however,
the Sioux diet, like that of most tribes throughout North America, is heavily
reliant on federal food commodities. Every registered member of the Sioux
Tribe receives white sugar, white flour, powdered milk, eggs, lard, coffee,
and canned meat.
As cultural traditions eroded on reservations and government food
subsidies replaced the incentive for practicing sustainable food production,
traditional diets based on hunting/gathering and agriculture vanished. As
a direct result, death rates from diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and cancer
have soared among Native Americans. However, preliminary studies
have indicated that this trend can be reversed by a return to the ancestral
Native American, Paleolithic diet of protein and fiber found in corn,
beans, squash, grains, greens, deer, bison, and other wild-crafted foods.
The traditional diet, high in fiber and protein, normalizes blood sugar
levels, suppresses cravings for processed foods, and significantly reduces
the occurrence of diet related diseases.
Over the past two decades, Ta S’ina Tokaheya Foundation has focused
its activities on the collection and cultivation of endangered seed species
to preserve crops that have evolved in Native American cultures. The
ultimate value of seed-banking native seeds is to preserve the inherent
genetic memory they possess. This genetic memory contains a natural
resistance to harsh climate conditions and an inherent resistance to pests
and disease. These seeds are extremely hardy and reliable and are naturally
acclimatized to particular bioregions; they are also high in nutritional value.
Since these seeds were the source of survival foods for the plains tribes,