Niweskok Collective Advances Food Sovereignty and Obtains Land
Overview
Niweskok (From the Stars to Seeds) is a nonprofit collaboration of Wabanaki farmers, health professionals, and educators working to revitalize food systems for tribes in northeast Wabanakik (Maine). The collection is responsible for reclaiming traditional foods & healing for their communities, their peoples of the Wabanaki Confederacy (Penobscot, Wolastoqiyik, Mi’kmaq, Passamaquoddy, Abenaki), by practicing and promoting traditional crop cultivation, land-based education, and fisheries revitalization.
From Tribal Business News’ article Wabanaki food sovereignty group secures no-strings land deal by Chez Oxendine, Niweskok has secured 245 acres of a piece of land called the Goose River Farm in Wabanakik through innovative methods. This effort is an example of Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination through unconventional means. For the first time, Niweskok will have a permanent base for its programs after years of operating on borrowed and leased lands, according to co-director Alivia Moore to Tribal Business News.
“This project, for me, is about surviving genocide and the continuance of our values and lifeways as Wabanaki people,
We’ve always understood the importance of feeding ourselves, and this is about restoring our access and relationship to our traditional foods.”
-Alivia Moore, co-director of Niweskok, to Tribal Business News
Partners and Funding
A coalition of 12 organizations and several private donors, including the Maine Farmland Trust and the Coastal Mountains Land Trust, helped secure the land for Niweskok without easements, giving the Wabanaki nonprofit sovereignty over the property. Easements frequently accompany land returns or transfers which are often well-meaning. However, they can create barriers to Indigenous sovereignty and land management by preventing practices such as prescribed burning and fishing or zoning preventing buildings or infrastructure. Without restriction, Niwekok can continue to practice self-determination and food sovereignty, preserve the culture and traditions of the Wabanaki Confederation, and create a strong community by […].
With the support of their partners, the organization has already raised $1.9 million towards the purchase but will need a final burst of fundraising through the end of January 2025 to complete the acquisition.
Development and Planning
According to Tribal Business News, Niweskok plans to develop land rehabilitation projects, improve biodiversity by reintroducing traditional plants and animals, and build new infrastructure, such as a butchery, greenhouses, and plant nurseries on the Goose River Farm.
Niweskok also plans to host community programs such as teaching foodways, apprenticeships, medicinal collection and sales, and community workshops. Traditional foods and medicines planned for cultivation include green corn, black cohosh, and oak and maple trees.
The new center will help restore trade and food assistance between Wabanaki tribes while rebuilding important cultural touchstones.
“Our strength comes from our ability to move foods through our communities. [Through education and agriculture programs,] they’re bringing back those community bonds.”
-Anthony Sutton, assistant professor of Native American Studies and Food Systems at the University of Maine Orono, said to Tribal Business News