Partners 15

Tribal Natural Resources

Segment-Edible Landscape

Hank Miller/Nebraska Indian Community College

It's a big garden. We've had about 15 different people come and work on
it.

Narrator

Hank Miller is the natural resources director at Nebraska Indian
Community College.

Hank and others have established this 10-acre community garden near
Santee, Nebraska as part of the Natural Resources Education grant. The
goals of this effort are to produce food for needy community members,
serve as an outdoor lab for community college students, and reconnect
residents to traditional plants. The native people of this area have a
long tradition of using the land to produce food.

Hank Miller

A lot of the elders are really worried about losing those skills. What
we're trying to do with the community garden right now is use technology
in a good ecological way that works with the old ways and try to
re-instill that interest again.

I think the average wage in Santee is about \$8,000 a year. So I feel
that part of my job and responsibilities is trying to help teach people
how to raise healthy food.

What we want to do is we want other people to do what we're doing. Not
necessarily as big, but doing it for themselves. And what we're trying
to do is create food for the elderly, the poor -- who ever really needs
it. And it's the Indian way.

The other thing that's kind of neat is that we've had both the white
culture and the Indian culture come together and work on this. The
communications relationships, I think that's even getting better. I like
that. I think this could be a real good example of about how we can all
work together.

We hope that students or other interested people in the reservation
after we get the marketing established that they become excited and want
to do it for themselves. So we're trying to create opportunities as well
as increase the food supply.

Narrator

Another grant project is Sinte Gleska University's native herb garden on
the Rosebud Reservation. The emphasis here is to reconnect the residents
with their rich medicinal plant heritage.

Erin Black Feather/Sinte Gleska University

This is the mullen plant and it can be used as an analgesic -- a pain
killer. And it's widely used for chest complaints, such as bronchitis...

Narrator

Erin Black Feather is a Sinte Gleska University intern at the garden.

Student in blue

Eight.

Erin Black Feather

Eight.

Narrator

Erin and others know the importance of this effort. Since many of these
prairie plants are over-harvested, the garden serves to protect the
species locally. It also acts as a 'hands-on' training ground for
students.

Erin Black Feather

We're growing all types of mints, different types of sage, mullen,
fenel, bee balm...

The ones that are growing out in the fields naturally-they are being
over-harvested by people that are coming from out of town. So this could
be a great project to restore them.

You can make teas out of these plants and drink it or else it can be
applied to your body, the tea. You can grind it up and combine it with
other stuff like olive oil, and that will be like a lotion. It's really
great to take care of plants and watch them grow and learn of their
different uses and their habitats.

I learn better when something's right in front of me, you know, and I
can make a medicine and create a salve or something. And whereas in
class, you know, it's kind of hard for me to absorb all the information
when I am reading it. But I'll remember it better when it's hands-on.

Narrator

In addition to providing educational opportunities, Sioux traditions are
also being practiced here at the Rosebud Reservation herb garden.

Erin Black Feather

We offer the tobacco and it's a sign of respect towards the plant
because we have to give something since we're taking part of the plant.
Anybody who's interested in coming out here and learning about the
plants is going to find out how they're used and, what they can be used
for.

Narrator

To get the word out to more people, Sinte Gleska University started
"Herbs-Why herbs?" The series ran consecutive weeks in the local
newspaper.

Natalie Johner/Todd County Tribune

We serve Todd County and the Rosebud Reservation.

We had a lot of people comment that they liked it- a lot of the
ranchers, the farmers, and a lot of the native people-they also liked
it. Being a native myself, we were nomads and relied on herbs to keep us
healthy, feed us, and so on. So I thought it was really a great idea.
People read it. People Liked it.

Narrator

Another natural resource project at the university is focused on sage, a
plant that is decreasing rapidly on the Rosebud reservation. Project
scientists have collected plant samples and are conducting propagation
trials with future plans to re-introduce sage on tribal lands.

Tim Nichols/South Dakota State University

The sage project came about because of the collaboration that was formed
by the Natural Resources Education project. Our colleagues at Sinte
Gleska University had needs and ideas. We will have trials here on the
reservation. We'll also have a set of trials at South Dakota State
University and Iowa State University. So the NRE in this project has
been a catalyst.

Narrator

Back in Nebraska, Hank Miller also collaborates with other partners such
as the University of Nebraska on prairie and riparian woodland
restoration.

Hank Miller

In 100 years, Nebraska has lost over 80% of their native, tall-grass
prairie

Narrator

Now, the group is taking crop land that erodes easily, like this corn
field, and converting it to profitable prairie.

Fields are plowed...

Holes are dug...

The planting crew goes to work...

Plants are watered...

Eventually, fields like this will nurture young saplings and other
native plants.

Hank Miller

We want to create opportunity and economic viability. So within this
prairie restoration, we did these woody florals which are dogwoods and
willows of different types. And we can harvest those and sell them to
florist markets.

We're doing seed collection on wild flowers. We're trying to create our
own package and our own marketing of wildflower seed from each
reservation.

The networking and the relationships and the bonds that have been formed
are incredible. Incredible personally for me but also for me to do my
job. I've got a question -- I can call anyone of those people involved
in that grant and it's there.

You know, tribal colleges-we don't have a huge budget. So the help of
these 1862s is immense. And people are so willing. If we're willing to
work together with an open mind, we can be better at the end then work
separate. And I think this program that we've had shows that immensely.