Mishtaadim- Anishinaabe Youth Horse Farming and Community programs

Project Overview

YENC24-218
Project Type: Youth Educator
Funds awarded in 2024: $6,000.00
Projected End Date: 02/15/2026
Grant Recipient: Anishinaabe Agriculture
Region: North Central
State: Minnesota
Project Manager:
Winona LaDuke
Anishinaabe Agriculture
Project Co-Managers:
Kara Knowles
Anishinaabe Agriculture

Commodities

Not commodity specific

Practices

  • Education and Training: mentoring, youth education
  • Energy: Horse-powered farming

    Proposal abstract:

    We have five Indigenous and organic farms in the Crow Wing and White Earth reservation area which provide food to our villages, our cultural events, ceremonies, and markets. We wish to deepen the work on these farms with horses. We have a  youth horsemanship program, our Green Riders Program, and now plan to integrate our youth horse programs with our farming programs through training in fish emulsion, manure spreading, various small and larger scale cultivating equipment, and seasoned farmers, including Amish farmers as neighbors.  We understand that the carbon footprint of our horse farming is benevolent.FAll-Report-AAI.pages

    Project objectives from proposal:

    l. Increase horse farming activities to five acres in 2024, on these farms. 

    2. Increase the youth farming experience of 8 youth, lead horse people, with training by Kara and others by 8 sessions on fields, with additional emerging youth horse riders, learning from this experience and understanding that horse power with horses is a viable farming system. 

    3. Produce food using these methods for our village, delivered by horse and wagon.

    4. Develop a video and set of media on this amazing work to share in social media and with youth programs in tribal communities in our region. 

    Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and should not be construed to represent any official USDA or U.S. Government determination or policy.