Photograph courtesy of Lisa Waterman Gray
Housed inside a welcoming midtown Tucson shop, the nonprofit本地种子/搜索works to preserve endangered or rare plants of the Sonora Desert region. To accomplish this the organization sources, stores, distributes and sells approximately 1,900 varieties of drought-tolerant, non-GMO (genetically modified organism) seed.
关于two thirds of the Native Seeds/SEARCH ‘library’ comes from Southwestern U.S. and Mexico Native American communities. Seeds range from chiltepin chiles (ancestor to most chiles) to chapalote ‘Pinole Maiz.’ A corn variety grown for thousands of years, this chapalote combines high protein and fiber with low fat and simple sugar and no GMO pollen contamination. Reintroduced in the Gila River Indian Community near Phoenix and in the Santa Cruz River Valley, pale-colored heirloom White Sonora Wheat resists both rust and fungus. Brewers and bakers especially appreciate its sweet, earthy flour flavor and nutty texture.
Native American health challenges instigated creation of the organization. Native Seeds cofounders, Gary Nabhan and Mahina Drees, collaborated with the Tohono O’odham Nation to help them establish gardens that would support their nutritional needs.
根据美国卫生与公共服务部的数据，与非西班牙裔白人相比，成年美国原住民的发病率是2型糖尿病的两倍。从10岁到19岁，在1990年至2009年期间，该年龄段的诊断患有糖尿病和诊断的可能性增加了110％。
“我们的创始人认为，西南地区对土著人民生命的威胁对在充满挑战的气候中蓬勃发展的非常杰出的农作物植物不可逆转地灭绝，”保护计划经理尼古拉斯·加伯说。“搜索代表西南濒危的阿里德兰兹资源交换所。“清算房屋”通过交易所而不是销售传达了该收藏的访问。”
该组织的美国原住民种子请求计划每年在西南原住民的美国原住民和居住在其他地方的区域部落成员中每年分配10个免费或低成本的传统种子包。在过去的五年中，本地种子/搜索已收到约450-550个请求，约占总种子分布的20％。
“Our partners [include] Hopi Tutskwa Permaculture. We have taught seed saving classes this year at Kykotsmovi with Hopi Tutskwa Permaculture as our hosts. We have also increased the numbers of Native American farmers in our Bulk Seed Exchange, from 1 out of 6 total farmers in 2016 to 6 out of 11 in 2018.”
与土著农民合作促进了种子的获取和主权，使传统农产品可用于古代食谱中所需的特殊风味和烹饪特性。该计划支持小型农民，他们在每次成功的收获后都会促进种子并返回其中一部分。
“We make larger quantities of seed available for farmers to plant at field-scale in exchange for 1.5 times the amount provided at harvest, and we pay for any amount over that which the farmer is willing to sell us,” Garber says.
Recent partnerships have included Ndée Bikíyaa (The People’s Farm) at White Mountain Apache, two independent growers at Hopi, one independent grower at Okay Owingeh (Santa Clara) Pueblo, Owl Peak Farm in La Madera, NM – led by a descendant of Taos Pueblo – and Crooked Sky Farms, run by a Cherokee farmer in Phoenix, AZ.
Community Seed Grants comprise another 11% of annual distributions. Recipients include more than 100 schools, food, banks, senior centers and seed libraries that promote nutrition, food security, education and/or community resilience, especially among underprivileged groups.
加伯说：“我们支持真正的农业经济体的机会有限。”“我们还在与农民，美国原住民社区的关系建立建立新的种子库，以确定谁得到种子，并以多少代价获得种子。”
不幸的是，没有美国原住民为该组织的员工服务。“原因包括在富裕的盎格鲁邮政编码中我们保护中心的位置；和人际关系。”加伯说。“我们不能在雇用种族的命令下运作，因此我们要做的就是弄清楚我们如何创建一个使美洲原住民对在这里工作感兴趣的环境。
加伯说：“财务问题使我们无法建立任何开放的员工职位，并制定一项计划以积极从美洲原住民社区招募，但我们有非常慷慨的捐助者和一些伞拨款资金。”“我们需要弄清楚我们如何参与社区。”三名美洲原住民确实在2018年加入了董事会。希望将来会有更多的参与。
将种子免费提供给土著人民，其农业遗产是该系列中代表的，在本地种子/搜索中是“道德上强制性的”。加伯说：“这些是他们的种子，我们对它们的使用方式无权。”“ [我们想]确保土著人尽可能轻松地获得种子收藏。”
