Indigenous People and Land Rights Issues
The principles of regenerative agriculture are deeply rooted in Indigenous land stewardship practices, but the Indigenous peoples here in the United States too often go unheard and their rights unrecognized.
To truly and effectively regenerate 100 million acres of land, we must broadly acknowledge that Indigenous peoples are the original people of this land and that this landscape has been stewarded by them for thousands of years. From controlled burning that created nutrient dense grasslands across the midwest, to the utilization of intercropping demonstrated by the Three Sisters planting method, Indigenous land stewards created the foundations for a system of agriculture that places humanity within the system, not outside of it or above it.
Indigenous agriculture includes agroforestry, holistic water management, intercropping, and perhaps most importantly, is always context-specific. The result is that lands managed by Indigenous people are home to 80 percent of the world’s biodiversity despite making up less than 25% of the world’s land surface.
We must continue to learn from and embrace these teachings of Traditional Ecological Knowledge, which provide the tools to farm in ways that are reciprocal and harmonious with the earth and with respect for the limits of our natural resources and the wellness of our fellow living creatures. This requires shifting our food and agriculture system away from current extractive and exploitative models, and focusing instead on regeneration through reinstituting ancestral food systems concepts, merged with modern day innovative science.
In this movement to create a healthier and more resilient food system for the future, 100 Million Acres is committed to uplifting the work of Native American farmers and ranchers as well as the organizations that support them, and encouraging brands to source from Indigenous producers.
