2022 Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) Symposium
Location
ScholarSpace, Rod Library, University of Northern Iowa
Presentation Type
Open Access Poster Presentation
Document Type
poster
Keywords
Sustainable agriculture--Iowa--Tama County; Fox Indians--Agriculture; Soil conservation--Iowa--Tama County;
Abstract
Native American culture demonstrates a spiritual relationship to food, land, and Earth. As opposed to European traditions valuing private property and exploiting the Earth for profit, Native American tradition believes the Earth is owned by no one; food and nourishment from it are a gift for all to take only as needed. The Meskwaki Nation originated around the Great Lakes but was removed to Tama County, Iowa. It is derived from the words “Meskwa” meaning “red” and “aki” meaning “Earth”. This Red Earth nation has initiated a Food Sovereignty program to pass along traditional growing and food preparation practices to their youth while defending environmental health. This project studies the Meskwaki Nation’s soils in four garden locations to understand how sustainable land management practices could help build environmental/climatic resiliency and maintain healthy soils. Tama County’s soil is some of the finest in the state of Iowa, with thick, well-drained topsoil, plentiful organic matter from prairie grasses, and loess deposits from glaciers. Iowa’s soil is important to our livelihood and must be protected against erosion and destruction due to human activity.
Start Date
29-7-2022 11:00 AM
End Date
29-7-2022 1:30 PM
Event Host
Summer Undergraduate Research Program, University of Northern Iowa
Faculty Advisor
Chad Heinzel
Department
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
Copyright
©2022 Lindsey Hubbell, Chad Heinzel, Christina Blackcloud, Luke Kapayou and Avis Bear-Bass
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Hubbell, Lindsey; Heinzel, Chad Ph.D.; Blackcloud, Christina; Kapayou, Luke; and Bear-Bass, Avis, "Geoenvironmental Implications on Food Sovereignty - Meskwaki Settlement, Tama County, Iowa" (2022). Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) Symposium. 23.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/surp/2022/all/23
Geoenvironmental Implications on Food Sovereignty - Meskwaki Settlement, Tama County, Iowa
ScholarSpace, Rod Library, University of Northern Iowa
Native American culture demonstrates a spiritual relationship to food, land, and Earth. As opposed to European traditions valuing private property and exploiting the Earth for profit, Native American tradition believes the Earth is owned by no one; food and nourishment from it are a gift for all to take only as needed. The Meskwaki Nation originated around the Great Lakes but was removed to Tama County, Iowa. It is derived from the words “Meskwa” meaning “red” and “aki” meaning “Earth”. This Red Earth nation has initiated a Food Sovereignty program to pass along traditional growing and food preparation practices to their youth while defending environmental health. This project studies the Meskwaki Nation’s soils in four garden locations to understand how sustainable land management practices could help build environmental/climatic resiliency and maintain healthy soils. Tama County’s soil is some of the finest in the state of Iowa, with thick, well-drained topsoil, plentiful organic matter from prairie grasses, and loess deposits from glaciers. Iowa’s soil is important to our livelihood and must be protected against erosion and destruction due to human activity.
