pic by Nelson Zink
It ’s assumed most Native American communities are adept at husbandry grains and produce . So you’re able to imagine how shockedRobert Mirabal , a two - metre Grammy - get ahead musician of Taos , N.M. , and actor in the 2009 Lifetime filmGeorgia O’Keefe , was to find the opposite .
alternatively of sitting back and watching the demise of the residential district in which he grow up , the Native American , who now lives in a home with his wife and three daughters at the foot of the Taos Mountains , just outside of Taos Pueblo , N.M. , did something about it . Along with withdraw psychologist Nelson Zink , he foundedTiwa Farmsin 2010 , a project designed to reintroduce husbandry to those who be in Taos Pueblo .
“ It ’s kind of sorry , ” he admits , about the lost art of land in such an agriculturally rich region that can boast centuries of farming history . This area is also a major part of U.S. chronicle ; here , Native Americans once harvested corn whiskey for rainfall saltation . Now you may purchase corn whisky at a neon - lit foodstuff store that ’s just a short car ride away . “ When we intercept raise , we lose our connection to the past and to the hereafter . Rather than speak about a rain saltation , maybe we sleep together what it is like to be in a drought instead of just go to the supermarket , ” he says . “ Corn is our culture , and if we abnegate that element , we deny our culture . ”
Tiwa Farm ’s mission is two - sheep pen : to instruct Native Americans how to grow and to also reintroduceheirloomseeds . That meanspumpkins , crush , low and whitened corn , noggin , and rice are more likely to be planted thantomatoesor peppers . As early as the 1920s , explain Mirabal , his biotic community in northern New Mexico have money from the Union authorities to purchase horse - withdraw plows . “ In the pueblos , we were in the bloom of our farming . ”
The advent of machinery in posterior decade put thosehorsesto a grinding halt . People went off to school , to the War or move off from the pueblos for other reason . Those horses , says Mirabal , died “ because multitude did not know how to care for them , and a modern lifestyle has made us more sedentary — sit in front of the telecasting ; and alternatively of walking someplace , we sit in the car , ” he says .
Tiwa Farm is a virtual project , meaning the farmland is scattered in a 3 - mile radius throughout the community , from modest garden plots to large , 2 - acre farm fields . Mirabal and Zinc got started by purchasing an old tractor and cover the theatre behind many family ’ homes . “ It ’s up to them to instruct their child and their families , ” he says . “ Once it ’s handle , it ’s up to them . ”
Yet , Mirabal is anything but hands - off . He acts as a farming counsel to local family line who want to turn their acreage into sustenance . He also co - published , with Zink , a book available through hiswebsite : Believe in the Corn : Manual for Puebloan Corn Growing(2011 ) .
He ’s had his own farming struggles , too . This twelvemonth , due to a drought , the corn crops did not do so well . He also set about to growwatermelons . “ Then the monsoons issue forth in August and create havoc , ” he explains . focalize on the positive , he read , “ It ’s uncommon for someone at a 7,000 - substantial - foot superlative to spring up Citrullus vulgaris , but I did jolly good [ sic ] and was able to save some seeds . ”
In time , Mirabal hopes to establishseedexchanges with other Pueblo and reservations in the Southwest . mighty now , Taos Pueblo is the only pueblo maturate red-faced bean . Melonvarieties are unlike in each pueblo . “ Ancient seeds are what we ’re doing , ” say Mirabal . “ Hopefully in time there will be a big commitment — a come bank orfarmers food market . ”
