In celebration of Indigenous People’s Day, Lindsey speaks with Clayton Harvey of the White Mountain Apache Tribe in Arizona about how farming has shaped his spiritual identity and helped keep Apache traditions and language alive in his community. Clayton shares how his journey to Standing Rock has influenced him, and inspired other indigenous young people to farm. His farm, Ndée Bikíyaa, has a mission of promoting personal and cultural health among White Mountain Apache through agriculture.
“In Apache, the word for mind and land are the same. It goes to show the relationship that our people had with the land-we’re one with the land…Our mother [earth] is alive and has a heartbeat in the same sense that our mind is alive…we can eat all the healthy food, we can be active and involved in our community and our ceremonies, but if environmental health isn’t right, then we’re just a broken puzzle.”
https://www.facebook.com/ndeebikiyaathepeoplesfarm/
Ndee Bikiyaa, “The People’s Farm,” White Mountain Apache Tribe, AZ
https://edibleschoolyard.org/program/ndee-bikiyaa-peoples-farm
https://americanindian.si.edu/nk360/plains-treaties/dapl.cshtml