In celebration of Indigenous Peoples Day:
In late May, Sherlene and I closed on a small acreage in Sidney Iowa with timber, pasture, and a little stream running through it.
It was a dream come true, and the beginning of our next big adventure.
From the moment we first set foot there we have had a strong sense that our little corner of peace and quiet has a long and sometimes violent history.
We recognize that “A New Day Farm” as we are calling it, has had thousands of years of people come and go. The last were the people of the Otoe nation. In 1855, the U.S. government forced the Otoe, or Jiwere, as they also called themselves, and their close cousins the Missouria, or Nutachi, as they called themselves, onto a reservation along the Big Blue River in Southeast Nebraska. They now live on a small reservation in Eastern Oklahoma.
The little stream that bisects our land flows into the “Nyishda Bat’una”, -Canoe Making River-(Otoe). I have known it all my life as the Nishnabotna River.
I have spoken with the tribe, the tribal flag will hold an honored place on A New Day Farm.
We acknowledge the injustice that has enabled our dream at the expense of those who came before.
We intend to raise Chestnut trees and Hazel nuts, along with all the fruits, berries and vegetables we can grow.
We intend to use regenerative farming practices that heal the soil.
We intend to make our farm a blessing to ourselves, our families, our community and the Otoe/Missouria Nation.
At the same time we recognize the history of the land, we also feel an even stronger responsibility to the future.
It is our intention to learn and teach others how to grow their own nutritious food.
We also hope to work with local farmers in learning how to move to a regenerative system of agriculture that works with nature instead of against it.
It’s a lot.
This is a far bigger project than Sherlene and I have ever tackled before, but we both have a strong desire to affect a positive work as a love letter to the world and our future generations, while also honoring the generations of the past.