Traditional Ecological Knowledge Workshops
Together, OAEC and FIGR have engaged with our 70-acre Wildlands Preserve to share the traditional ecological knowledge held by their ancestors and to introduce methods of restoration ecology taught and practiced by the staff of OAEC. Since the first TEK workshop in 2007, OAEC has hosted many workshops and youth and family camps for and with tribal citizens. We’ve worked together to increase all of our knowledge of native flora and fauna, ecological processes, cultural resources, and land management techniques. For several years, ten to fifteen tribal families spent two to three weekends each year at OAEC, steeped in nature, community, and intergenerational learning. Workshop topics include traditional ecological knowledge, organic gardening and nutrition, and permaculture design.
Tribal citizens at an OAEC traditional ecological knowledge skill share workshop forage native edible geophytes, or “Indian potatoes” (Perideridia gairdneri).
FIGR youth camp participants gather culturally important native plant seeds in the OAEC Wildlands.
Community Design for the Tribal Trust Land
In 2013, FIGR invited OAEC to lead educational workshops and to help facilitate their citizens and staff in the development of a comprehensive, permaculture design-based Master Plan for their 170-acre tribal trust land in Rohnert Park, including plans for wetlands restoration, the development of sustainable agriculture projects.
FIGR also invited OAEC to facilitate the technical advisory group, who worked with Regional Parks, Sonoma Land Trust, and other partners to create Tolay Regional Park, a 1,800-acre site that is one of the most sacred places in the Tribes ancestral lands.
The process resulted in a comprehensive plan for the park that is now being implemented. Read the plan here.
Tribal Community Garden Project
In May 2016, FIGR contracted OAEC to facilitate the design and implementation of a 2.5-acre tribal garden. Seven FIGR members of the Tribal Lands Council attended OAEC’s School Garden Teacher Training as part of their preparations.
Through tribal community work days, FIGR has transformed this untended land into a community gathering space with organic vegetable gardens and orchards with perennial borders, a basketry and medicinal garden, and a native plant restoration area.
OAEC remains supportive of FIGR’s mission of environmental and cultural restoration through reconnection to place, organic agriculture, and sovereign tribal land projects.
