Abstract
Most agricultural activities on Indian lands have been under the control of non-Indian managers since the reservation era began in the 1800s. Despite federal trust obligations dating back to the late 1700s, there has been little involvement by U.S. Cooperative Extension. Federally funded programs created to enhance tribal farming and ranching operations continue to be marginalized and severely underfunded. The Federally Recognized Tribal Extension Program (FRTEP) is tasked with supporting American Indians through scientific, economic, agricultural, and traditional information to solve local problems. FRTEP serves 19 reservation communities with an annual fluctuating budget of approximately US$3 million, which is nationally competitive. Recent litigation offers an opportunity for FRTEP to grow, serve as a catalyst for change, and energize economic stimulation. FRTEP also offers a potential model for community-based agricultural and food programs nationwide. See the press release for this article.
Highlights
The development of community-based agriculture and food systems can mitigate the effects of human-caused climate change and build both community and ecological resilience
In this paper we offer the Federally Recognized Tribal Extension Program (FRTEP) as a prime example of a marginalized federal program that provides a mutually beneficial relationship between the U.S government and tribes
To illustrate the importance of these relationships to community-based food production, we offer the example of agricultural extension
Summary
The development of community-based agriculture and food systems can mitigate the effects of human-caused climate change and build both community and ecological resilience (van der Ploeg, 2009). The food justice and food sovereignty movements establish food and community-level agricultural practices as keystone ideas for building a more just society (Wittman, Desmarais, & Wiebe, 2010) In spite of these positive developments, a full understanding of historical and structural inequality for Native Americans remains underdeveloped. We develop in this paper a more thorough history of tribal agriculture as it relates to U.S Extension, federal treaty and trust relationships, and ongoing lawsuits with an eye toward considering the potential effects of the lawsuits, all of which cite mismanagement of Indian trusts and reiterate the tenuous relationship between sovereign tribes and the U.S government. American Indians enjoy dual citizenship, of both the U.S and their tribe, which is both a legal status and the product of a specific political relationship, and not a status born of a racial history, according to Morton v. To illustrate the importance of these relationships to community-based food production, we offer the example of agricultural extension
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