Hemp may be the bridge to recovery for Native American communities

 

MORTON, Minn. – It may be that Native American communities are now in an era of recovery, as the former president of the National Congress of American Indians Jefferson Keel (Chickasaw Nation) stated a decade ago. Keel cited several tribes’ large economic projects, like the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma contributing billions of dollars annually to the regional economy and the Moapa Southern Paiute Solar Project in the making for quite some time is now being realized. It could be an era of recovery as tribes seeking to find sustainable economic opportunities for their communities are having some success. Hemp may be the bridge to this new era, both industrial and consumable use.

Things are still very difficult for Native Americans, for both reservation and urban Indians. Native American communities continue to be impacted by the centuries of economic and cultural destruction, according to the Economic Policy Institute, which robbed Native Americans of their way of life and social infrastructure.

Centuries of policies of genocide, treaty violations, land theft and forced assimilation by the federal government robbed Native Americans of their way of life and social infrastructure. Native American tribes by the 1940’s were finally able to exercise greater autonomy and challenge their opponents in the courtroom. Arguments over citizenship momentarily subsided and were replaced by a government proposal to terminate its federal obligation to Native Americans by dissolving treaties, dismantling tribal governments, eliminating reservations, disbanding tribes and selling their land.

Termination was seen as a degradation of Native American sovereignty and by the late 1960’s, Native American leaders and activists demanded their right to self-determination and found unlikely support from both Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon.

Despite these efforts, discriminatory practices employed by the federal and state governments have only persisted throughout the twentieth century and into the twenty-first century. Native Americans continue to “rank near the bottom of all Americans in terms of health, education and employment,” according to a 2018 report from the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights which identified a number of reasons for this such as historical discriminatory policies, lack of resources and maladministration of federal programs.

Still, there has been progress. Tribes have increased in some cases their control over their natural resources and food systems and many are quickly becoming players in the energy sector. Rather than rent out land to non-Natives, many tribes are working to use their land themselves, to control and own what industry is on Native lands and to develop industry to provide jobs and steady income.

Industrial hemp is a rapidly growing industry since it was legalized in the 2018 Farm Bill. It is predicted to continue to grow and reach a global value of more than $17 billion by 2030, so says the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI). This crop presents an opportunity for Native American farmers traditionally excluded from agriculture policies. A left-over of those policies is that many farmers of color, including Native Americans, farm smaller plots of land than do their white counterparts. Hemp can be grown on smaller plots. It restores soil quality and soil health. It could also help regenerate topsoil quickly 

The Corn Belt is estimated to have had some of the richest soil, something that Danny Desjarlais noted about his area. He is the Hemp Construction Project Manager for the Lower Sioux Indian Community and said that they had some of the richest soil before contact, but much of it was taken. Much soil was also lost because of erosion from farming practices.

We have known there was a loss of soil, but just how much is under debate. A paper published in 2021 reported findings from three geoscientists from the University of Massachusetts who studied the topsoil loss across the U.S. Corn Belt. This included all of Iowa and parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. They say previous topsoil losses were greatly under estimated. They calculate anywhere from 24-percent to 46-percent of the topsoil in the Corn Belt has been completely removed by farming.

Desjarlais said his tribe doesn’t have a lot of land and what they do have is sand. “They left us on basically a gravel pit. And so you can’t really grow anything on it.” Desjarlais said they started selling sand and that is how the tribe started their first business. “That was our first income as a community.”

Desjarlais said they have 2,000 acres total for the entire reservation and only 500 of those are tillable and most of that is sandy soil. “That’s our problem but it’s fairly simple to grow hemp.” Desjarlais said growing difficulties may have to do with the type of seeds or perhaps the soil quality.

Growing hemp can help to restore soil quality and soil health. Hemp can also prevent erosion and may help to rebuild the soil. The roots grow deep very quickly and hold the soil together. “The root system goes much deep than your typical agriculture plant,” said Desjarlais. “So the farmers that do grow hemp in between their crop rotation, they say their crops the year after are really good because the soil has gotten cleaned up.”

Desjarlais said this is a great industry to develop with the help of other Native communities. Unlike his tribe, Desjarlais said the tribes that have vast lands could be growing hemp and providing it for not only their own communities but others like his who have a small land base. He said his tribe is still looking to grow hemp, they just won’t have a large crop, but his tribe is doing test plots to try and find the variety that will grow well in sandy soil. “I know they’re out there because I’ve seen the world’s tallest hemp plants which were growing in sandy soil. I know there are varieties out there, we just haven’t found the right one for our soil and climate yet.”

Hemp corresponds with tribal culture, justice and economic stability and could be the beginning of the ecological restoration for tribal lands and bring sustainable industry to isolated areas.

Numerous tribes in the region have had their hemp plans approved by the USDA. The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe is also in the beginning stages of starting their program. Lynnette Dupris, Director of the Revenue Office said that they have formed a tribal ag corporation. Hemp growers submit their applications to her office and she refers them to the ag corporation. She said they have plans to find a building, they have some revenue but will need to secure more funds, they have set aside some land and they are in the process of searching for an agronomist.

Hemp corresponds with tribal culture, justice and economic stability and could be the beginning of the ecological restoration for tribal lands and bring sustainable industry to isolated areas.

(Contact Marnie Cook at staffwriter@nativesunnews.today)

The post Hemp may be the bridge to recovery for Native American communities first appeared on Native Sun News Today.

Visit Original Source