How Indigenous farming and belief systems sustain our planet
A conversation with Dr. Michael Kotutwa Johnson, Hopi farmer & Indigenous Resiliency Specialist
I first spoke with Dr. Johnson in March when I began my research into Arizona's indigenous foods, and then again on Tuesday after he gave a talk at the Arizona Good Food Forum + Expo. He spoke on a panel about Desert-Adapted and Climate-Smart Agriculture along with Jesus M. Garcia (Research Associate, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum & Education Specialist, Mission Garden) and Dr. Gary Nabhan (Agroecologist, Author, Activist.)
They discussed introducing dryland farming more widely, growing what the land allows you to grow, and that Arizona will see more upheaval in agriculture in the next decade than in the last hundred years.
Dr. Johnson was clear: What makes Hopi's way of farming sustainable is the connection between values and methods and that the indigenous people should benefit first from these methods that are gaining new interest in light of the sustainability movement.
I plan to write more about the session and follow up on what they discussed soon. For today, I'm sharing my conversation with Dr. Johnson from March.
At Hopi, there's really no difference between our agriculture practices and our ceremonial belief system – they're tied together. And that's what makes indigenous cropping systems and land use management systems very resilient.
Devin: Tell me a little bit about your work and your expertise. What drives the work you do?
Michael: I have a Ph.D. in natural resource management, and I'm also a 250th-generation Hopi dry farmer, and I combine both sides of my work. My focus at the University of Arizona is on the Indigenous Resilience Center, but my home department is the School of Natural Resources and the Environment. Going back to the original question, I primarily focus on food, along with energy and, of course, water. Much of my work is policy-driven, but it also involves science and research. For example, I'm looking at the nutritional analysis of two of my Hopi corn varieties and comparing them to what's sold in the store. I'm making a play at showing the nutritional value of these crops because they're very important and have been very important for centuries among native peoples. We haven't been able to grow them well enough to continue to feed ourselves like we once did. As a result, many of us have become subject to things like heart disease, diabetes, and different types of cancer. My work is trying to move us away from that to get us to use agriculture to reinforce our cultural belief systems. At Hopi, there's really no difference between our agriculture practices and our ceremonial belief system – they're tied together. And that's what makes indigenous cropping systems and land use management systems very resilient. It's not so much the techniques and practices, but it's more about the cultural belief system that establishes this relationship with the environment first and foremost.
Devin: Sounds like you've got a lot of balls in the air, as they say.
Michael: Oh, tons. Tons. I've also been asked to develop an American Indian Natural Resources policy arm under the Natural Resource Users Law & Policy Center at the University of Arizona. So I wear a number of hats, and finding time to do all these things is sometimes challenging, but my heart's in the right place, and the university has provided me a lot of help to keep moving my objectives forward.
Devin: What are your hopes for those policies and the work you do more broadly?
Michael: My hope is to, first of all, bring recognition to indigenous societies on our conservation agricultural methods. That's the first thing. But the other thing is to bring recognition to the values associated with all that. Everybody seems to want to know more about our processes because they've lost a lot of biodiversity from not managing the environment for a long time and are using too much water. But these problems aren't going to get solved unless we start looking at our own values. Because if we don't do that, the science will not be able to sustain our use of water and the types of crops we're growing here in Arizona.
Devin: Can you tell me a little about your work at the university?
Michael: So there is something called an institutional review board process that you have to do to conduct research when studying humans, and that's to bring ethics and equity to that type of research. But I've been allowed to develop a board that would do the same thing for indigenous-derived seeds in indigenous communities to ensure that the research also benefits those communities where those seeds come from. That'll be the first one of its kind when it's approved and finalized in the United States. What it does is it brings personhood to seeds, and that's an amazing thing if you think about it.
It's not so much the techniques and practices, but it's more about the cultural belief system that establishes this relationship with the environment first and foremost.
Devin: It really is. It seems very fitting and needed. Can you also tell me about the work you do on your farm?
Michael: Oh, it totally is needed. I'm developing the process and working with Heather Whiteman Runs Him, the Director of the Tribal Justice Clinic. It's a very cool place. But, as far as dry farming, at Hopi, we're one of the very few and only tribes that I know of that doesn't use irrigation to raise their traditional crops such as corn, beans, squash, and melons, and things like that. We rely on nature to do that for us, which means the more snowfall we have during the wintertime, the better crop we'll have in the summertime. This year will be a tremendous year to grow things the way they should grow in quantities. I'm also looking at the different water conservation methods we need to get us through drought periods. And trying to find the most efficient and cost-effective ways tribes can adopt.
Devin: To change the subject slightly, tell me more about the tepary bean. I've been researching it and learning that it's a drought-tolerant crop grown in this region for a very long time, historically connected to the Tohono O'odham nation. Is that correct?
Michael: It's connected, they grew on Tohono O'odham land. Hopis also grow their own tepary beans. Ramona Farms has taken the opportunity to grow them out near Sacaton, and it takes a certain knowledge to understand when those crops will be planted. There's a lot of labor and intensity involved in that, which drives up the cost of it. The main thing I like about Ramona Farms is that they're distributing some beans back into the community. We should have more of that. There's been a big call lately by the USDA to change their proposed rules under the nutritional science program. That would allow us to use traditional foods and put those back into the mouths of our native youth and their schools, which is tremendous, but we don't have the scale yet to do that. Much of my work will try to help upsell that side of traditional agriculture to get those foods back into our communities.
My hope is to, first of all, bring recognition to indigenous societies on our conservation agricultural methods. That's the first thing. But the other thing is to bring recognition to the values associated with all that.
Devin: Can you tell me more about what you're seeing regarding those foods' nutritional value and quality?
Michael: For example, let's look at mesquite beans. They are more nutritional than just about anything we eat because of how they've grown over long periods. Once the plant starts not worrying about where the water's coming from and all the other physiological things that plants do to grow, they focus on the nutrients. For example, maize requires 33 inches of annual rainfall in the year, at least the common types grown in the United States. The kind we grow only requires six to 10. That's natural selection and environmental adaptation for the last 3000 years at Hopi. Along with that, we've also developed techniques that conserve soil moisture.
Devin: What do you see perhaps needing to be added to the overall conversation about indigenous ingredients and sustainable agriculture?
Michael: Sustainable agriculture, regenerative agriculture, whatever you call it, is missing the value system that's associated with our relationship with the environment and the foods that we eat. For example, at Hopi, corn is considered our mother, and when a kid's only two weeks old, he or she's raised to the sun, and we put a small piece of sweet corn pudding in their mouth to remind them where they're from. Even the corn we use is sometimes ground down for prayer meal. It's that type of relationship we have. There's no separation between our agricultural system and our religious and belief system. They work with each other and help each other. All of our ceremonies at Hopi are basically dedicated to bringing in moisture, whether in the form of snow or rain, because we need that in our area to have a successful crop to survive. That's what it's about– survival. And I don't think we focus on that enough. Sustainability's often more about looking at economic survival, and we're still looking at human survival, and there's a big difference there. We need to look at that more. What I think is missing in this whole sustainable, regenerative movement is looking at the values associated with what indigenous people are doing. Why have they been so sustainable? Why is that dark statistic out there that says that 80% of global biodiversity is now confined to 25% of the land managed by indigenous peoples, who make up less than 5% of the world population? Indigenous people manage 80% of the globe's biodiversity right now, which is very scary. Because where do the rest go? Without biodiversity, there is no true sustainability–that's the number one thing, and we need to focus on that.
Reading - Cucina Povera: The Italian Way of Transforming Humble Ingredients Into Unforgettable Meals by Giulia Scarpaleggia, The Miller's Daughter: Unusual Flours & Heritage Grains by Emma Zimmerman, and An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace by Tamar Adler.
Writing - A few applications and pitches. Hopefully more things to come.
Cooking - I defrosted some tepary beans and made the dip with tahini, lemon, and cilantro again (riffing on Tamara Stanger's recipe.) For my brother's birthday last weekend, I made cilantro-lime roasted zucchini and eggplant and a disastrous Instant Pot Spanish rice that my family was very nice about.
What I think is missing in this whole sustainable, regenerative movement is looking at the values associated with what indigenous people are doing. Why have they been so sustainable?