From 2014: #Diné #FoodSovereignty : A Report on the #NavajoNation Food System and the Case to Rebuild a Self Sufficient Food System for the Diné People

by the Diné Policy Institute, April 2014

#GMO / #GE on the Navajo Nation

"GMO/GE seeds are currently being used on the Navajo Nation by the #NavajoAgricultureProductsIndustry (#NAPI), located near the chapters of #Hogback, #UpperFruitland, and #Shiprock including #GMOCorn purchased from #Monsanto. As the region remains a major agricultural hub for many Diné farmers, the risk of #GMOContamination of Diné crops, particularly corn, is high. Furthermore, NAPI’s production of #alfalfa also utilizes GMO seed, which many Diné livestock owners purchase under the '#NavajoPride' brand, so GMO/GE feed is entering the Navajo Nation food system through NAPI products.

"In terms of Diné cultural perspectives, Diné knowledge holders, elders, and farmers have criticized the practice of GMO/GE by #biotech industries throughout Diné Policy Institute’s research and Food Sovereignty Initiative, stating that these practices are in direct violation of our teachings; of the Diné Fundamental Laws and our relationship and duty with plants and animals, particularly with our relationship with corn, our most sacred plant, and have stated that GMO/GE threatens the Diné way of life. As GMOs/GE pose such a large threat to Diné famers, Diné seeds, and Diné lifeways, and go against our most basic teachings, it is vital that the Navajo Nation and Diné people address both the presence of GMO/GE food and seeds on the Navajo Nation as well the potential future risks of GMO/GE to Diné Agriculture.

Ban on GMO/GE Seeds and #Pesticides on the Navajo Nation

The technologies and legalities of #GeneticModification and #GeneticEngineering are in direct contradiction to Diné Food Sovereignty. The #corporate ownership and control of seeds threaten the future of Diné agriculture; Diné people must control their seeds and agricultural practices in order to rebuild a self-sufficient food system that provides healthy foods for Diné people and also ensures the continuation of Diné agriculture and lifeways. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that Diné people, Farm Boards and Committees, Chapters, and the Navajo Nation move to ban GMO/GE seeds on the Navajo Nation. As GMO/GE seeds are already being used on the Navajo Nation by the Navajo Agricultural Products Industry (NAPI), this will require NAPI to change agricultural practices and policies, and end the purchase and production of GMO/GE crops. Recent State legislations have outlawed the banning of GMO/GE seeds in many counties; counties and states in the United States where people have the authority to ban GMO/GE seeds are becoming increasing rare. Therefore, the Navajo Nation and the Diné people have a unique opportunity to enact what many cannot through an assertion of Diné Sovereignty.

Native Seed Protections

"In addition to banning GMO/GE seeds, the Navajo Nation and Diné people should also consider enacting legal protections for our Diné seeds, to hold biotech corporations accountable for contamination of Diné seeds if this does occur. This is particularly urgent as legislation and court decisions at the state and federal level are making it increasingly difficult to hold biotech companies responsible for the contamination of heritage, heirloom, and non-GMO/GE seeds. One example of this is the '#MonsantoProtectionAct,' a piece of federal legislation.

#SeedBanks and #SeedLibraries

"Diné people can begin to protect Diné seeds and provide access to heritage, non GMO/GE seeds through the creation of community Seed Banks and Seed Libraries. Seed banks store seeds, while seed libraries allow people to take seeds to grow, provided that they give some seeds back from what they grow after harvest. Diné seed banks and libraries would also provide access to seeds for growers, addressing a concern of famers in the Community Food Assessment – that they didn’t have access to Native seeds. Seed Banks can include state of the art technology, such as that used by #NativeSeedSearch in Tucson, AZ. However, this is not necessary; Diné and other Native people historically stored seeds in clay jars, recent excavations of such seed preservation methods in the Midwest have produced seeds that were able to grow after 800 years. The seed bank in Tesuque Pueblo in New Mexico stores seeds in jars in a dark and cool in-ground cellar.

Education

"GMO/GE ingredients are in the majority of foods that Diné people are eating and GMO/GE seeds are on the Navajo Nation, however, most Diné people are unaware of the existence of these practices. Therefore public education and outreach on genetic modification and genetic engineering for both Diné people and Navajo Nation leadership is needed."

pages 78-79

https://www.dinecollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/dpi-food-sovereignty-report.pdf

#CorporateColonialism #GMOs #BigAg
#EndCapitalism #Colonialism #FoodSecurity #Decolonize #TraditionalFoods
#Capitalism #CulturalGenocide