Winterset Chert: Home Stone
Just about everyone and their grandmother associates stone arrowheads with Native American ancestors. That's not wrong. The art of...
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Ian Thompson
- Oct 22
- 4 min
Choctaw Persimmon Bread
Out working on the farm yesterday, we noticed our persimmons are just starting to get ripe. Persimmons are a fairly abundant tree in the...
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Ian Thompson
- Aug 13
- 11 min
Prairie Restoration Experiments Update
One mishap. It was silly, even comical, but the aftermath has seen me babying a gashed up knee for two weeks now. The buffalo, somehow...
191 views3 comments
Ian Thompson
- Jul 30
- 6 min
Tallahatta Quartzite, Choctaw Silver Stone
Through this post, we'd like to share a path of learning and reconnecting that we’ve been exploring at Nan Awaya Farm this summer. ...
221 views1 comment
Ian Thompson
- Jul 8
- 21 min
How to Braintan a Buffalo Robe
Wrapping up in a traditionally tanned buffalo robe on a cold evening is something special. The leather side is supple, almost like a...
346 views1 comment
Ian Thompson
- May 29
- 11 min
The Ancient Art of Stone Tool Bison Hides
Bison hide tanning is a deep traditional art. It was practiced by Native American ancestors at the end of the last Ice Age, and the...
352 views3 comments
Ian Thompson
- May 14
- 6 min
Sandy Seep: Managing Rare Habitat
Almost half of Nan Awaya Farm is made up of an uncommon and threatened habitat type. Known as an acid hillside seep, it's a unique kind...
204 views1 comment
Ian Thompson
- Mar 10
- 9 min
Clovis Point Challenge
This winter, I took on a self-challenge to learn how to make one of the most ancient Native American traditional arts. Through this...
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Ian Thompson
- Feb 4
- 6 min
Choctaw Heritage on the Prairie
We've got a Choctaw friend who loves the ocean. Water is simply a part of who she is. She says that her ancestors must have come from...
289 views1 comment
Ian Thompson
- Jan 14
- 5 min
A New, Fun, Cultural Way to Recycle
At Nan Awaya Farm we're committed to making our operation and our home life as easy on the land as we possibly can. One part of that...
380 views1 comment
Ian Thompson
- Dec 4, 2022
- 5 min
Buffalo Break Rocks!
Buffalo have a well-earned reputation for being tough animals. Under the right circumstances, several different parts of their bodies...
272 views3 comments
Ian Thompson
- Oct 18, 2022
- 6 min
When the World is Running Down...
...you make the best of what's still around... This a classic rock title, released by the Police a short time before I was born. It...
236 views2 comments
Ian Thompson
- Sep 18, 2022
- 5 min
Bvnaha: Choctaw Comfort Food
The traditional 13-month Choctaw calendar is based on the phases of the moon. The season we are currently in is known as Hoponi Hvshi,...
792 views2 comments
Ian Thompson
- Aug 21, 2022
- 6 min
Chahto is the Choctaw Word for "Drought"
For people who depend on the productivity of the land for their livelihood, drought is a fact of life. When drought gets bad, life may...
274 views3 comments
Ian Thompson
- Jul 18, 2022
- 7 min
Forged in Heat
With hardly a cloud in the sky for the past month, the unstoppable summer sun has progressively dried out and heated up the ground. Then...
363 views1 comment
Ian Thompson
- Jun 12, 2022
- 4 min
Continuing an Ancient Harvest
It’s one of our favorite seasons at Nan Awaya Farm: the sand plum harvest is upon us! These colorful gems of bold, native flavor can’t...
312 views2 comments
Ian Thompson
- May 29, 2022
- 6 min
A Good Spirit Came to Visit Us
With COVID restrictions fully lifted, our work pace at Choctaw Nation has been frenetic this spring. That's left only a few hours...
213 views6 comments
Ian Thompson
- Feb 21, 2022
- 7 min
Our First Controlled Burns
Fire is one of the oldest and most effective tools that humans have for managing the land. The Indigenous peoples of North America began...
283 views1 comment
Ian Thompson
- Feb 5, 2022
- 4 min
Hvshtula: The Reclining Sun
Our part of the world doesn't get winter weather every single year. Over the past couple of days, though, we've been blessed with ice,...
211 views4 comments
Ian Thompson
- Jan 23, 2022
- 8 min
The Extermination of the American Bison (almost)
Warning this post contains some graphic content- This photo was taken by LA Huffman in eastern Montana in 1880. It captures one of the...
578 views2 comments
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