The traditional cultures of Indigenous communities around the world hold the knowledge to make nearly all of the things needed for everyday life from the local plants, animals, and minerals from their homelands. There is a tremendous amount that we, living in the 21st century, can learn from that when it comes to sustainability, resilience, and community self-sufficiency. Often, these objects - things likes traditional pottery, textiles, and weapons - have far more put into

"Farkleberry"is a crazy sounding name. The same plant also goes by the names "winter huckleberry" and "sparkleberry", but I prefer to call it by its "farkleberry"alias. The more confidently you can use this name, the better, especially in formal presentations. I don't mind the strange looks this gets me. Despite its funny sounding common name, farkleberry (see I did it again), is a seriously cool and little known cultural plant. It's species name is Vaccinium arboreum ,

I used to live for snow days in the winters when I was a kid. A day off school that was unplanned meant that nothing could be there...

Yesterday, we lost a dear friend and the Choctaw community lost a true cultural champion with the passing of Tom Colvin. I remember the...

The old time Tribal folks used to say that when a hunter harvests a wild animal, it’s only because that animal has chosen to sacrifice...

Traditional archery is the art of our grandfathers. With time-honored craftsmanship, they melded tree, stick, stone and feather to...

Nan Awaya means Place of Growth in the Choctaw language. In 2015 we started Nan Awaya Farm as a hands-on experiment to see what could...

It's June. After two summers of drought, seeing the hills and seeps of the farm come alive in a vibrant blanket of green native plants...

A wise person once pointed out a fact about life: change is the only thing that's constant. This wisdom applies to the land just as well...

One of the coolest Choctaw oral traditions describes something that comes out of the last Ice Age. According to the account, mammoths...

It's been a little while since we shared a post from the farm, but that is certainly not for a lack of writing. For the past several...

Just about everyone and their grandma associates stone arrowheads with Native American ancestors. That's not wrong. The art of chipped...

Out working on the farm yesterday, we noticed our persimmons are just starting to get ripe. Persimmons are a fairly abundant tree in the...

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...

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. ...

Wrapping up in a traditionally tanned buffalo robe on a cold evening is something special. The leather side is supple, almost like a...

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...

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...

This winter, I took on a self-challenge to learn how to make one of the most ancient Native American traditional arts. Through this...

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...