Ian ThompsonJun 16, 20194 minAshela: A Choctaw Dish for the Woods or the KitchenThe last couple of weeks have brought absolutely beautiful weather to our part of the world. The temperature has been pleasantly cool...
Ian ThompsonMay 17, 20191 minApril Showers Bring...In the last month, our farm has logged more than 10 inches of rainfall. As the old adage goes, April showers really do bring May flowers....
Ian ThompsonApr 12, 20194 minTalking with the RocksIn precious little bits of free time over the last couple of weeks, I (Ian) have been working on a small flintknapping project....
Ian ThompsonMar 29, 20195 minBombs Away!This spring, we're experimenting with a fun way to plant seeds, using something called "seed bombs". In this post, we'll share the story...
Ian ThompsonMar 15, 20194 minLambsquarter StewBack in 2015, Ian began putting together a book about Indigenous Choctaw food, during spare time. Due to the complexity of the subject,...
Ian ThompsonFeb 24, 20195 minBuilding A Green Home on the RangeEarlier this month, we closed on the sale of our starter farm (a home and 13 acres). With the funds from that sale, we’ll finally be...
Ian ThompsonFeb 13, 20195 minHarvestOur goal in managing the Nana Awaya Heritage Farmstead is to learn how to adapt Choctaw traditional culture to modern realities in a way...
Ian ThompsonJan 3, 20192 minRumors of Our Death Have Been ExaggeratedWhile, we haven’t actually heard any rumors floating around about the demise of the Nan Awaya Heritage Farmstead, with our last post...
Ian ThompsonNov 12, 20184 minGoin' to the Big SaleTail up, the 2,000 pound animal lets out a bellow that sounds more like a roar of an enraged lion than a noise that a grass-eater should...
Ian ThompsonJun 24, 20184 minManaging to Heal the LandIndigenous people all over the world learned how to manage their lands by facilitating natural processes to achieve the results they...
Ian ThompsonJun 17, 20183 minHvsh Bissa (Blackberry Month)We're currently in the height of Blackberry Month in the Choctaw calendar. This image is of some blackberries picked yesterday at the...
Ian ThompsonMay 31, 20182 minA Weekend of New BeginningsThis was our first full weekend off of work since February. It started off ominously when our truck broke down on Friday evening,...
Ian ThompsonMay 13, 20182 minTraditional Dyes Class with a very Special GuestThis has been a week of cultural exchange and friendship that we will never forget. The story sort of begins in the 1800s, when some...
Ian ThompsonApr 26, 20182 minThe Plants that Tie Us TogetherWhen we think about Native American clothing of the past, buckskin is the material that usually comes to mind. Rarely do we picture...
Ian ThompsonApr 8, 20182 minA Day with YappaliOn Saturday, we were honored to have Yappali come to the Nan Awaya Heritage Farmstead. Yappali is an amazing group of Choctaw women (and...
Ian ThompsonMar 18, 20182 minBaking Bread the Choctaw WayThis weekend, we had the opportunity to try out another great Indigenous Choctaw food dish, the original cornbread. This cornbread, no...
Ian ThompsonJan 21, 20182 minThe Original Choctaw FrybreadNo Native American food is more popular than frybread. The frybread that most of us are used to was created by the Navajo people on the...
Ian ThompsonJan 7, 20184 minFat EarthThe flicker of warm, yellow light and the sweet smell of cedar smoke radiated out into the 15 degree January night. We were camped out...
Ian ThompsonDec 19, 20173 minLike A DeerWe'd like to introduce you to the newest members of our grazing team, Ninak Tomi and Habli, two Choctaw ponies. These horses come from a...
Ian ThompsonDec 11, 20174 minOf Good Fences and Good NeighborsThe end of a year is a good time to reflect on a season's challenges and successes. Early January will mark a year since we began...