Telling a story
is like planting corn. Both provide a glimpse of where we came
from, where we're currently at, and where we're trying to go. Like
telling a story, there are endless ways to plant corn. Some farmers use
40+ row planters and some use digging sticks. Some use recently
engineered seed while some use seeds that have been in their families for
countless generations. Regardless of approach, all farmers strive towards
a harvest that will provide nourishment for their community- whether it is
economic, physical, cultural, or spiritual. BIO Brett Ramey (Ioway) has worked with Indigenous communities for over a decade to reinforce land-based knowledge through food sovereignty and public art projects. He is the first generation of his family raised in a city away from his mother's reservation and the small farming community in Northeast Kansas where his father's family has farmed for five generations. He He was
the founding Director of the Urban Lifeways Project within Native Movement, a
Flagstaff, Arizona-based organization that supported Indigenous youth
leadership development and cultural and ecological “sustainability” programs. More recently Brett
returned home to the Kansas where he co-taught courses on traditional foods and
climate change at Haskell Indian Nations University titled “Growing Change: Next Generation
Responsibilities, Food Sovereignty, and Climate Change.” and worked to integrate western
and traditional foods/medicines as complimentary healing strategies for cancer-
both through his work as a Tribal Health Liaison with the University of Kansas
and in his own lived experience. As of Fall of 2017, Brett lives in Seattle and works with
Partnerships for Native Health at the University of Washington. Though Brett's work has often been based in urban, grassroots Native communities it is not to the exclusion of rural knowledge, institutional partnerships, or multicultural relationships. His work is grounded in reclaiming local traditional foodways, while acknowledging that his family and tribe have been engaged in industrial agriculture for several generations. Additionally, he emphasizes that food is not separate from art, language, cross-cultural and intergenerational interactions, and active resistance to the environmental, social, and spiritual degradation of communities. The stories on this site are a reflection of that broader vision. |