By Julie Lomboy
(Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde)
Executive Assistant & TEK Educator/Mentor
I recently attended the Oregon Climate & Agriculture Network’s (ORCAN) first Oregon Soil Health Summit at Oregon State University in Corvallis. This was a great conference with passionate speakers and presenters, and participants around me showing an eagerness to learn more. It is always humbling being in a place with so many voices and perspectives coming together to address issues of great importance. I found it validating to hear some of the practices here at Elderberry Wisdom Farm’s are being implemented elsewhere and even encouraged by some professionals in the field. Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) practices are the foundation of our work at Elderberry Wisdom Farm so it was exciting to hear our Western Science partners starting to highlight the importance of turning to practices of Native Americans for their input.
Tim LaSelle, Regenerative Agriculture Systems Specialist, who has an extensive background of regenerative agriculture not only in the US but also internationally, was a mesmerizing presenter. His strong passion for his work and doing right, by not only people but also the land, was captivating.
Latrice Tatsey of the Blackfeet Nation, Tribal District conservationist, had a presentation that brought deep emotions to the surface as she shared the profound impact of adding bison to their cattle ranch. Her stories, accompanied by gorgeous images and quantitative data, was a nod that we are heading in the right direction by addressing and documenting the impact of our restoration work.
There was a point of focus that resonated greatly with me and had me reflecting upon our past trainings at Elderberry Wisdom Farm. One of those was the importance of communication. Meeting others where they are and allowing for open space to share perspectives, ideas, and findings is essential when collaborating to tackle larger conservation work. Someone expressed to several people his difficulty communicating with farmers and his struggles asking them to consider changing their processes and sourcing. I am starting to understand the importance of consultation in our communications with partners, funders and others we work with. There is great power in our strengthened relationships and building trust is a major factor for creating transformational change in our work together on the land we are all restoring.