Pocasset Pokanoket Land Trust Receives Food and Farm Communications Fund Core Grant for Second Consecutive Year

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The Food and Farm Communications Fund has awarded a Core Grant to the Pocasset Pokanoket Land Trust (PPLT) to support strategic communications development. One of twenty organizations chosen throughout the country, the grant allows PPLT to increase content creation and social media presence in support of its Indigenous food access program and land repatriation projects in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

Esperanza Pallana, Executive Director of the fund said, “We are proud to continue our support of PPLT in 2023. They represent a critical narrative of a movement across the nation to reclaim ancestral land for regenerative agriculture and traditional land-based spiritual practices.”

Since 2012, the Food and Farm Communications Fund has awarded $5 million to grass-roots food and agricultural organizations that emphasize environmentally sustainable, and indigenous practices for use in the battle against climate change. Pocasset Pokanoket Land Trust is proud to be among them.

“We are grateful for our partnership with the Food and Farm Communications Fund,” said Chief George Spring Buffalo, Executive Director of the Land Trust. “They have really helped us build our communications capacity. PPLT was formed with the intent of capturing back remnants of the Pocasset Purchase and we now steward historical lands in Tiverton. Our trust also provides an opportunity to unite different tribal communities, clans and Indigenous people back to our traditional ways of growing food and providing access to healthy medicine.”

Quaker Community Shows Historic Support for New England Tribes

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At the Southeast Quarterly Meeting in Providence on March 19, 2023, the Religious Society of Friends, better known as the Quakers, acknowledged that Indigenous Nations in New England were forced to give up large parts of their territory, and that the land on which the gathering occurred was the homeland of many Indigenous nations. Facilitated by the Pocasset Pokanoket Land Trust (PPLT), the meeting, attended by tribal chiefs of the Pocasset, Chappaquiddick, Nipmuc and Narragansett, was an historic first step toward supporting tribes, according to Chris Richards, Director of Programming and Development, PPLT.

“Our meeting was meaningful, but we still have work to do,” said Chief George Spring Buffalo. “They let us take the lead in how to build the relationship; we’re going to collaborate and we’re grateful that they’re reaching out to the Indigenous population.” Discussions are ongoing about the next steps. Rebecca Leuchak, Presiding Clerk of the New England Yearly Meeting of the Quakers, introduced the assembly: “We recognize the irreducible and ongoing relationship Indigenous people have with their traditional territories; the honoring of this relationship and the speaking of it to all, becomes meaningful when it is the basis for building relationships.”

Indigenous Peoples Network Receives Island Foundation Environmental Grant

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“The Island Foundation was among the first non-profit foundations to support the Indigenous Peoples Network five years ago and we want to thank them for believing in us,” says Chief George Spring Buffalo about the 2023 award for $25,000.

The funds will support repatriation efforts of ancestral lands in Tiverton, RI and facilitate the expansion of the Indigenous Roots Forever food access program in Washington County, RI. The produce will assist with the family budgets, and will be considered “healthy medicine,” according to Chief George. The goal, says the Chief, “is to introduce tribal members and other disadvantaged folks back to healthy eating and to introduce the next generation to the concept of land.”

The Island Foundation awards Environmental Grants to a variety of initiatives in Southern Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Maine, including those that support working landscapes (sustainable agriculture and community-based fisheries); help local conservation organizations build capacity; and promote environmental justice.

Pocasset Pokanoket Land Trust receives Rhode Island Foundation ARPA Nonprofit Support Grant

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The Rhode Island Foundation has awarded $8.3 million to more than 90 nonprofits working on food insecurity, housing instability and homelessness prevention, and the behavioral health needs of Rhode Islanders.

State leaders funded the Foundation’s ARPA Nonprofit Support Program using $20 million from the state’s $1.1 billion share of the federal American Rescue Plan Act allocation for COVID-19 recovery. Governor Dan McKee, House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi and Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio joined the Foundation to unveil the program last month.

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Pocasset Pokanoket Land Trust Named U.S. Department of Agriculture’s BFRDP Grantee

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closeup of carrot top poking out of soil

WASHINGTON, Nov. 15, 2022 – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Chief Scientist Chavonda Jacobs-Young today announced a nearly $24 million investment across 45 organizations and institutions that teach and train beginning farmers and ranchers.

“Investing in the professional development of our nation’s newest farmers and ranchers will help our food and agriculture sectors to flourish from the ground up,” said Jacobs-Young, who is also USDA’s Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics. “Strengthening and growing our next generation pipeline is vital to the continued success of American agriculture and prosperity of rural communities.”

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Pocasset Pokanoket Land Trust Named USDA OPPE-2501 Grantee

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The 2501 Program extends USDA’s outreach to underserved communities by partnering with nonprofit and community-based organizations and higher education institutions to provide technical assistance and training. USDA’s Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement (OPPE) administers the program. This investment enables underserved and veteran farmers, ranchers, and foresters get needed resources to support a successful farming operation and increase profits.

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Pocasset Pokanoket Land Trust Named a Core Grantee by the Food and Farm Communication Funds

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The Food & Farm Communications Fund (FFCF) is a pooled grantmaking fund that meets a critical need in the field of food system transformation: funding communications strategy and capacity. Their mission is to provide communications funding and resources for grassroots organizations and networks working to uplift frontline narratives, build power, and embolden transformative food and farm systems change.

Each year they give out several Core Grants, which awards strategic communications and narrative change support to frontline organizations and grassroots networks working to advance systemic and cultural change across our food and farm systems.

We are proud to announce that The Pocasset Pokanoket Land Trust is one the Core Grantees for 2022.

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MUSIC: Reviving Language in Song

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The Medicine Singers Daybreak

By Sandra Hale Schulman
Excerpt from Indian Country Today

The Medicine Singers – a collective formed as an offshoot of the powwow group, Eastern Medicine Singers – has released a video single, “Daybreak,” sung in a vanishing Algonquin language.

The release comes ahead of the release of their self-titled debut album.

“I took the words from the Algonquin Massachusetts dialect,” said bandleader Daryl Black Eagle Jamieson and a clan chief of the Pocasset Wampanoag Tribe of the Pokanoket Nation.

“Right now there’s less than 10 people in the world who speak it,” he said. “It was approved by our teacher, Donald Three Bears Fisher, who passed away after the song was finished. I got to play it for him. Three Bears was a traditional guy, but he really liked it. That stayed in my head, because Three Bears is a great man, and knowing that he approved was all I needed.”

“Daybreak” is a fast-paced track, using flashing psychedelic word visuals as a tool to preserve the Indigenous language.

“The people of the Pokanoket are the people of the first light – we see the light first – we are the guardians of the first gates,” he said. “It’s a tradition for us to do these prayers in the morning to thank the Creator for life. It’s a very important song, and I gave it to my tribe, the Pocasset Tribe of the Pokanoket Nation. It’s important to keep these songs and pass them down to the generations – that’s why we want to show the words, to help people know that this language is still out there and some people are still speaking it.”

The album is rounded out by contributions from Ryan Olson of Gayngs, who co-produced “Daybreak”; rising jazz trumpet star Jaimie Branch, who also did the album artwork; Thor Harris and Christopher Pravdica of Swans; no wave icon Ikue Mori; and ambient music pioneer Laraaji. It is set for release July 1 by Stone Tapes, a sub-label of Joyful Noise Recordings.

Jamieson’s passion for preserving the culture and language of the Pocasset Wampanoag is the driving force behind his music. He studied the Massachusett dialect of Algonquin with the late Clinton Wixon, a venerated tribal leader who was known as one of the last fluent speakers of the Wampanoag language.

“This is experimental art. We’re showing people experimental art from the Eastern Algonquin side of the world, a completely new realm of music,” Jamieson said.

Indigenous Roots Forever Named One of Nature’s Path Gardens of Good Grant Winners

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Pocasset Pokanoket Land Trust

The Gardens for Good grant program supports community gardens across North America that are growing organic food and making a difference in their communities.

Indigenous People’s Network with PPLT’s Agricultural initiative is proud to support Indigenous Roots Forever, a small community garden program run by Rocky Johnson, a Narragansett in southern RI/CT. The garden was just named one of the 2022 Gardens of Good grant winners!

See the Full List of 2022 Winners

USDA Invests $50 Million in Partnerships to Improve Equity in Conservation Programs, Address Climate Change

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The Pocasset Pokanoket Land Trust is an awardee of this grant.

Press Release from the USDA

ATLANTA, January 10, 2022 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing $50 million in 118 partnerships to expand access to conservation assistance for climate-smart agriculture and forestry. The Equity Conservation Cooperative Agreements, administered by USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will fund two-year projects to expand the delivery of conservation assistance to farmers who are new to farming, low income, socially disadvantaged or military veterans. Projects will support USDA’s broader effort to address climate change and equitable access to programs.

“We are committed to equal opportunity for those we serve, and we are taking bold, historic action to advance equity and root out generations of systemic racism,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said. “These partnerships are another example of how we are helping ensure historically underserved producers can more fully access and participate in our programs and services. As we’ve said before: equity will be a vital part of our climate change work, as America’s farmers and rural communities are on the frontlines of climate change. Our work with producers and partners will invest in climate smart solutions that improve profitability and resilience, open new market opportunities, and build wealth that stays in rural communities.”

The program encourages new partnerships and the development of state and community conservation leadership for historically underserved producers, with projects focusing on one or more of the following key conservation priorities:

  • Improving soil health and water quality;
  • Providing habitat for at-risk wildlife;
  • Improving natural resources and productivity on agricultural lands; and/or
  • Building and strengthening local and regional food systems and markets.

Among the partnerships are the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund and McIntosh Sustainable Environment and Economic Development (SEED).  The partnership with the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund, expands the Regional Agro Forestry Center (RAFC) to include climate smart agriculture, participation in conservation easements, heirs property consultations, forest management plans and certifications, and youth employment placement for Alabama, Georgia, Texas, South Carolina, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Additionally, a Regional Community Forest Justice Initiative (RCFJI) will provide limited-resource forest landowners with conservation education, technical assistance and a climate smart vision for their land

The McIntosh Sustainable Environment and Economic Development (SEED) will help historically underserved producers implement natural resources conservation and climate smart agricultural practices. They will work with producers to strengthen marketing skills, access new markets, and produce and sell cooperatively. Additionally, SEED will engage historically underserved youth in 24 climate-impacted and economically distressed counties in Georgia through outreach and education, providing access to NRCS technical assistance, certifications and youth internships.

View a full list of the partnerships

More Information

These partnerships are part of USDA’s broader efforts to address inequity in program delivery. Today, USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) also announced its plans to invest $2 million in risk management education for historically underserved and small-scale producers. This doubles RMA’s successful $1 million investment in 2021. Also in 2021, USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) invested $4.7 million to establish 56 partnerships with organizations to provide outreach and technical assistance to historically underserved farmers and ranchers.

USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. In the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America.

To learn more, visit www.usda.gov

USDA