PPLT Receives SARE Grant for Indigenous Food Sovereignty Initiative

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The Pocasset Pokanoket Land Trust (PPLT) is proud to announce that it has been awarded a grant from SARE Northeast in support of its Indigenous Food Sovereignty Program in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut.

The Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program is a producer-driven, decentralized competitive grants and education program operating in every state. Funded by the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Institute for Food and Agriculture, the program is run by four regions (North Central, Northeast, South and West) hosted by land grant institutions.

Since 1988, SARE has funded thousands of projects to advance agricultural innovation that promotes profitability, stewardship of the land, air and water, and quality of life for farmers, ranchers and their communities. Primary grant programs include research and education, professional development and producer grants. Depending on the region, applicants also can propose projects under special grant programs for graduate students, community development practitioners and ag educators conducting on-farm research.

This funding will support the addition of backyard and community gardens by Narragansett Clan Chief Musquant Nompashim Netas (Rocky Johnson). The award will directly benefit families currently participating in the program while also adding new participants from the Pocasset and Pequot tribes. The ultimate goal of the work is to connect the regional tribal communities with their traditions, the land, and each other.

Rocky understands that this work goes beyond food security. “Food brings people together and strengthens communities. It’s a different kind of medicine.”

PPLT Awarded GAIA Grant to Expand Indigenous-Led Composting and Food Sovereignty Program

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The Pocasset Pokanoket Land Trust (PPLT) is proud to announce that it has been awarded a $25,000 grant from the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) to expand its Indigenous food sovereignty program through community-led composting initiatives.

GAIA is an international network of grassroots organizations, non-profits, and advocates working toward a zero-waste future. With 800 members across more than 90 countries, GAIA advances environmental justice by promoting community-driven solutions to waste, pollution, and resource conservation.

This funding will support the expansion of backyard composting efforts led by Narragansett Clan Chief Musquant Nompashim Netas (Rocky Johnson). The initiative will directly benefit families currently participating in PPLT’s food sovereignty program while addressing the increasing demand from those on the waiting list. By creating accessible, zero-cost composting solutions, this program will help divert organic waste from landfills, reduce methane emissions, and enrich soil health to support sustainable food production.

“In Rhode Island, as in many states across the U.S., composting services are largely privatized and cost-prohibitive for low-income families,” said Michelle Nikfarjam, Program Manager at PPLT. “Through this grant, we can remove financial barriers, provide essential infrastructure, and empower Indigenous families to engage in waste reduction and sustainable agriculture on their own terms.”

By demonstrating the scalability and impact of localized composting solutions, this initiative serves as a model for how zero-waste strategies can advance environmental justice, climate resilience, and Indigenous food sovereignty.

To support Indigenous Roots Forever or other PPLT programs, go to our Donations page.

Meeting the Moment: Boston Foundation to Partner with PPLT on Safety Net Program

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The Pocasset Pokanoket Land Trust has received a $25,000 grant from the Boston Foundation to provide direct assistance to families in Eastern Massachusetts.

“We are grateful for this continued partnership with the Boston Foundation,” said Chief Sequan Pijaki, aka Chief George Spring Buffalo. “This grant will help our Indigenous communities that are struggling to keep up with the historic rise in food, electricity and housing costs and navigate the cuts to federal services.”

Funds for this grant come from the Boston Foundation’s Permanent Fund for Boston, an endowed pool of funds built over more than a century by generous contributors who want to help the Greater Boston community thrive. Each year, the Boston Foundation distributes more than $15 million in discretionary grants and other resources from the Fund, which are largely awarded through a competitive process open to nonprofits serving the Foundation’s catchment area, stewarded by the Foundation’s Program Department staff and approved by the Foundation’s Board of Directors.

Read the Press Release

PPLT Awarded Better Beaches Grant for Drum Event this Summer

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With the support of this grant from Save the Harbor/Save the Bay, PPLT will hold a new summer event we are calling “Healing The Earth: Interactive Eastern Algonquin Drum Session”. This effort is led by Suki Wompsikuk (Black Eagle), aka Daryl Jamieson, who is the Vice Chairman, Clan Historian, and Cultural Committee Chairman of the Pocasset Pokanoket Tribe. He is also the founder and leader of the Eastern Medicine Singers, an eastern woodland Algonquin dialect intertribal American Indian drum group.

Along with the Massachusetts Praying Indians’ group, Generations Drum, PPLT will organize, promote and carry out a 2.5 hour event, on August 2nd, 2025 with a rain date of August 3rd, 2025 at Wollaston Beach, Quincy, MA.

The event will be an educational and cultural event celebrating the eastern Algonquin traditions that remain alive in our area and will focus around the drumming, participatory dancing and cultural offerings of local tribes. Songs are primarily in our traditional algonquin language, preserving the language by song. The intention is to introduce and educate the public about eastern indigenous culture and connect tribal members to their own culture.

Save the Harbor/Save the Bay is a non-profit public interest harbor advocacy organization. We are made up of thousands of citizens, as well as scientists, and civic, corporate, cultural and community leaders whose mission is to restore and protect Boston Harbor, Massachusetts Bay, and the marine environment and share them with the public for everyone to enjoy.

 

Pocasset Wampanoag Tribe of the Pokanoket Nation Reclaims 40 Acres of Native Land in Tiverton, Rhode Island

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Rematriation of historic land proves critical for the livelihoods and sustainability of the tribe; to be open to indigenous communities for traditional practices

Cranston, RI., Dec. 16, 2024 – The Pocasset Wampanoag Tribe of the Pokanoket Nation today announced the reclaiming of nearly 40 acres of historic land in Tiverton, Rhode Island, bringing the total amount of recovered tribal land to over 50 acres. The rematriation of the land––the site of The Battle in Tiverton during King Philip’s War––was made possible through an Open Space Grant provided by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) awarded to the Pocasset Pokanoket Land Trust (PPLT) in collaboration with Bally’s Tiverton Hotel and Casino. PPLT intends to open the land to other historic indigenous clans of all Pocasset villages as a site of traditional native rituals, including hunting, fishing, foraging, harvesting, and ceremonial practices.

According to Britannica, more than 56 million acres of land exist as Native American reservations today, only accounting for about two percent of the ancestral indigenous land that the United States occupies.

“As the site of King Philip’s War––one of the most devastating conflicts to native people in American history––this land represents a significant ancestral heartbeat to the Pocasset Pokanoket people,” said Chief George Spring Buffalo, Chairman of the Pocasset Tribe of the Pokanoket Nation. “This land is more than soil and trees—it is the spirit of our ancestors and the promise of our future. To have it returned to us is to reclaim a piece of our identity, a place where our stories, ceremonies, and way of life can thrive again. We honor this gift with gratitude and a commitment to steward it as our forebears did, with respect for all living things.”

This particular parcel contains a portion of a large Atlantic White Cedar swamp, a globally imperiled forest type with an extensive history of commercial harvesting. The DEM Open Space Grant Program provides funding assistance for meaningful land conservation projects at the local level, prioritizing land with high natural resource value and placing an emphasis on preserving the natural heritage of Rhode Island. As a result of the remediation of this property, the swamp and surrounding land will be held in conservation in perpetuity.

“We are excited to be working in partnership with the Pocasset Pokanoket Land Trust and the Pocasset Wampanoag Tribe of the Pokanoket Nation and believe firmly in this project and the benefit of protecting the Pocasset Cedar Swamp,” added DEM Director Terry Gray. “Rhode Islanders are proud to be a diverse people and celebrate our tribal communities. We are thrilled to play a small role in the return of this land as well as the renewal of hope for the Pocasset Pokanoket people.”

In addition to opening the land up to ancestral rituals and ceremonies, hunting & fishing indigenous means of conservation––including soil remediation, forest thinning, wildlife rehabilitation, traditional burns, and water quality testing, guided historical tours––will take place on the land in order to improve and conserve the damaged ecosystem.

About The Pocasset Pokanoket Land Trust

The Pocasset Pokanoket Land Trust (PPLT) is a tribally-led non-profit dedicated to reconnecting communities of American Indian tribes, clans, Urban Indians, and indigenous people across the Northeast. We embody an American Indian cosmology that holds Mother Earth and all living beings with deep reverence. As mindful caretakers of the land for all future generations, we teach our descendants to honor the connection to Earth, Sky, Water and to the Creator.

Read DEM Press Release

 

Pocasset Pokanoket Land Trust to Partner with USDA and Rhode Island DEM to Support Private Forestland Management and Conservation

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced awards of nearly $335 million to strengthen financial incentives for private forest landowners to manage their forests sustainably and to permanently conserve private forests in partnership with states. The funding was made possible thanks to investments from the Biden-Harris Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act.

“Forests provide innumerable benefits to people and communities, and private forestlands make up more than half of all forests in the U.S.,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, we are helping to provide the resources private forest landowners need to keep working forests working so that future generations of Americans will be able to enjoy all the benefits they provide.”

Of the total funding, nearly $210 million was awarded as competitive grants to state agencies, for-profit entities and a broad array of non-profit organizations. These investments support activities like connecting underserved and small acreage landowners with emerging climate markets, state-endorsed cost share payment programs for forest management on private land, and state and non-profit programs that issue payments to landowners for practices that increase carbon sequestration and storage.

Read Full Story

 

USDA Funding Supports Northeast Native Americans

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The Pocasset Pokanoket Land Trust (PPLT) is a Tribally led nonprofit organization committed to reconnecting and empowering various Indigenous peoples throughout the Northeast. The Land Trust acts as a catalyst for change, addressing critical issues related to land reclamation and food insecurity for the Pocasset Wampanoag tribe and other marginalized communities. Through its targeted initiatives, PPLT empowers communities across New England to reclaim agricultural practices and enhance local food sovereignty. These efforts not only improve access to fresh, healthy food but also foster a sense of community and cultural pride among Indigenous peoples in the Northeast.

A key element of PPLT’s efforts is funding from the 2501 Program, a U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA) program designed to support outreach and assistance for underserved farmers and ranchers. This funding has been crucial in helping the land trust cultivate valuable partnerships. Collaborations with organizations such as Global Village and the Northeast Organic Farming Association have expanded PPLT’s reach, enabling the implementation of mentorship programs and the creation of meaningful community connections. Additionally, PPLT has engaged in extensive grant partnerships with the USDA, including multiple grants from the National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) through the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).

“Leveraging the 2501 Program funding, BFRDP, and NRCS grants has created a functional series of programs that we would never have had otherwise,” said Nathan Erwin, Director of Agriculture and Land Stewardship at PPLT. His work focuses on harnessing relational power to facilitate access to land, promote farm equity, and expand agroecological knowledge.

The organization is focused on improving Indigenous food sovereignty through several initiatives, including community gardens, mentorship programs for local farmers and marketing strategies for Indigenous produce.

“It is essential to have grants, partnerships, and networks because we can’t do this alone,” said Erwin. “Nonprofits need to collaborate to strengthen and build a more robust and sustainable food system for the future.”

Massachusetts Cultural Council Selects Wainer Woods for Photography Project

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Professional photographer and Westport resident Merri Cyr has been awarded a “Grant for Creative Individuals” by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, to document the development of Wainer Woods, LLC, an Indigenous botanical farm and retreat in Westport, MA created by Chief Nij-Pajikwat-Mo`z (Chief Two Running Elk), aka Robert Cox.

Wainer Woods exists as the historic Cuffee-Wainter family farm, purchased by African-Indigenous businessman and philanthropist Paul Cuffee, the wealthiest person of color in the 18th century, then sold to his brother-in-law Michael Wainer in 1799. “Land conservation and sustainability efforts, the building of medicinal foraging trails, non-GMO row crops and banking of regional native tribal seeds will all be highlighted in future photography and video projects,” says Chief Two Running Elk.

Cyr worked as a fine art and commercial photographer for decades, focusing on musicians, artists and actors; she returned to Westport in 2019 to create art and culture projects that help enrich the community. Grants for Creative Individuals is Mass Cultural Council’s primary funding program providing unrestricted financial support to artists, culture bearers and creative practitioners.

Grants for Creative Individuals awards unrestricted grants to individuals in all creative fields: visual artists, literary artists, theater artists, performers, film/media artists, music artists, designers, culture bearers/traditional artists, drag artists, cross-disciplinary artists, and more.

The Agency received 4,470 applications total to the program. Approximately 98% of the grantees are receiving their first grant from Mass Cultural Council.

Mass Cultural Council receives an annual appropriation from the state Legislature and funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, and others. Details on our budget are available online. In turn, Mass Cultural Council makes thousands of grants directly to cultural organizations, schools, communities, and individuals artists, through funding programs that use arts, science, and the humanities to build strong, diverse, livable communities.

“Black and Red” Documentary to Premiere at Nichols College

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The Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities-supported documentary project, “Black and Red: the Dilemma of African American-Indigenous Identity in Massachusetts,” will premiere at Nichols College in Dudley, MA on Tuesday, October 15. The educational event will host high school and college students and include a showing of the film, a performance by the traditional drumming group, Eastern Medicine Singers, an exhibit by Pocasset artist Cynthia Meeks, and a panel discussion.

The documentary, with matching support from the Pocasset Pokanoket Land Trust (PPLT), is part of the Expand Massachusetts Stories Initiative of the Massachusetts Foundation, and one of forty-two cultural projects chosen for 2024. The film includes a series of compelling interviews by tribal members about their perspectives as multiracial individuals in Massachusetts and their experiences being misidentified in their own communities. History tells us that a special Indian Census in Massachusetts included mixed blood families for the first time in 1910, and that the census taker made the calculation himself from the possible Indian, White and Negro categories.

With an effort spearheaded by Professor Bryant Richards, Nichols College has provided funding to host the premiere. For more information, please email Chris Richards, Director of Development and Programming Director at the Pocasset Pokanoket Land Trust.

Ocean Hour Farm Awards Grant to PPLT for Indigenous Food Sovereignty Program

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Ocean Hour Farm in Newport, RI has chosen Indigenous Roots Forever Food Sovereignty Program as an awardee in support of its traditional gardening practices and transition mentoring goals in Rhode Island and Connecticut. The grant will ensure regenerative farming skill development among tribal participants by training them to grow their own produce for five months of the year and build more economic self-sufficiency among families.

Ocean Hour Farm is a center for education, scientific research and regenerative farming practices, with emphasis on the connection between land and ocean; the grant program funds efforts to fill knowledge and infrastructure gaps to accelerate and support an inclusive transition to regenerative and traditional land management in our local food-and-fiber shed.

Narragansett Clan Chief Musquant Nompashim Netas (Rocky Johnson) will continue to provide leadership on the project, mentoring his son and tribal member, Bow Johnson. Bow will now be able to assist and carry on the legacy of their tribal roots, with a spirit of cooperation and community.

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