{"id":27853,"date":"2017-01-26T12:55:26","date_gmt":"2017-01-26T18:55:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=27853"},"modified":"2017-01-26T12:55:26","modified_gmt":"2017-01-26T18:55:26","slug":"cherokee-nation-preserves-food-culture-by-freezing-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2017\/01\/26\/cherokee-nation-preserves-food-culture-by-freezing-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Cherokee Nation Preserves Food Culture by Freezing History"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_27851\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-27851\" alt=\"Biologist and Cherokee Nation Administrative Liaison Pat Gwin removes white eagle corn seeds from the seed bank freezer at Cherokee Nation headquarters in Tahlequah, Okla. \" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2017\/01\/PHOTO-1-26-Gwin2.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2017\/01\/PHOTO-1-26-Gwin2.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2017\/01\/PHOTO-1-26-Gwin2-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2017\/01\/PHOTO-1-26-Gwin2-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2017\/01\/PHOTO-1-26-Gwin2-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Logan Layden \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Biologist and Cherokee Nation Administrative Liaison Pat Gwin removes white eagle corn seeds from the seed bank freezer at Cherokee Nation headquarters in Tahlequah, Okla.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Before the Cherokee people were forced from their lands in the eastern U.S. along the Trail of Tears, the tribe grew varieties of crops now nearly lost. But at the <a href=\"https:\/\/secure.cherokee.org\/seedbank\">Cherokee Nation Seed Bank<\/a> in Tahlequah, Okla., a vital part of the tribe\u2019s history is kept frozen.<\/p><p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/304664766&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=false\" height=\"150\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p><p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Deep underground on a Norwegian island in the remote arctic, the Global Seed Vault shelters seeds from around the globe, protecting them from natural disaster, nuclear catastrophe or any apocalypse that might bring humans to the brink.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">For the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, the apocalypse already happened. Since first contact with European explorers to their removal to Oklahoma, the crops tribal members once ate and used in rituals have become more and more rare.<\/p><p>Until, that is, about 10 years ago. That\u2019s when the Cherokee Nation started scouring the country for genetically pure examples of plants that are important to its culture. Today, the fruit of that labor is stored in a nondescript freezer in a closet at the tribe\u2019s headquarters in Tahlequah.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Cherokee Nation biologist Pat Gwin helps maintain the seed bank. He also releases a trickle of the seeds every year to tribe members who want to grow them.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cAll of these black plastic bags are full of seeds ready to be shipped,\u201d Gwin says, pointing to a cardboard box on the bottom shelf. \u201cThis little bitty box has about 50 different varieties of seed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Only the highest quality seeds stay in the bank and aren\u2019t released.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cThis is the best genetics,\u201d Gwin says. \u201cThere\u2019s about 40 gallons of Cherokee White Eagle corn down there. That\u2019s what we grew last year. What we will do is we\u2019ll pick probably the best 100 milliliters of that seed, and place it in this box here. So this is actually the seed bank. What you see down here is the excess that we\u2019ll distribute to our folks.\u201d<\/p><p>Distribution is generally limited to Cherokee citizens who get to chose up to two varieties of plants. Seeds are sent out from February through April, but the most popular plants go quickly.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Gwin says there\u2019s another seed freezer in a second location, in case a tornado, flood, or other disaster destroys this building away.<\/p><p>Outside, in the garden along State Highway 62, Gwin cultivates rare plants like redroot, rivercane and New Jersey tea. He grows them in planters shaped into culturally significant symbols.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_27850\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-27850\" alt=\"Biologist and Cherokee Nation Administrative Liaison Pat Gwin stands in front of stalks of rivercane at the garden he helps maintain near the Cherokee Nation Seed Bank in Tahlequah, Okla. \" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2017\/01\/PHOTO-1-26-Gwin1.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2017\/01\/PHOTO-1-26-Gwin1.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2017\/01\/PHOTO-1-26-Gwin1-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2017\/01\/PHOTO-1-26-Gwin1-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2017\/01\/PHOTO-1-26-Gwin1-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Logan Layden \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Biologist and Cherokee Nation Administrative Liaison Pat Gwin stands in front of stalks of rivercane at the garden he helps maintain near the Cherokee Nation Seed Bank in Tahlequah, Okla.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cThese are all pre-1492 \u2014 before European contact these were integral components of our culture,\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Redroot is the rarest of the plants stored at the seedbank, Gwin says.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cIt\u2019s been pretty much extirpated from Oklahoma. It was picked into extinction,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s needed by virtually all Cherokee cultural ceremonies.\u201c<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Cherokee Secretary of State Chuck Hoskin says it\u2019s the staple crops \u2014 varieties of beans, corn, and squash \u2014 that are most popular with tribe members today. More than 3,500 seed packets were distributed in 2016. Hoskin says the program\u2019s popularity is growing because Cherokees are eager to reconnect to the lifeways of their ancestors.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cPeople generally are more interested today about where food comes from and growing their own food, and if you are Cherokee, and you can combine this interest in where food comes from and growing your own food with a connection to your culture and your history, I think it becomes very powerful,\u201d Hoskin says.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_27852\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-27852\" alt=\"Cherokee Nation Secretary of State Chuck Hoskin says the seed bank program continues to grow. \" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2017\/01\/PHOTO-1-26-Hoskin1.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2017\/01\/PHOTO-1-26-Hoskin1.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2017\/01\/PHOTO-1-26-Hoskin1-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2017\/01\/PHOTO-1-26-Hoskin1-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2017\/01\/PHOTO-1-26-Hoskin1-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Logan Layden \/ StateImapct Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cherokee Nation Secretary of State Chuck Hoskin says the seed bank program continues to grow.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">There\u2019s an old Cherokee saying: \u2018No self-respecting Cherokee would ever be without a corn patch.\u2019 Back at the garden, Pat Gwin says that refrain doesn\u2019t refer to the picturesque cobs of golden yellow corn at the grocery store. It\u2019s varieties like Cherokee White Eagle Corn, the first seed planted here a decade ago.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cIt started with one seed, and that was Cherokee White Eagle Corn,\u201d Gwin says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> At the Cherokee Nation Seed Bank in Tahlequah, Okla., a vital part of the tribe\u2019s history is kept frozen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[491],"tags":[313,450],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27853"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27853"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27853\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27859,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27853\/revisions\/27859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}