Traditional Navajo culture emphasizes the importance of each community member maintaining a spiritual connection with the natural world. This spirituality is thought to help each individual attain balance and mental maturity [1].
Agriculture was one of the many ways in which this spirituality was incorporated into daily life. For the Diné people, it was important to allow the wisdom of nature to maintain equilibrium between each of the many systems that support crop growth. Those systems included the Three Sisters method, the topsoil microbiome, and the cycle of water.
As described in our project overview, our proposal is to create a guidebook on how to effectively implement sustainable farming in a school environment. But before creating such a guide, it is important to first understand the methods and tools used in sustainable agriculture. These tools can vary, and are determined by where the methods are implemented. For example, in the context of our project, the tools should be accommodating to local schools; here, low-maintenance and relatively inexpensive raised beds are a better fit than a complex aeroponics system. The methods themselves are captured by the modern sustainability movement known as ‘regenerative agriculture’. Regenerative agriculture primarily draws inspiration from the traditional focus on natural equilibrium described earlier [2], with a few adaptations based on modern tools (such as the option for greenhouses) and needs (such as limited clean water) [5]. Therefore, to understand regenerative agriculture, and by extension the methods our proposal would focus on, we can examine some of the systems of traditional agriculture.
Systems:
The Three Sisters method is an agricultural practice where three crops, corn, squash, and beans are grown together. Each crop complements each other’s growth: corn provides wind protection and a sturdy structure for the squash and beans, squash keeps the soil cool and moist, and beans provide a home for specialized bacteria which return nitrogen to the soil and thus balance the nitrogen removed by the corn [2]. It is also important to consider how, traditionally, the Diné people cultivated heirloom crop varieties which were especially resistant to the arid conditions of the Four Corners region. These crops play a critical role for sustainable farming on the Navajo Nation, especially because of the limited availability of clean water today.
The topsoil, in turn, contains a diverse set of microbes and insects that are each capable of fulfilling specific functions that together support crop growth. Those functions include nutrient cycling and increased water retention. Combined, this means that topsoil can raise the resistance of crops to external stress, such as droughts. Additionally, topsoil diversity promotes resistance to dangerous pathogens which could directly harm the plant, or otherwise cut off the plant from the topsoil’s other vital functions [3]. It is also important to realize that, according to the Global Food Security journal, “certain nutrient [limitations] in the soil … can lead to specific nutritional deficiencies in the food produced” [9]. Therefore, because a diverse topsoil microbiome increases the nutrient profile available to plants, the crops produced in that soil will pass on that increased nutrient density to humans. In terms of achieving microbial diversity, some effective techniques include the Three Sisters method, crop rotation, mulching (using a layer of loose organic material to retain soil moisture), aerating the soil, and using compost rather than chemical fertilizers [2][10]. Crop rotation is simply the practice of changing what is grown on a plot of land year to year, which allows nutrients to replenish and prevents crop-specific pests and disease from accumulating in the soil [11].
Navajo tradition recognizes the cycle of water as sacred, and as something which should be tapped into, rather than controlled or bypassed. One of the ways in which this was done was through collecting surface-accessible water, rain, or using flood irrigation [2][8]. However, in the Navajo nation today, rain occurs much less consistently and in smaller quantities [12]. Additionally, much of the groundwater and surface water is contaminated by dangerous heavy metals. This has forced the Diné people to use wells when they can, drive long distances for expensive prepackaged water, or else haul their own water. In many cases these options are either unavailable, too expensive or too difficult, meaning that residents turn instead to contaminated water [4]. This situation has seriously compromised the physical health of Navajo nation residents [6]. The diminished availability of water also makes it harder for the Diné people to continue their agricultural livelihoods, to access fresh food, or to practice religious activities. Further, recent contamination events such as the Gold King Mine Spill have caused heavy metals to settle into riverbanks. This has created the potential for recurrent contamination if those rivers are flooded during rainstorms. In the face of these financial and health hazards, agricultural practice has diminished [7]. The long-term disruption to the natural cycle of water has therefore affected the spiritual health of the Diné people in a way that pushes the community further from food security. Regenerative farming has the potential to help solve these issues. Flood irrigation can be used with uncontaminated rivers [8]; in cases where nearby rivers are contaminated collected rainfall, though likely not enough on its own, can supplement water hauling to cultivate crops which need less water (such as drought-resistant heirloom varieties). A healthy topsoil and techniques such as the Three Sisters Method, used in conjunction with these resistant crops, can further help to conserve water. Even considering the minimal precipitation that the Navajo Nation receives, the fact that many communities around the world with limited water access have successfully used rainfall collection systems suggests how rainfall collection systems would be effective to an extent in water-efficient agriculture [13]. The ensuing restoration of agriculture would help financial security rebound, and heal the physical and spiritual health of the Dine people as access to fresh, local food increases.
As discussed earlier, regenerative agriculture adapts traditional Navajo farming practices to modern tools and needs, and so it is characterized by a sustainable cycle of giving and receiving with nature [2]. When the systems within this cycle coexist in the proper balance, regenerative agriculture can improve the physical and spiritual well-being of residents on the Navajo Nation and lead to increased plant health, water efficiency and nutrient density [3].
Works Cited:
[1] Benally, H. (1992, February 15). Spiritual Knowledge for a Secular Society: Traditional Navajo spirituality offers lessons for the nation. Tribal College Journal of American Indian Higher Education. https://tribalcollegejournal.org/spiritual-knowledge-secular-society-traditional-navajo-spirituality-offers-lessons-nation/
[2] E82: Rediscovering Navajo Indigenous Agricultural Wisdom. (n.d.). World Food Policy Center. Retrieved December 1, 2022, from https://wfpc.sanford.duke.edu/podcasts/rediscovering-navajo-indigenous-agricultural-wisdom/
[3] Bertola, M., Ferrarini, A., & Visioli, G. (2021). Improvement of Soil Microbial Diversity through Sustainable Agricultural Practices and Its Evaluation by -Omics Approaches: A Perspective for the Environment, Food Quality and Human Safety. Microorganisms, 9(7), 1400. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9071400
[4] (2022). Acs.org. https://cen.acs.org/content/cen/articles/97/web/2019/08/Arsenic-metals-contaminate-Navajo-Nation.html
[5] Allen, L. (2017, April 14). Art of Agriculture: Combining the Hoop House and Modern Farming. ICT; ICT. https://indiancountrytoday.com/archive/art-agriculture-combining-hoop-house-modern-farming
[6] Lakhani, N. (2021, April 28). Tribes without clean water demand an end to decades of US government neglect. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/apr/28/indigenous-americans-drinking-water-navajo-nation
[7] Times, N. D., Portl, D. (2016, September 8). Hanging on in Navajo Nation: First the water turned orange, then the air went bad. Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-navajo-spill-20160906-snap-story.html
[8] Watching the Water. (2021, August 26). Grand Canyon Trust. https://www.grandcanyontrust.org/advocatemag/fall-winter-2021/Navajo-Hopi-farmers
[9] El Mujtar, V., Muñoz, N., Prack Mc Cormick, B., Pulleman, M., & Tittonell, P. (2019). Role and management of soil biodiversity for food security and nutrition; where do we stand? Global Food Security, 20, 132–144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2019.01.007
[10] Regeneration International. (2015). Why Regenerative Agriculture? – Regeneration International. Regeneration International. https://regenerationinternational.org/why-regenerative-agriculture/
[11] Crop Rotations. (n.d.). Rodale Institute. https://rodaleinstitute.org/why-organic/organic-farming-practices/crop-rotations/#:~:text=What%20is%20crop%20rotation%3F
[12] Brandon Francis (Resident of the Navajo Nation and Research Laboratory Technician at New Mexico State University)
[13] Millions of Americans lack access to running water. An ancient method of capturing rainwater could help solve this. (2020, December 7). The Counter. https://thecounter.org/ancient-rainwater-harvest-technology-used-for-access-to-water-supply-navajo-nation/