Regenerative practices and knowledge come from Indigenous and Black farmers, and support healthy soil, animals and people.
We asked William Smith, land steward of the Village of Huchiun, and Nazshonnii Brown-Almaweri, land team member of the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust, to share their thoughts on bringing this growing movement back. Through rematriation (or remothering the land), this centuries-old sustainable agricultural system has the power to connect Indigenous and Black people with their land in a way that is restorative, healing and rejuvenating for both people and the planet.
“When we talk about composting, cover cropping, no-till agriculture – that’s been going on for thousands of years. It’s really just stuff we’re trying to come back to,” says Smith. “If regenerative agriculture does become the norm, I hope that it’s with the motive of the people, for the earth; [that] it’s really seen as the solution and not just a temporary trend.”
Patagonia recognises that the farms shown in this film are located in the territory of Huchiun, on the unceded homelands of the Lisjan Ohlone peoples. We honour the ancestors of the land, Elders, and other members of their communities, past, present and future. We support the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust’s Indigenous-led land return efforts through the Rematriate the Land Fund. Learn more about this fund and how you can contribute in the film below.
