by Michelle Spaude

In hopes of establishing a sustainable food system for the Forest County Potawatomi Community, a small group of community and Garden Pilot team members traveled to the Oneida Nation to view their agricultural programs on Thursday, July 15.

The tour had been planned out with Jeff Metoxen, manager of the Oneida organic operation Tsyunhehkw^ (pronounced: Joon-hey-qwa, meaning: “life sustenance”). Metoxen is engaged in a tribal network for sustainable food security and indigenous traditional foods. He is collaborating with White Earth Land Recovery Project, Minnesota, Bad River Gitiganing Restoration Project, Wisconsin, and the Traditional Native American Farmers Association, New Mexico; among others. This group strives to support native foods as they are “… essential to tribal sovereignty, cultural revitalization, health and wellness, language, spirituality, community, family, the environment and all aspects of life” (Jeff Metoxen 2008, Some Principles of Native Food Sovereignty, working draft).

A day-filled tour included stops at Tsyunhehkw^ organic farm which oversees the heirloom Iroquoian White Corn cultivation, which operates a cannery, and a retail store. More stops included the tribe’s beef cattle operation, orchard, and buffalo ranch. Lunch was eaten at the Oneida Farmer’s Market, which is open for business every Thursday at the One Stop 54 on the reservation.

Denny Van Vreede, Oneida Nations Farm supervisor, gave the tour of the self-sufficient, commercial cattle farm in Seymour, Wis. Van Vreede said their operation is not organic but “natural”. It’s very important for them to feed the cattle a high protein diet. This helps the animals to grow taller and longer. Feeding only a high corn diet leads to the cattle growing so fast that their feet give out. It also can lead to shutting down three of their four stomachs.

The group was shown many one-year-old cattle that are taken care of “naturally”. The size was incredibly large! Van Vreede emphasized that they do not give them any steroids or implants. All cattle do get a vaccination at birth, but hopefully that’s it, he said.

If eating naturally-raised beef is something you might like to try, then do your research and contact the farm for availabilities. Don’t be surprised if you are put on a waiting list, as is the case with this Seymour-based enterprise. After supplying their golf course, restaurant, and community members with meat, keeping up with the demand has been difficult.

Before leaving the farm, Van Vreede pointed to a large area of mounds – yep, the manure pit! From the bottom, it’s 17 feet deep of the wonderful aroma associated with a farm! Full of nutrients, the manure is changed into liquid and applied back into the soil. There are about one million gallons of manure when the pit is filled. An interesting fact about manure told by Van Vreede, “When you can smell it, you are losing nutrients.”

The buffalo ranch was next on the tour. “This is truly a grass-fed operation,” said Van Vreede as the group gazed over the 161 acres looking for the strong animals. Quite a few stories were told about how to move the buffalo into paddocks. Needless to say, a four-wheeler was used once and never again!

Bison is very lean meat. You need to cook it carefully; overcooking leads to a tough chew.

Do you know how fast buffalo can run? Running next to a worker’s pick-up truck, one was going 52 mph, said Van Vreede! “Now that makes a deer look stupid,” he said.

Talking about meat all morning made lunch very appealing! A stop at the farmer’s market cured the hunger pangs. Several tour guests bought some fresh produce for future meals or just to munch on for the ride home.

The afternoon tour started at the orchard with Jeff Scofield, Oneida agricultural director, talking to the group. He shared information on the different apples they have – 35 varieties in all. They apply chemicals “only as needed” he insisted. The worst pest is the codling moth a.k.a. “the worm in the apple”. It goes up the bottom end and eats from the inside out.

They have around 4,500 trees, and pruning is done between Christmas and Easter. “In the winter it looks like you’ve hacked so much,” he said. But in the summer, the branches need to be spread out to receive lots of sunshine. It’s important for the leaves to dry quickly to prevent fungi growth.

The tour went to the Oneida Nation Farms retail store next, which is open to the public. Frozen angus and buffalo beef were available for sale as well as the in-season produce (raspberries this day).

The cannery was then toured at the Norbert Hill Center. Foods preserved by the Oneida Nation include white corn soup, dehydrated corn, traditional corn bread and corn flour. Other cannery products made on-site include jams, pickles and salsa.

They also produce apple products such as pie filling, sauce, butter, jelly and chips.
 The last stop was at Tsyunhehkw^, the community organic farm where they also have a greenhouse with solar panels. David Miller gave the group the tour. “It’s all certified USDA organic,” he stated as he waved his arm into the air toward the gardens and animals.

The 25 cattle are grass-fed using rotational practices. The chickens are cage-free. Pumpkin and squash are grown for the turkeys to eat.

The Oneida organic farm started out over 20 years ago as a co-op by some tribal members wanting to reintroduce quality foods back into the community. The success of it caught the leadership’s attention, which came down to the tribe financially supporting it. According to Miller, the original intent is “to get the food into the community”. What is not used by the community goes to the cannery and/or the retail store.

With the FCPC having a community garden pilot project this year on Highway H in Wabeno, this tour gave the group an idea of what another tribe is doing. Possibly some of these practices can be incorporated into the Potawatomi’s healthy lifestyle food choices!

Tribal members and their families are encouraged to give input! Please contact Siegrun Kaiser, Community Garden Coordinator, for any suggestions you may have on the community garden or sustainable food practices on the reservation. Her phone number is (715) 478-4900 or email Siegrun.Kaiser @fcpotawatomi-nsn.gov.