People involved in organic farming and sustainable agriculture already understand that how we care for land matters. But sustainability also invites us to ask deeper questions: What is our relationship with the land? What responsibilities come with caring for it? And can agriculture truly be sustainable if we change how we care for land without examining how we came to possess it? Join the Nipmuc Indian Development Corporation (NIDC) for a conversation about Nipmuc land stewardship, farming, climate resilience, and Land Back. Drawing from NIDC’s current work caring for farms, forests, waterways, and rematriated lands, we will explore how relationships with land are connected to cultural continuity, food sovereignty, ecological restoration, and the future of Nipmuc communities.

Participants will be invited to consider:

• Explore how Nipmuc land stewardship extends beyond farming to relationships with forests, water, plants, animals, community, and future generations.
• Learn about NIDC’s contemporary work with farming, food sovereignty, ecological restoration, and the stewardship of rematriated lands.
• Consider the relationship between Indigenous land dispossession, Land Back, and climate resilience.
• Examine the difference between learning from Indigenous perspectives and extracting Indigenous cultural knowledge or practices.
• Consider ways farmers, landowners, and others can build meaningful relationships with Indigenous communities and move from acknowledgment toward reparative action.

About:

The Nipmuc Indian Development Corporation (NIDC) is a Nipmuc-led nonprofit organization working to strengthen Nipmuc communities through land stewardship, food sovereignty, cultural revitalization,  language reclamation, youth and community programs, and the return of land to Nipmuc care. NIDC’s work is rooted in the understanding that land, culture, community, and the well-being of future generations are deeply connected.

Today, NIDC cares for and supports the stewardship of rematriated lands across Nipmuc homelands, including farms, forests, waterways, and areas being restored for food, medicine, habitat, and community use. This work brings together farming, forestry, ecological restoration, education, and community building while creating opportunities for Nipmuc people to renew relationships with lands from which they have long been separated.

About the Instructors:

Presenters from the Nipmuc Indian Development Corporation (NIDC) bring experience in land stewardship, farming and food sovereignty, ecological restoration, cultural and language reclamation, and community development. Their work is grounded in contemporary Nipmuc efforts to return to and care for land, strengthen community relationships, and create opportunities for future generations to live, learn, grow food, and care for Nipmuc homelands.

Rather than presenting Indigenous knowledge as a set of practices that can be separated from culture and place, NIDC presenters will share perspectives from their own experiences caring for land and rebuilding land-based relationships within Nipmuc communities.

Accessibility:

Closed captions will be available.

Questions?

Contact Hannah at hannah@nofamass.dreamhosters.com

Partners

Hassanamisco Nipmuc Band
The state-recognized Nipmuc tribe in Massachusetts and leader in land stewardship, cultural continuity, and the return of land to Nipmuc care.

Belchertown-Nipmuc Farm Conservation Alliance
A partnership supporting the conservation of agricultural land and the return of Nipmuc people to farming and land stewardship in Belchertown.