Native foods including rare strains of corn, beans and squash making a comeback

Native foods – including rare strains of corn, beans, and squash – are being brought back from extinction thanks to the preservation and conservation efforts of indigenous tribes and a seed-lending library.

Members of the Potawatomi and Ojibwe tribes in Hopkins, Michigan have teamed up with the Jijak Foundation to help these rare strains of vegetables make a comeback. These vegetables are now being used in traditional ceremonies.

In Hopkins, Michigan, Native Americans of the Pottawatomi and Ojibwe tribes are bringing rare strains of vegetables back from the dead.

Farmers are receiving help from the Jijak Foundation, which describes itself as a “nonprofit organisation of the Gun Lake Band of Pottawatomi Indians dedicated to enriching our community through education, preservation, and perpetuation of our Tribe’s rich culture, arts, history, and living traditions”. The foundation’s seed-lending library is at the centre of the comeback story. Tribes around the Great Lakes region are…