In this session, we will share information about our Yahowt ("Lift us up, togethe"r in the Coast Salish Lushootseed language) Program. The program includes both a multi-year, multi-generational permaculture cohort who earn professional certifications and design and implement foods and restoration projects in the Native community, and the Indigenous Foods program that utilizes mostly public lands in the Seattle area to increase access and facilitate re-connection to healthy vegetables and traditional foods. The presenters will be Permaculture Program participants who are Indigenous women committed to strengthening balanced connections with land and waters to support all of our relations. We place a high value on growing our own food and medicine; we see the land as a living breathing entity and design around this concept. Similar to what we learn from our elders, permaculture uses whole-systems design approaches to create sustainable communities. Rooted in agriculture, it includes concepts from ecology, planning, architecture, and emerging technologies. Specifically we have learned about climate, topography, weather, water, solar, wind effects, soils, plants, and community economies. As we learn and grow, we integrate our traditional ecological knowledge, using permaculture principles as an organizing framework.
