“Seed Mother: Coming Home” is a poetic embodiment of the Indigenous Seed Rematration movement. Across Turtle Island, seed keepers carry the message of the grand rematriation of seeds and foods back into their communities. We enter the dreams of this movement, starting at the beginning: an animated vision of the Mohawk cosmogenealogy, in which life-sustaining foods and medicines sprout from the body of Sky Woman’s daughter, which is Mother Earth. Recently rematriated seeds spin—huge—in primordial spirit space, dancing to seed songs. Seed keepers cradle and mother their long-missing seeds, placing them lovingly back into Earth as well as in the fertile ground of public consciousness. Seeds present their full beauty for us to fall in love, and so protect them. We are all called to return to relationship with our seeds, and to join this vital Indigenous- and women-led movement.
[USA 2020, 7']
Seed mother: coming home
[La Regista]
Rowen White
Rowen White is a Seed Keeper and farmer from the Mohawk community of Akwesasne and a passionate activist for Indigenous seed and food sovereignty. She is the director and founder of Sierra Seeds, an innovative organic seed stewardship organization focusing on local seed and education, based in Nevada City CA. Rowen is the National Project Coordinator and advisor for the Indigenous Seed Keeper Network, which is an initiative of the Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance, a non-profit organization aimed at leveraging resources to support tribal food sovereignty projects. The mission of the Indigenous Seed Keepers Network is to nourish and assist the growing Seed Sovereignty Movement across Turtle Island. Rowen’s passion is in teaching and mentoring, and has developed many curricula which focus on holistic, Indigenous permaculture based approach to seed stewardship which honors the many layers of seed culture; from practical hands-on skills, cultural context and memory with guiding principles that are rooted in an Indigenous ecology of relations. She teaches and facilitates creative seed stewardship immersions around the country within tribal and small farming communities. She weaves stories of seeds, food, culture and sacred Earth stewardship on her blog, Seed Songs.
