Saturday April 16, 2022

10 am - 1:00 pm on Zoom/virtual - register below to get the link. UCD viewing location available for people with unstable internet

2:00 - 4:00 pm at UC Davis Student Farm Ecological Garden - located next to the Bowley Plant Sciences Teaching Facility at 1200 Ext Center Dr, Davis. Free parking is located at Parking Lot 30 on the UC Davis campus.

Our hope is to raise awareness and share ideas about sustaining Native California and Indigenous Meso American foodways across generations.

This summit will be held from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm virtually, followed by a time to gather outdoors and enjoy the plants and art at the UC Davis Student Farm's Ecological Garden from 2:00 - 4:00 pm. This event is organized by and is for community members and UC Davis students, staff and faculty. We are thankful to all our sponsors!

 

Summit Agenda 

10:00 am - 1:00 pm Virtual/Zoom 

9:45 - 10:00 am Virtual Meet and Greet/Zoom doors open

10:00 - 10:05 am Land Acknowledgement 

10:05 - 10:10 am Welcome Message by Dr. Lina Mendez, UC Davis Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) Director

10:15 - 10:45 am  Keynote by Clint McKay, MA, member of the Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo & Wappo Indians          

 "Indigenous Food-ways: Feeding Our Body and Spirit"

10:45 - 11:15 am Keynote by Dr. Jennie Luna, UC Davis Native American Studies Alumna & CSUCI Chicana/o Studies faculty 

“Food is Medicine: Indigenizing our Foodways"

11:15 - 11:30 am Moderated Q&A and information on UCDavis Native American Student Union garden spaces (Carlie Domingues, MA, Chumash and Native American Studies PhD Candidate)

11:30 am -11:45 am Break

11:45 am - 12:45 pm Workshop Sessions (choose one break-out session)

• Meso-American Indigenous dance and food ways by Adelita Serena (Mexica Dancer and Leader of Capulli Tlayolotl) and Melissa Moreno (PhD)
• Native Tending & Gathering Garden at Cache Creek Conservancy by  Diana Almendariz (Maidu/Wintun Cultural Practitioner) & Ameen Lotfi (Restoration Manager)
• Reconnecting Native students and foodways: Intertribal Agriculture Council Internship Program by Azelya Yazzie (Program Specialist) and Elaini Vargas (Professional Development Specialist)

12:45 - 1:00 pm Closing by Dr. Sandra M. Pacheco (lecturer in Women an Gender Studies at UC Berkeley), “Ritual, Respect, and Reciprocity: Tending to Foodways for Future Generations"

 

2:00 - 4:00 pm In-Person at the UC Davis Student Farm’s Ecological Garden

2:00 - 4:00 pm Garden walk, music by DJ Novela, art, and live screen-printing by Taller de Arte del Nuevo Amanecer (TANA) at the UC Davis Ecological. We'll have Séka Hills snacks, acorn bites by the Tribal Youth Ambassadors of the California Indian Museum and Cultural Center in Santa Rosa, and (hopefully) Ensalada de Nopal to share.

The garden is located next to the Bowley Plant Sciences Teaching Facility at 1200 Ext Center Dr, Davis. Free parking is located at Parking Lot 30 on the UC Davis campus. https://ucdavisaggies.com/documents/2019/5/14/UC_Davis_Parking_Map.pdf

In anticipation of spending time at the UC Davis Student Farm, we want to acknowledge the land on which we will be gather. For thousands of years, this land has been the home of Patwin people. Today, there are three federally recognized Patwin tribes: Cachil DeHe Band of Wintun Indians of the Colusa Indian Community, Kletsel Dehe Wintun Nation, and Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation. The Patwin people have remained committed to the stewardship of this land over many centuries. It has been cherished and protected, as elders have instructed the young through generations. We are honored and grateful to be here today on their traditional lands. Visit this UC Davis website to learn more about this land acknowledgement. 

 

Keynote Speakers and Closing Speakers Biographies

Clint McKay, MA (Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo and Wappo Indians)

McKay lives in Forestville, California with his wife Lucy and three daughters, Josephine, Mary and Laura. They are blessed with four grandchildren, Pearl, Sally, Angeline, and Luke. Clint was brought up in the traditional ways of his people. His father and other relatives told stories of the “early days” and taught the children to respect their culture. Later, Clint moved his family to the Dry Creek Rancheria in Geyserville. It was while living next to his great-aunt, Laura Somersal, that he became interested in weaving. Through years of patient guidance, Laura taught him the art of Pomo basket weaving, including the ceremonial customs that accompany the gathering, processing and weaving of Pomo Baskets. Clint was fortunate to also receive guidance from another of his great-aunts, Mabel McKay, who shared her knowledge of Pomo basket weaving. In addition to basket weaving, Laura taught Clint, the Dry Creek Languages, use of Native plants, and how to carry on his people’s reciprocal relationship with the natural world. It is a relationship that has survived for millennia. Laura was the main influence in the formation of the Dry Creek Pomo Traditional Dancers. Clint holds a Master’s degree in Indigenous Education and B.A. in Anthropology. Following the guidance of his elders, Clint now teaches Pomo/Wappo traditions to his family and other members of the community.

 

Jennie Luna, Ph.D. (Xicana and Caxcan)

Dr. Jennie Luna was born and raised in East San José, California. She was a student of Dr. Jack Forbes at UC Davis Native American Studies where she received her doctorate. She received a Master’s in Education from Teachers College and B.A. degrees in Chicana/o Studies and Mass Communications from UC Berkeley. She is currently an Associate Professor in Chicana/o Studies at California State University, Channel Islands. Dr. Luna’s research focuses on the contemporary history and diaspora of Danza Mexica/Azteca tradition, Xicana Indígena identity and spirituality, reproductive justice, food sovereignty, Nahuatl language study, and Ethnic Studies K-12 and beyond. ​

 

 

Sandra Pacheco, Ph.D

Dr. Sandra M. Pacheco is a lecturer in the UC Berkeley Gender and Women's Studies program, a semi-retired professor and consultant with over 25 years of experience as a professor and administrator in higher education. She earned her Ph.D. in psychology from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Dr. Pacheco’s teaching, research, and activist work focuses on engaging liberatory healing practices through Chicana, Latina, and Indigena feminisms and spiritualities, and critical decolonial psychology. She lives part of the year in Oaxaca, Mexico where she studies with Doña Enriqueta Contreras and Pastora Gutierrez Reyes, curanderas within a Zapotec tradition. Locally, she is the co-founder of Curanderas sin Fronteras, a grassroots organization dedicated to serving the health and well-being of underserved communities through traditional ancestral medicine and educational workshops.

 

Thank you to our organizers!

Hector Amezcua (Community Member), Natalia Deeb-Sossa (UCD Chicana/o Studies Faculty), Carlie Domingues (Chumash and Native American Studies PhD Candidate), Pam Gonzales (Wintun/Concow/Huchnom, Mother, Grandmother, Community Member), Keir Johnson-Reyes (Intertribal Agriculture Council), Nicole Martinez (Community Member), Adelita Serena (Community Member), Yajaira Ramírez Sigala (Western Center for Agricultural Health & Safety), Katharina Ullmann (UCD Student Farm), and Melissa Moreno (Summit Founder and Ethnic Studies Educator). 

 

Thank you to our sponsors!