Indigenous Agroforestry Network 2026 Gathering
From June 24th-26th, the Squaxin Island Tribe hosted the 2026 Indigenous Agroforestry Network Gathering at the Little Creek Resort in Kamilche, WA. IAN provides a way for Tribes, Indigenous agroforestry practitioners, and allied partners to cooperate and learn from one another. This year marks their third Gathering since the network was established. But before I jump into the recap, let’s set the stage.
What is agroforestry?
Agroforestry is a land management system that incorporates trees into farming systems, blending agriculture with forestry. Indigenous agroforestry combines agroforestry with Indigenous land management practices and ways of knowing. Examples of indigenous agroforestry practices include the cultivation of evergreen huckleberry in mountain forests, and the use of cultural burning to reduce fuel loads in forests that can feed uncontrollable wildfires. Burning also provides nutrients from ash and promotes the growth of desirable food and medicine plants in the understory - the underlying layer of vegetation that grows beneath a forest's canopy.
Why is this important?
Native people have been stewarding the land from time immemorial. They have accumulated knowledge spanning millennia based on philosophies of relational accountability and reciprocity. The United States of America was built on their extermination.
Settlers brought European agricultural practices and management systems based on extraction. Instead of giving back to the land and ensuring the health of the ecosystem for future generations, they decimated both the Indigenous people and the environment. We all reap the consequences sown by centuries of genocide and exploitation. The ecosystems we inhabit are suffering from pollution, climate change, and mismanagement.
If we can be grateful for one aspect of colonization, it is that it failed in its mission to completely wipe out the original caretakers of the land. Tribes across the United States are growing in wealth and influence, and many levels of the U.S. government are now seeking to co-manage lands in partnership with Tribal governments. Only by acknowledging the mistakes of the past can we work to correct them.
Indigenous agroforestry provides a path forward.
Day 1
I arrived at the Little Creek Resort and signed in at the Sah-Heh-Wa-Mish room, named for the band of Native Americans who inhabited the land and waters of what is now called Hammersley Inlet in the South Salish Sea, and whose descendants are part of the Squaxin Island and Nisqually Tribes.
After some time to chat with other attendees and enjoy a meal from the hotel catering staff, Kara Briggs of Ecotrust welcomed us and introduced three films they would screen that evening: Honoring the Past, Feeding the Future: Indigenous Aquaculture, Guardians of the Land, and Fish War.
Honoring the Past was a fascinating look into Indigenous aquaculture practices from around the Pacific Ocean. From Palau fish weirs to Swinomish clam gardens, Indigenous people around the Pacific have modified the ecosystem in ways that benefit both. For example, Clam gardens built by the Swinomish Tribe and other Coast Salish peoples extend the habitable zone for clams, increasing populations and benefiting many other marine organisms in the process. For more information on Pacific Indigenous Aquaculture, visit www.seagardens.net.
In Guardians of the Land, Native people from the Pacific Northwest in the USA dispel the myth of Bigfoot as it is presented in pop culture. To many Northwest Tribes, Bigfoot (known as Istiyehe or Stiyahama to Columbia River Plateau Tribes) is a spirit. He is a caretaker: a keeper of the land and traditional knowledge, a teacher and a relative. For some he is a reminder that when we take, we also have to give back, because we don’t just live on the land— we are the land. You can watch Guardians of the Land for free, courtesy of Oregon Public Broadcasting, here.
Fish War is an award-winning documentary produced by the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission (NWIFC) about the eponymous Fish Wars of the 1960s-70s in Washington State. It situates the landmark Boldt decision in its historical context, when Tribal members were denied their treaty rights to harvest from their usual and accustomed grounds by the State of Washington. It is a moving, often-hilarious, and somber reminder of how recently our state government was forced to recognize the Tribes’ rights. It provides hope for the future; since the Boldt decision, Washington has begun to co-manage our fisheries alongside the Tribes (represented by the NWIFC) with a focus on ensuring bountiful fish for generations to come. But it is a long road with many challenges due to historical mismanagement by our government and non-Native residents. You can visit https://www.fishwarmovie.com/ to learn more.
Panel Discussion - Dr. Frank Lake, Dr. Badge Bishaw, Dr. Daniel Lipe, Don Motanic
Following the screenings, there was a panel discussion on the films by several Indigenous agroforestry researchers and practitioners. These men shared their experiences and tied them into common themes found in all three films: how ecosystems serve humans and how humans serve ecosystems, how removing Indigenous people from ecosystems harms both, and how a healthy environment sets the foundation for a healthy economy and a healthy society. Nature holds us to account for our actions, but it rewards us for responsible stewardship.
Day 2
At breakfast, we were welcomed by Red Wolf and Chairman Kris Peters of the Squaxin Island Tribe, who performed a traditional song and dance of welcome alongside their families to begin the Gathering in earnest. Following our meal, we split into breakout sessions before reconvening in the afternoon. I attended Reclaiming Our Lands: How Land Back Supports Agroforestry and Shellfish and Marine Species: A Key Component of Salish Sea Life.
Reclaiming Our Lands - Michele Zukerberg, Karley Rojas, Joseph Pavel. Moderated by Dr. Frank Lake
This breakout session began with a presentation by Karley Abi’hu’laro Rojas about their work at the Blue Lake Rancheria (BLR) in California. The BLR Sovereign Soils Program is an initiative that was launched to reinstate Indigenous care frameworks and heal the trauma of the land. Karley spoke about how they approach restoration. Starting by aggregating oral/written histories, archival records, and georeferenced maps, they build an understanding of how the land was cared for prior to colonization. Then they study the landscape and speak with elders to understand prior cultural care frameworks. Finally they look to the community today, find out what their needs are, and work to reinstate dormant cultural practices. The Sovereign Soils Program today holds over 800 acres of returned land, with research, restoration, and cultural stewardship occurring throughout. By integrating Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) with Western science, Indigenous agroforestry practitioners can prove the benefits of TEK practices using Western methodologies, allowing them better access to funding and support. Learn more about Karley’s work here.
Next Michele Zukerberg, the DNR Natural Areas Manager of the Kennedy Creek Natural Area Preserve, spoke about the preserve and how DNR is working with the Squaxin Island Tribe to co-manage the land. The preserve is located on over 1000 acres at the South end of Totten Inlet, extending from the estuary upstream. In 2016, the state entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with the Squaxin Island Tribe, establishing a Core Committee of state employees and Tribal members to direct management of the preserve. Since then, informational signs have been updated to center Squaxin history and culture, with new observation platforms intended to integrate people with the landscape. The goal is to establish a management plan that looks 300 years ahead and ensures Tribal access to the land.
Joseph Pavel is the Director of the Skokomish Tribe DNR, and he spoke about his experiences growing up in Washington and seeing the changes brought by the Boldt decision. While every Tribe brings their own unique perspective, they also share a common connection to each other and the land. Boldt quantified the treaty Tribes’ right to harvest at 50%, but now there is work to be done in order to quantify their right to manage the resources. Pavel spoke about investing in cooperative processes for managing habitat with the state and the forestry industry. Tribes in Washington are able to exercise the philosophy of Land Back by asserting their authority over treaty rights, managing land by mechanism rather than by title.
After each speaker presented, Dr. Frank Lake led a panel discussion with them. Kennedy Creek provides a model for cooperative management even if the Tribes don’t own the land in title. It and other experiments in co-management are possible due to decades of Indigenous activism, resulting in greater awareness of Land Back as a movement and the implementation of its goals. Buying land is a key strategy for Tribes, but not always tenable given varying financial statuses. Funding for land management is often tied to Western ideas of restoration within limited time frames with the goal of returning land to an imagined “pristine” state. But Indigenous concepts of generational care show that “pristine wilderness” is a complete myth. Native hands have touched every inch of the continent. By restoring Indigenous care frameworks under Tribal management, we can begin to truly heal the scars left by centuries of settler-colonialism.
Stewarding Resilience of Shellfish and Marine Species - Azure Boure, Elizabeth Unsell, Melissa Poe, Erica Marbet. Moderated by Candace Penn
In the next breakout session, Indigenous aquaculture took the forefront. Azure Boure and Elizabeth Unsell with the Suquamish Tribe spoke about their efforts to revive cockle harvesting. Cockles are considered a non-commercial shellfish due to their short shelf life. But they have long been a culturally important food for Suquamish Tribal members. Unsell and Boure want to increase community access to cockles, so they are researching ways to restore and cultivate cockle populations. They have tested different methods of cultivation and survey while working on curriculums for schools. It’s an intergenerational project, both involving the youth and prioritizing Suquamish members for internships and employment.
The next presentation was on Cross-Pacific Indigenous Aquaculture, lead by Melissa Poe, a member of the Sea Garden Collective.. The Collective is a network of Indigenous aquaculture practitioners and researchers from around the Pacific Ocean who work collectively to restore and heal Indigenous aquaculture systems and lifeways. Their approach is a relationship - a “cultural ecosystem,” not just an industry. Together, the Collective has catalogued over 25 different aquaculture technologies from across the Pacific. A hallmark of these cultural ecosystems is how they benefit both the environment and people. Tending to these aquaculture methods requires constant maintenance, which brings the community together and facilitates intergenerational learning. The Collective hosts summits that connect over 70 unique cultures from across the ocean, where they can share food, songs, and stories. Together, they promote the revival of cultural ecosystems around the world.
To close out this session, Erica Marbet and Candace Penn from the Squaxin Island Tribe DNR presented their research on sea level rise. They collated data and calculated different probabilities of sea level rise at Squaxin land, demonstrating how climate change is already impacting the Tribe and showing how much worse it will get in the future. Their work is instrumental in planning ahead.
Plenary Sessions
The whole Gathering met back in the Sah-Heh-Wa-Mish room for a series of talks by various experts. The first was given by Ramona Bill Bennet, a legendary activist and political leader of the Puyallup Tribe. Bennet has a singular voice and powerful charisma. Seated in her wheelchair, she commanded attention with remarkable vigor. Her characteristic sharp wit and no-nonsense affect makes her an incredible speaker. I admit that I barely took notes on her speech because I was so focused on listening! Her story is full of daring protests, direct action, and an indomitable will to make life better for future generations. In her life, she’s faced down threats from both the U.S. government and men in her community who thought she was less capable than them.
Bennet’s memoir, Fighting for the Puyallup Tribe, is available now for purchase. I picked up a signed copy after her speech, and her voice shines through in the prose. I’m incredibly grateful that I had the opportunity to hear her speak. She is an inspiration for everyone who wants to make the world a better place. As she said, “If you look around and think ‘Somebody needs to do something,’ remember: you are somebody. You can’t rely on someone else to act.”
After Bennet joined the audience, Don Motanic, Elaine Harvey, and Loni Greninger discussed evergreen huckleberry harvesting in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest (GPNF) and beyond, moderated by Kara Briggs. They spoke about the destruction of huckleberry (called wiwnu) habitat due to the lack of Indigenous agroforestry practices. Without cultural burning and stewardship, Douglas fir trees have destroyed almost 90% of huckleberry habitat in the GPNF since 1985. Using TEK, restoration strategies are being developed to revive lost habitat.
But lack of Indigenous management isn’t the only threat to huckleberry harvests. Invasive flies, improper forestry practices, and the industrial harvest of huckleberries have decimated populations. The 1994 Northwest Forest Plan was enacted without any input from the over 80 Tribes it impacted, a reminder that the 1974 Boldt decision did not magically heal the relationship between the state and Tribal governments. In addition, the USDA Forestry Services legalized commercial huckleberry harvests in the GPNF against Tribes’ wishes.
Still, there is hope for change. After pressure from Yakama and Tulalip Tribal members, the USDA finally de-commercialized commercial harvests in the GPNF in 2025. There is interest in using cultural burning in the GPNF to restore habitat, but there aren’t any solid plans to do so yet. The huge loss of habitat in the GPNF can be reversed, but it will take cooperation from the USDA. To sum it up in one slogan: Land Back is Fire Back. Tribes must be allowed to engage in their traditional stewardship practices to maintain access to culturally significant foods and medicines for future generations.
The next discussion was led by Dr. Frank Lake and Dr. Daniel Lipe. The two have decades of history together, and their friendship was obvious in the inside jokes and clear affection they had for one another. As a result, their time felt less like a lecture and more like being a fly on the wall while two experts talked shop and traded friendly barbs. Both men have done an enormous amount of research on cultural burning practices while navigating a difficult balance between justifying cultural burning in the eyes of Western academia and preserving the sanctity of the practice. They advocate for combining TEK and Western science to co-produce Best Management Practices in forestry.
Lake and Lipe made compelling arguments for moving past conservation of the land and towards relationship with it while mixing in hilarious anecdotes about their undergrad antics. One of my biggest takeaways from their talk was that once you have knowledge, you have a responsibility to use it.
Day 3
The third day of the Gathering was a field day. We traveled by bus to Bayshore Preserve near Shelton, a restoration site managed by Capitol Land Trust in collaboration with the Squaxin Island Tribe. The Preserve is a former golf course and logging site that occupies traditional Squaxin territory. The biggest longhouse in the area used to sit somewhere between the river and salt marsh. As a place-based people, the Squaxin Island Tribe tended the salt marsh for food and medicine, and they established clam gardens in the mud flats beyond the marsh. The CLT is restoring oak savannah habitat and re-establishing Camas prairies for cultural use, and they have an agreement with the Tribe to allow members to harvest shellfish once more.
After a walking tour, our guides gave us time to explore the area on our own terms. Those of us with better footwear ventured onto the flats where some Squaxin members were out harvesting shellfish. I took my decidedly water-permeable sneakers to drier land. At the edge of the marsh, I talked to some people from the Eastern U.S. They’d never seen a salt marsh like the ones we have here, so I introduced them to our local plant relatives like pickleweed and marsh jaumea. They loved the briny taste of pickleweed.
Some students from Evergreen and state archaeologist Mo Major excitedly gathered around a cluster of springbank clover and Pacific silverweed, two culturally important plants that were cultivated by Coast Salish Tribes in salt marsh root gardens for thousands of years. It’s apparently rare to find this specific clustering of plants due to habitat degradation and colonial destruction of Indigenous agriculture methods. Both plants were harvested for their starchy roots and used for subsistence, trade, and gifting in Potlatch ceremonies.
Sadly, we had to leave the marsh and load onto buses once more. They took us to Meyer’s Point, a parcel of land on the Southwest edge of Henderson Inlet, managed by Washington State University. Meyer’s Point was gifted to WSU by the Meyer family to promote environmental education and the arts. It is located on the traditional lands of the Squaxin Island and Nisqually Tribes. The area includes 95 acres of land and 2,100 ft of shoreline containing forests and both freshwater and estuarine wetland systems.
Educators from the Squaxin and Nisqually Tribes, and WSU taught us about various research projects occurring in the area as well as traditional cedar bark harvesting. With the property extending into tidal flats, WSU and the Tribes are working to restore Olympia oyster populations. During their efforts, they realized that algae growth was inhibiting oyster survival. They began testing the use of seaweed as fertilizer for terrestrial agriculture, and found that it was useful for increasing yields in garden plots after careful harvesting and rinsing.
WSU is also conducting experimental big leaf maple sap tapping for the manufacture of maple syrup. This is not an Indigenous practice due to the enormous amount of labor and time required to create the syrup. There were simply better uses of their time. However, having tasted the big leaf maple syrup myself, I can confidently say that it’s delicious. There’s a subtle difference in flavor from sugar maple syrup that makes me want to try more! After exploring the marshes at Meyer’s Point and sharing knowledge with other attendees, we climbed back on the buses to return to the hotel.
Closing Thoughts
The 2026 Indigenous Agroforestry Network Gathering was an incredible experience. I learned about myriad techniques for stewarding the land in relationship with it. I spoke to others who were as passionate about environmental science as I am, and we taught each other about our areas of expertise.
I am grateful to the Squaxin Island Tribe for hosting this Gathering, and grateful to Ecotrust for organizing it. I am grateful to the speakers and panelists for sharing their knowledge and philosophies with us. I didn’t just walk away from the Gathering with some fun facts - I left with a deeper understanding of myself.
Drs. Lake and Lipe, Ramona Bennet, and the other speakers touched on common themes. They talked about reciprocity and responsibility, how we can’t wait around for other people to solve our problems, and how information demands action. The land we live on provides us with everything we need to live. In return, we have a duty to steward the land, to build a relationship with it. This is not only the domain of state agencies and non-profits. Each of us should take interest in our environment because we are part of the environment. We do not exist above and separate from the animals and plants, from the soil and waters.
This is something that I have believed since I was a child. I have my parents to thank for nurturing my interest in the world around me, and teaching me that we should care for the Earth as she cares for us. It’s why I decided to major in Environmental Science when I went to college. I wanted to understand the world so that I could change it for the better. To hear so many people from different backgrounds speak on these themes of reciprocity and duty was deeply moving. I wanted to shout “Finally! Someone who’s making some sense around here!” But if I did that every time I thought it, I would have lost my voice in the first few hours.
To hear these concepts put into words— words that carried the wisdom of generations behind them— gave me hope. The United States celebrates its 250th birthday this year. That is over two and a half centuries of colonial destruction inflicted on the people who have lived here since time immemorial. Things are changing slowly. Maybe it’s too slowly, but I could only walk away from this Gathering with hope. There is so much work to be done, and there are so many people who are already doing it.
I hope that you can join us, in whatever way you can.
