In 2020, the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation partnered with the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA-VT) and Rooted in Vermont, a program of the Vermont Farm to Plate Network, to tackle the problems of food security and food sovereignty among native peoples in Vermont.  The Abenaki Land Link project was then born.  The idea was to distribute native seeds of Algonquin squash, Koasek Calais Mix corn, Calais Flint corn, True Cranberry beans, Skunk beans, and Vermont Mohawk beans to gardeners, homesteaders, and farmers around the state. They would then grow vegetables to be returned to Abenaki people via three food shelves as part of the food security program of the organization, Abenaki Helping Abenaki.  

In its pilot year, 2020, the focus was to grow crops for seed, to increase the quantity of seeds available for these rare indigenous crops.  Fifteen gardeners, homesteaders, and farmers from around the state were provided seeds from the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation.  With such a successful first season, the program expanded to 40 growers in 2021.  

In 2021, ICF was lucky enough to be a part of the project. We grew Algonquin squash, Calais flint corn, and True Cranberry beans.  You may have unknowingly passed them on your way out to pick hot peppers and cherry tomatoes. With the help of volunteer community members on weekend work days, the farm grew and harvested over 800 pounds of vegetables to be given back to the Abenaki people.  Our harvest, along with the harvests of the other 39 grower participants, were gathered and collected by the Abenaki Land Link Project.  In early November, volunteers threshed and winnowed the beans as well as husked and shelled the corn.  The squash was distributed fresh throughout the fall and what was left over was processed and frozen to be distributed throughout 2022.  

To reinforce our commitment to the Abenaki people, we have worked with Chief Don Stevens to state our intention at each meeting of the ICF Board by reading the following statement aloud:

We are on the land which has served as a site of meeting and exchange among indigenous peoples for thousands of years and is the home of the Western Abenaki Peoples. The Intervale Community Farm honors, recognizes, and respects these peoples, especially the Abenaki, as the traditional stewards of the place where we gather today. In that spirit, we acknowledge that we are guests on this land. We need to respect and help protect the lands and waters within our use.

In 2022, ICF hopes to deepen its relationship with the Abenaki Land Link Project and the Abenaki people.  The Abenaki people have been on this land, the land where our farm exists, for 1000’s of years.  For millennia, the Abenaki grew food in the same soil where we grow food.  The kale or carrots in your CSA share is grown on the same land where Abenaki people once grew Calais flint corn and True Cranberry beans to sustain themselves.  The Abenaki Land Link Project has brought these indigenous seeds back to their home.  We are honored and humbled to be able to grow these treasured seeds to produce food for native peoples throughout the state. 

ICF Farmer Chris Spencer contributed to this story.