Winter Conference 2024: Takeaways & Impacts

On January 26th and 27th, with Funding from Rutgers University and the Climate Smart Commodities Cooperative Agreement in partnership with Pasa sustainable agriculture and the Northeast Organic Farming Association of NJ, 40+ Tribal leaders from the Five Nations gathered at Douglass Student Center on the Rutgers New Brunswick Campus. We welcomed leaders from the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape, the Lenape of Pennsylvania, the Lenape Indian Tribe of Delaware, the Powhatan Renape Nation, and the Ramapough Lenape Nation and the Sand Hill Indians, as well as Members of the New Jersey Commission of Native American Affairs. Dr. Lyla June Johnston led the group in healing reflections on the role of our food traditions on our past, present and future. Lyla is an Indigenous musician, scholar, and community organizer of Diné (Navajo), Tsétsêhéstâhese (Cheyenne) and European lineages. We cannot recall when we have ever been able to gather like this before, and hope to plan for many more gatherings like this in the future. Thank you to Rutgers for hosting this first dinner gathering of the leaders of the five First Nations in our region! Lyla’s talk at the Winter Conference.