It's rare that handing down a tradition is so tangible. With each heirloom seed sown, Tyler and his friends in the Garden Warriors Apprenticeship programs connect with their Native American ancestors. The month-long paid apprenticeships, sponsored by the Peta Wakan Tipi (Lakota for "Sacred Fire Lodge"), teach leadership skills, indigenous cultural wisdom, healthy nutrition and the prevention of diabetes and obesity, and organic farming.
These are garden warriors. Photographed by
Each year more than 30 Native American youth participate in the Garden Warriors Apprenticeship Program, an environmental education project of the Dream of Wild Health Network for urban American Indian youth ages 13 to 17. The program's sponsor, the Peta Wakan Tipi, one of the oldest nonprofit organizations established and run by American Indians, has as its goal the recovery of indigenous cultural wisdom, which includes saving varieties of heirloom seeds and perennial plants.
You can learn more about the Dream of Wild Health Network and other programs sponsored by the Peta Wakan Tipi at www.petawakantipi.org.
