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Home › Our Work › Native America › Intertribal Gatherings

Intertribal Gatherings

Strengthening tribal connections through songs, prayers, and traditional knowledge

Seeds, oral histories, and agricultural practices have long flowed through Native American trade networks in the Southwest, and the Trust’s intertribal gatherings reignite this long-held tradition. We facilitate the Colorado Plateau Intertribal Gatherings, where tribal members, community leaders, and cultural experts come together to share ideas, develop initiatives, and strengthen tribal voices in local conservation.

Gathering - upcoming

Next intertribal gathering:

Nov 27-29, 2018
Pueblo of Isleta, New Mexico Gatherings - who participates

Who participates?

The gatherings include tribes from and around the Colorado Plateau, including: the Kaibab-Paiute, Hualapai, Havasupai, Navajo, Hopi, Ute Mountain Ute, Southern Ute, Uinta Ouray Ute, White Mountain Apache, Zuni, Acoma Pueblo, and Laguna Pueblo tribes.

Gathering - focus area intro

At the gatherings, tribal members from across the region share knowledge and work together to protect the Colorado Plateau.

Tribal participants are the drivers of the process and have identified four key areas of focus:

Gathering - infographic title


Gathering - infographic Practice water conservation through spring restoration and dry-farming techniques Preserve songs, stories, and teachings that perpetuate land protection ethics Develop networks, resources, and tools for effective, long-term protection of sacred sites Support better health by revitalizing traditional farming, foods, and exercise

Gathering - Honoring the Old Ways

Honoring our traditions

At the gatherings, participants discuss traditional farming, harvesting, and food preparation as tools to adapt to climate change. Farmers share knowledge of dry-farming techniques and natural pesticides that have been used for generations across the Colorado Plateau. Meet master farmer Rosemary Williams ›

Gathering - initiative intro

Tribes provide the vision and direction of the gatherings, and the Trust helps find resources to fund the initiatives they develop. Here's a sampling of current projects that have grown out of the gatherings:

Gatherings - initiatives Kerley Valley Farmers

Hopi and Navajo farmers are keeping traditional farming practices alive in the Tuba City and Moenkopi communities. They share techniques and seeds, teach younger farmers, and provide fresh, healthy produce for their communities. Intertribal Learning Center

The learning center is dedicated to sharing traditional ecological knowledge around agriculture and climate change. It includes an indoor classroom, exhibit space, and garden, and also serves as a gathering place for farmers markets, tours, and workshops. Rights of Nature

The gathering group is looking at how the international framework called the Rights of Nature, which asserts that nature has legal rights, can be advanced by tribes to address environmental concerns across tribal lands and the Colorado Plateau. Jake Hoyungowa

Gatherings - related Trust work

Strengthening bonds

Relationships are at the heart of the intertribal gatherings, and the alliances we've built through the years provide a foundation for much of the Trust's work. Because of the gatherings, we've supported projects across Native America with our tribal partners leading the way.

Gathering - related work Learn more about our work with tribes

Stopping Grand Canyon Escalade

Grand Canyon Centennial Planning with tribes

Stopping uranium mining around the Grand Canyon

Supporting the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition

Intertribal Gatherings Blog Meet Sunny Dooley, Diné Storyteller

We caught up with Sunny Dooley at a recent gathering to hear her ideas on why it’s important for tribes to get together, escaping the “non-profit industrial complex,” and caring for bloated goats.
 Food as Medicine: the healing power of Native foods

Fourteen contemporary Puebloans eliminated all pre-European contact foods, including sugar, alcohol, wheat, beef, chicken, and even chili.
 Tribes Gather in Pojoaque Pueblo

Native people from across the Southwest and from as far away as Canada and South America attended the first-ever Indigenous Peoples’ Gathering for Healthy Communities, Culture, and Climate.






