2nd Annual Acequia Agroecology Permaculture Field School

2nd Annual Acequia Agroecology PermacultureField School

ANTH 488A / CHSTU 498AUNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON

2014 Summer‘A’ Term (June 23– July 23)

Devon G. Peña, Ph.D. (Instructor of Record) | Brook Spotted Eagle, M.A. (GraduateAssistant)

With Acequia Community Mentors Maestra Teresa Vigil | Shirley Romero | Delmer Vialpando | Estevan and Elena Arellano

The 2014 field school highlights collaborative projects with local teachers andexperts in the ethnobotany of the acequia. This includes ethno-medical traditions ofyerberas, curanderas, doulas, parteras and other practitioners of interrelated community-based caregiving labor. Our setting is the high alpine cultural heartland of the RíoArriba, or Upper Rio Grande Headwaters, consisting of a diverse amalgamation of Spanish,Mexican, Mesoamerican, Native American, Sephardic, Persian, and Moroccan-infusedpeoples otherwise known as Chicanos\Chicanas. How do local people interweave ethno-botany and acequia agroecology? How do local women wild-craft medicinal and edibleplants, mushrooms, tree saps, pine nuts, and other sources? How does the exercise ofthese historic use rights strengthen sustainable, resilient, and equitable co-management of this watershed commonwealth in the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range ofsouthern Colorado and northern New Mexico? How is the ethnobotany of the acequiarelated to the practice of the production, consumption, and reproduction of remedios –the so-called folk remedies and curatives of tea, tincture, and balm-based homeopathicformulas to treat infections and parasites while promoting bodily integrity as part of

a “whole way of life” integrating a heritage cuisine diet, joyful physical activity,and place-based spiritual practices. Students will live and work with families atthese select historic acequia farms. Class sessions and group work will be held at TheAcequia Institute’s Casa de la Acequia and riverside at the almunyah. 5 CREDITS I&S;NW. Writing credit. These credit hours can count toward capstone credit for Program onthe Environment, Labor Studies, and Chicana/o Studies majors. All-inclusive $600field-trip fee required.

Course Description. A field studies school taught in Colorado and New Mexicoand focused on Native American and Chicana/o agroecology and permaculture aspracticed in the acequia farms of the headwaters bioregion of the Rio Grande.The course is taught in the field during the entire four-week period andinvolves experiential learning of agroecological, restoration ecology, andpermaculture methods and materials through practice based at working historicacequia farms in Colorado and New Mexico.

Background and Overview. The Native American and Chicana/o communities of NewMexico and Colorado include the oldest continuously operated family farms inthe United States – with the youngest farms in this area dating back to theperiod of Spanish-Mexican settlement between 1598 and 1848. The bioregionknown as the Río Arriba or Upper Rio Grande is home to acclaimed acequiacommunities, which are celebrated across the world as sustainable, equitable,and resilient irrigated farming systems adapted to conditions in arid andsemiarid environments. The setting includes the 80,000-acre ‘La Sierra’(Mountain Tract), which is the ‘acequia watershed commonwealth’ or localportion of the 1844 Sangre de Cristo Land Grant ejido (common land).

Participation requires the ability to travel and work with others on the roadand in an isolated high altitude environment. Willingness to travel and camp;endurance through physical labor; ability to adapt to new cultural setting andlimited resources.

Course Texts (required). 1. Altieri, Miguel (1998) Agroecology: The Scientific Basis of Sustainable

Agriculture. Boulder: Westview. (selections)2. Moore, Michael (1979) Los remedios: Traditional Herbal Remedies of the

Southwest. Albuquerque: U. of New Mexico.Access to all course texts, except for the Moore textbook, are providedthrough the ANTH 488 ShareSpace website. Students must download (and print)these prior to departure. Readings are due as listed in the course calendarbelow.

Link to course ShareSpace:https://catalyst.uw.edu/sharespaces/space/dpena/21914

Course Requirements.1. Collaborative permaculture design project. Total 100 points.2. Presentation of documentary report to the class and community. Total 25

points.3. Presentation of assigned readings to class. Total 50 points.4. Personal field journal. Total 25 points.

Total points. 200 points.

Re: 1. Collaborative ethnobotany/agroecology/permaculture design project. Groups are self-organized for each design project on first day of

class after Colorado arrival. Each group consists of 2-3 students and their acequia elder

mentor(s). Each group documents the entire process of project and prepares a

multimedia report integrating video, audio, photography, maps, anda well-written and documented narrative.

The rest of the class will watch and assist each lead group ontheir projects so everyone experiences the full breadth of methodsand materials being addressed.

Each project will take about one week of actual field work withthe rest of the time dedicated to preparing the report and doingfollow-up interviews, etc.

Grading based on 100-point scale; 50 points for participation indesign and construction; 25 points for multimedia materials; 25points for written narrative.

Due dates : Draft by July 18 in time for presentation to communityon July 19. Final report on July 23. This will provide the groupan extra day to prepare the report after our return to Seattle.

The 2014 design groups will focus on four themed projects with three onacequia farms and one set across the entire watershed:

(1) Enjarro | Mud-plaster. Rancho Vialpando in San Francisco, Colorado. Thegroup will continue with last year’s project – the construction ofa dispensa or storage cabin built with locally harvested wood(aspen and fir) and held together entirely without nails. Thisyear’s phase will focus on the craft work of adobe mud plastering(enjarrando). Students will be instructed and supervised by elderacequia mentor Delmer Vialpando and his sons, Delmer, Jr. and GaryVialpando.

(2) Horno | Adobe Oven. Rancho de las Esquinas | Gonzalez in La Corrillera,San Luis, Colorado. One group will focus on the design andconstruction of a new adobe-brick oven or horno. The second group

will build a seed savers’ hutch with acequia mentors AnatniuqGonzalez, Devon G. Peña, Cornelio Arellano, and others.

(3) Ancón | Terrace. Almunyah de la Junta de los Ríos, Embudo, New Mexico.The group will work on the design and reconstruction of a systemof ancones (terraces) with elder acequia mentors Estevan and ElenaArellano.

(4) Remedios | Herbal remedies. San Luis-area acequiahoods; La Sierracommon lands. This group will carefully and respectfully documentthe ethno-botanical and ethno-medical lectures presented by lamaestra Teresa Vigil over the course of her weeklong seminar onethnobotany, holistic living, and spirituality in the S de Cwatershed. This will include development of an herbal remedycollection/poster presentation that can be used by local eldersand teachers in their curriculum work with students and familiesin the local school district. Maestra Shirley Romero and a groupof local students and colleagues will participate in thecurriculum development aspects of this project.

Re: 2. Presentation of documentary report to community. Each design projectgroup will present reports to classmates, participating acequia farmers, andinvited community members. Grading: 50 possible total points. Draft due date:July 18. Presentation to community: July 19. Final version due July 23;revised versions will be published in Ejfood Blog in late July and early August.

Re. 3. Presentation of assigned readings to class. Two students will beassigned to lead discussion of the readings for each of the scheduled classsessions. These assignments will be made the day we arrive in the San LuisValley.

Re: 4. Personal field journal. Each student will keep an ethnographic fieldjournal to record personal observations and experiences throughout the courseof the field school. Grading: 50 possible total points. Due dates: Pleaseselect a favorite journal entry and I will post it to the Ejfood Blog; due asassigned during the 2nd and 3rd weeks of field school. The instructor willinform you when the date is coming up. The final completed journal is due onJuly 23 (upon return arrival in Seattle).

Grading. Summary of assignment scores for course grades and grading scale:1. Group project (total of 100 points): 50 points for design and

construction of the project; 25 points for the multimedia elements ofthe report; and 25 points for the written narrative of the report(together both elements are part of your blog publication which theinstructor will edit and prepare for you).

2. Presentation of group project to farmers and community members: 25points.

3. Field journal (total of 50 points): 25 points for the blog entry and 25points for final journal.

4. Class participation: I cannot grade you for this element but can andwill award bonus points for participation in the GoPost communitydiscussion board.Total points possible = 200. Grades will be assessed on 4.0 - 0.0 GPA-basis.

UW grade scale: http://faculty.washington.edu/scstroup/Gradescale.htmlUW grading system:http://www.washington.edu/students/gencat/front/Grading_Sys.htmlFor this class, a score of 196-200 total points = 4.0.

Student learning goals. My goals for students enrolled in this field studiescourse focus on five pedagogical objectives. I want each of you to:

Understand agroecology as a process of inquiry, knowledge production,and practical applications: how it is done, what skills are involved,how it applies to everyday life

Develop awareness of the connections between environmental andconservation sciences and actual politics at the intersections of waterlaw with states, communities, and social movements

Become a critical reader of the methods and materials of agroecology andpermaculture studies by learning to question and challenge theassumptions underlying scholarly and applied research

Learn to assume the perspectives of “the other,” those groups, cultures,and communities that are marginalized in environmental policy andmanagement

Learn by experiencing and practicing place-based agroecological andethnoecological knowledge through permaculture projects under thementorship of an elder farmer.

Course Calendar.

JUNE

Week One

M-23 Depart. Travel through WA, OR, and ID.

Reading: Hicks and Peña (2010) Customary practice and community governance in implementing the human right to water.

T-24 Travel ID, UT, and CO. Arriving late.

W-25 Rest time in the morn. 3:30-6pm: Orientation to the acequia farms and watershed. 6-8pm: Welcome dinner.

Th-26 9-10:30am: Class session on agroecology.

Reading: Altieri (1995a) The agroecosystem.

11am-1230pm: Organize design groups. 3:30-6pm: Work on horno project at Rancho de las Esquinas (Gonzalez).

F-27 9-10:30am: Guest lecture, Shirley Otero, “The Sangre de Cristo Land Grant: Environmental, Cultural, and Legal History”. 2:30-6pm: Continue work on las Esquinas horno.

S-28 Optional. 8am-3pm: Field trip and picnic to Rio Grande Petroglyphs.

Week Two

M-30 9am-12noon: Continue work on las Esquinas horno. 3:30-5pm: Class session on traditional polycultures.

Readings: Altieri (1995b) Traditional agriculture. Altieri (1995c). Polyculture cropping systems.

JULYT-1 9-10:30am: Class session on organic farming. 11am-1230: Tour San

Luis Peoples’ Ditch.

Reading: Altieri (1995d). Organic farming.

1-4pm: Work on mud-plastering project at Vialpando Ranch. W-2 9am-4pm: Continue mud-plastering project at Vialpando Ranch.

Th-3 9-10:30am: Class session on sustainable agriculture design.

Reading: Altieri (1995e). Designing sustainable agriculture systems

F-4 9am-4pm: Complete mud-plastering at Vialpando Ranch.

S-5 Optional. 8am-6pm: All-day excursion to Great Sand Dunes National Park. Group dinner at All-Gon Restaurant in Ft. Garland.

Week Three

M-7 8am-12noon: Travel to Taos and Embudo, New Mexico. 3pm-6pm: Set-upcamp at Almunyah de la Junta de los Dos Ríos (Estevan and Elena Arellano).

T-8 8-1130am: Work on terraces in Embudo.1-3:30pm: Class session on permaculture principles.

Reading: Holmgren (2002a) Introduction to permaculture. Holmgren (2002b) Observe and interact.

3:30-5:30pm: Continue work on terraces.

W-9 8-1130am: Continue work on terraces.1-3:30pm: Class session on permaculture design from patterns

Reading: Holmgren (2002c) Design from patterns to details.

3:30-5:30pm: Continue work on terraces.

Th-10 8am-12noon: Field trip to Santuario de Chimayo.

3:30-5:30pm: Complete work on terraces.

F-11 All-day excursion. Field trip to Ojo Caliente Hot Springs and Spa.

S-12 11am. Leave for return to Colorado. Please use this weekend to read through as much of the Moore’s Los Remedios book as possible to prepare for class with Maestra Vigil.

Week Four

M-14 9-1130am: Ethnobotany class with Maestra Teresa Vigil (San Luis, CO).

Reading: Martinez-Cruz (2011) Women healers of Tenochtitlan.T-15 9-11:30am: Ethnobotany class with Maestra Teresa Vigil.

Reading: Harrington (1967) Edible native plants of the RockyMountains.

W-16 9-11:30am: Ethnobotany class and field trip with Maestra Teresa Vigil.

Readings: Estés (1999) Introduction to Woman who glows in the dark.

Avila (1999) Curanderismo: Health care for the body and soul.

Th-17 9-11:30am: Ethnobotany class and field trip with Maestra Teresa Vigil (La Sierra Common).

F-18 9-12noon: Work on group project presentations.

S-19 130-4:30pm: Presentations to community members at El Ventero Coffee Shop and Art Gallery. Music. Poetry. Refreshments.

S-20 8am: Depart for return to Seattle. Camping at Arches National Park.

Week Five

M-21 Morning: Tour Arches National Park. Afternoon: Drive to Salt Lake City. Spend night in hotel.

T-22 Complete drive to Seattle (by 6pm).

W-23 Final group reports due by 10pm. Email to Professor Peña at [email protected].

Web resources. There is a wide range of resources on the Web that address the study of agroecology and permaculture. To extend your learning activities beyond course textbooks, you should consult a variety of blogs, archives, and news services. Here is a selected list of useful resources for this class; students are encouraged to add to this list and share their ideas and links ofthe Go Post board.

Acequia Institute: www.acequiainstitute.org. The first NGO in the U.S. focused on funding research and advocacy programs for environmental and

food justice with a focus on historic acequia communities of the Rio Arribabioregion.

Agrariana: http://agrariana.blogspot.com/. A group of UC-Berkeley graduate students that care and blog about sustainable agriculture and food systems.

Agricultural Research Service: http://www.ars.usda.gov/main/main.htm. The USDA’s on-line electronic library of research materials, links, and other resources valuable to the sustainable agriculture, agricultural ecology, and agrifood systems researcher.

Agroecology in Action: http://www.cnr.berkeley.edu/~agroeco3/index.html. Miguel Altieri’s website at UC-Berkeley. Includes access to numerous publications by Altieri on a wide variety of topics ranging from agroecology and modern agriculture, small farmers, agroecology and biotechnology, and pest management.

Center for Food Safety: http://truefoodnow.org/. An important progressive voice for U.S. compliance with the biosafety protocols of the Convention onBiological Diversity (CBD) and the Codex Alimentarius.

Council for Responsible Genetics – Biotechnology and Agriculture Programs: http://www.councilforresponsiblegenetics.org/Projects/PastProject.aspx?projectId=12. The grandparent of American NGOs that monitor and organize around human genome and commercial agricultural biotechnologies.

Environmental and Food Justice Blog: http://ejfood.blogspot.com. This is Devon G. Peña’s personal blog; become followers, especially during the class. Your blog contributions (1-2 field journal entries and eventually group project reports) will be posted to this site.

Grow Permaculture (formerly Permaculture Guild): http://www.permacultureguild.us/. One of the oldest North American organizations but has become increasingly commercialized and money-orientedas you will see. Has been challenged for failing to acknowledge how most permaculture methods and concepts are derived from indigenous peoples and local place-based cultures. Nonetheless, the ‘Guild’ has many talented, skilled, and dedicated members who still work directly with tribal and other native peoples and do more than pay lip service to social justice concerns.

Indigenous Permaculture: http://indigenous-permaculture.com/index.html. This is an excellent site with links to start exploring what native peoplesacross the world – albeit with an emphasis on North and South America – aredoing to document and share their own place-based agroecological knowledge,belief, practice complexes.

New Mexico Acequia Association: http://www.lasacequias.org/. The home page of the New Mexico statewide organization of community irrigation ditches. Includes a page with materials on acequia governance in New Mexico.

Permaculture Principles: http://permacultureprinciples.com/resources/links/. A very diverse collection of links that includes some of the authors we are reading (Holmgren) and organizations and sites dealing with issues like climate change, resilience, post-carbon cities, etc.

Permaculture Research Institute: http://permaculturenews.org/resources/. One of the best sites to download information (.pdf files) on how to do; lists internship opportunities, designers, consultants, and teaching resources.

Permies.com: http://www.permies.com/t/6802/ancestral-skills/PNW-Native-American-Agriculture-resembled. A fascinating site that provides video-clipinterviews and other sources to explore the thesis that permaculture is like Native American agriculture. Duh!

Sangre de Cristo Acequia Association: http://www.sangreacequias.org/index.html. The home page of the statewide acequia association of Colorado community irrigation ditches.

Seattle Permaculture Guild: http://www.seattlepermacultureguild.org/. Our own local organization with plenty of on-line discussion, definitions of concepts, and a few links. Has a fascinating WikiWeb you can enter to explore a broader range of resources including an ongoing calendar of localevents.

Seed Savers Network: http://www.seedsavers.net/. One of the oldest and grandest of the seed saver organizations. You can join the network to exchange seeds; learn about seed saving and permaculture practices; follow their great blog; and much more!

Slow Food/USA: http://www.slowfoodusa.org/. This is the home page of the Slow Food/USA organization and represents one of the most significant Web-based presences of the local and slow food movements with numerous on-line resources including information on local chapters and campaigns; of particular interest is the “USA Ark of Taste” project.

South Central Farmers: http://www.southcentralfarmers.com/. Established to save the country’s largest urban farm, the SCF is now producing vegetables and herbs on an 80-acre community-based farm cooperative that supports urban-based community food sovereignty projects like “Food for the Hood.”

Southwest School of Botanical Medicine. http://www.swsbm.com/HOMEPAGE/HomePage.html. The SWSBM continues to offer

distance learning programs that represent Michael Moore's herbal wisdom andthe unique knowledge he accumulated during three decades of teaching and a lifetime of studying medicinal plants. These programs, which include an extensive library of Michael in the classroom setting, are available in an easy to access, online video format.

Starhawk: Permaculture Resources: http://www.starhawk.org/permaculture/permaculture.html. Links to some permaculture and garden-related resources including writings by the ecofeminist philosopher and activist, Starhawk and others.