Land-Based Projects

IHC advances its cultural revitalization efforts in support of increasing the health and wellbeing of Indigenous, BIPOC, low-income, immigrant, refugee, individuals and families. These efforts have also included the revitalization of indigenous Land-based practices, believed since time immemorial to be essential for good health.

Some of these land-based practice include beekeeping, language revitalization, and ceremonies which are imperative to the restoration of health, especially for Indigenous families.

To date, this program has reached 764 people and also includes the participation of approximately 640,000 honey bees.

Beekeeping

The year 2024 brought our collective of Indigenous youth, adults and elders, many beautiful and difficult experiences with Land, and important teachings about Life. At the beginning of 2024, when one of our community elders donated his bees to the center, we rushed to find a place to house them.

Several community partners including Marin County Parks and the Alliance for Felix Cove, helped us connect with College of Marin’s Indian Valley Farm, which kindly offered us space to care for our Bee relatives.

A month later, Bear and her Cub stopped by to enjoy some honey; we heard from neighbors that it had been many years since Bear was seen in Indian Valley. Then, several of our Snake and Rat relatives came by. Our elders told us that because we rushed into that space, we had not properly asked for permission from the guardians of that Land. Once we offered medicines and songs to Land, our Bee relativeswere able to catch a break from all the visitors and adjust to their new home.

"If we can understand the spirituality of ALL life, we can realize that what we are surrounded by makes us feel good. It makes us feel good to know you are a part of ALL life. I am Indigenous of the Land. We all are. We learn about each other, all of us, not just the humans, but ALL life. We’re all the same, no one is better than another. We have to be open to that."

-JR Laiwa, IHC Cultural and Spiritual Advisor
(Kashaya Wailaki, Round Valley Reservation)

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