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Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2000 08:07:35 -0700
To: kolahq@skynet.be
From: Mary Powell-McConnell <mpowell-mcconnell@desertmuseum.org>
Subject: Desert Walk
 

DESERT WALK TO PROMOTE NATIVE FOODS AND COMMUNITY HEALTH

WE NEED YOUR HELP

Support Training of Native Americans in the Use of Desert Biodiversity to
Improve Community Health
When: March 10 to 21, 2000
Who: Participants from Native American communities in the Sonoran Desert
Region.
Route: from El Desemboque del Sur Sonora, through Caborca, Sasabe, San Miguel,
Sells, and San Pedro, arriving at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum -Tucson.
Distance: 250 miles
Desert Walk Goals
- Emphasize how combining traditional and scientific knowledge of desert foods
and medicines can directly benefit contemporary communities of Native
Americans.
- To raise $28,000 to support Native Americans interns in plant propagation,
sustainable harvesting of desert food and medicinal plants, and healthy food
preparation for the benefit of their communities.
- Heighten awareness about the epidemic of diabetes among Native American
communities
- Promote intergenerational cultural exchanges among the Seri, Tohono O'odham,
and Yoeme (Yaqui) people.
For more information please contact: Gary Nabhan or Yajaira F. Gray
email: Desertwalk@desertmuseum.org phone: (520) 883-3007
Or visit our website at <http://www.desertmuseum.org/>www.desertmuseum.org
A landmark multi-cultural event is about to occur in the desert borderlands
that you may want to participate in or support. A bilingual team is working
with Gary Nabhan at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum on the preparation of a
transboundary effort linking desert biodiversity to human health issues.
Between March 10 and 21, we will be coordinating the "Desert Walk for Native
Foods and the Prevention of Diabetes." We will be bringing together Native
American youth from several tribes who will journey 250 miles while consuming
only native desert foods and using traditional medicines of our shared region.
Through this dramatic pilgrimage, we are hoping to heighten awareness about
the
epidemic of diabetes among Native American communities, where this
nutrition-related disease is now among the top three causes of death. We
believe one strategy to control blood sugar levels and reduce health stresses
in diabetes-prone populations in desert communities is the revival of
traditional use of native legumes, cacti, seeds, and greens that formerly
dominated their traditional cuisine for centuries. Along the way, we will be
promoting intergenerational cultural exchanges among the Seri, Tohono
O'odham, and Yoeme (Yaqui) people, emphasizing how combining traditional and
scientific knowledge of desert foods and medicines can directly benefit
contemporary communities of Native Americans. In addition, we need your help
spreading the word: one significant goal of this effort will be to raise $
28,000 to support summer internships for Native Americans interested in
learning native plant propagation, sustainable harvesting of desert food and
medicinal plants, and healthy food preparation for the benefit of their
communities. To learn new skills to integrate with their own traditions,
interns will work with one or more of the four coordinating non-profit
organizations: Native Seeds/SEARCH, TOCA (Tohono O'odham Community Action),
the
Amazon Conservation Team (on behalf of the Seri Indian Crafts Collective) and
the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.
The Desert Pilgrims of Seri, Yoeme (Yaqui) and O'odham (Pima-Papago) descent
will leave from Desemboque, Sonora, Mexico on the Sea of Cortez coast (a Seri
Indian village) and travel 250 miles by foot to the Arizona-Sonora Desert
Museum. Native foods stockpiled at communities along the way will feed the
pilgrims while nightly discussions will address environment and health issues
affecting all of us who live in the desert borderlands. Join us March 21st for
an afternoon reception at the Museum to meet all those who made
the pilgrimage, and to celebrate our common respect for the desert's
bounties.
By pledging $.10 for every mile walked, you will provide $25.00 of internship
support to a pilgrim who travels the entire distance. We are, however,
encouraging youth from each village to join us for day walks to the next
village, averaging 25 miles apart, so that a $2.50 donation will support one
participant for a day. We hope to receive pledges by the start of February, so
that additional youth can be invited to participate in the pilgrimage, and to
apply for internships.
Other kinds of support and assistance are also welcome. We are seeking
donations of native foodstuffs (mesquite flour, tepary beans, cholla buds,
prickly pear syrup, native grain pinole, squash, acorns, roasted mescal,
Sea of
Cortez fish and shellfish), sleeping bags, canteens and first aid kits.
Finally, wish us well.
 

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