About Us
Cultivating Traditional Navajo Crops and Growing Young Minds
We are a hands-on tribal community educational farm in the Four Corners region of the Navajo Reservation. We have preserved the traditional Navajo crops and techniques for years, and now we have created a teaching environment to pass down what we know about culture, history and heritage foods.
Who we are
WHAT WE DO AND TEACH
Who We Are
About Navajo
Ethno-Agriculture
At Navajo Ethno-Agriculture, our team brings experience from a range of professions, including: education, healthcare, traditional healing, entrepreneurship, and sustainability. We are united by our love for the land and our dedication to growing a community where students and lecturers learn from each other. All of our lessons are taught in Navajo and English.
Our board of directors are rising leaders in the Navajo community who value culture, language and land. Our staff is committed to education and cultural preservation and consists of educators, scientists, and traditional healers.
We work in conjunction with several education programs, including two tribal colleges: Navajo Technical University and Diné College, with whom we offer a for-credit science course and agriculture youth camps. We also extend access to Navajo Preparatory School – International Baccalaurate (IB) high school, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)’s Terrascope Program and MIT PKG Center Programs.
We are a 14-acre farm along the San Juan River that sustains traditional Navajo farming methods through bilingual education and storytelling (Navajo and English), hands-on farming, community involvement, and cultivation of chemical free traditional Navajo produce.
What We Do
Sustaining Navajo Culture by
Teaching Traditional Farming
With more than 50 years of combined traditional farming experience, we continue to cultivate a learning environment where we can teach a broad range of traditional knowledge while incorporating current practices from the natural sciences.
Our classes, workshops and camps accommodate the traditional academic calendar. But for those who wish to join year-round, students, families, and instructors are welcome to attend for the entire season, especially during harvest. Lessons are based on the farm work cycle and emphasize the cultural significance and ceremonial value of the land, water and crops. All classes are given in Navajo and English.
We present two tracks to the traditional Navajo farming experience; one that is primarily hands-on and requires no classroom time, while the other is a full syllabus/curriculum where 3 college credit hours are earned. By partnering with tribal colleges and high schools, we are able to reach bright students who are serious about learning traditional agricultural practices.
Contact Us
Years of tradition
years preserving it
Students Taught
Pounds of Crops Grown
Educators and Students
We implement the traditional ways of Navajo farming through teaching promising students. Teaming up with educators and students is a critical piece of what we do, because students are the means by which our traditions and heritage are passed on.
Students
Learn something new about our traditional Navajo teachings with respect to the land, our foods, and water.
LEARN MORE
Board of Directors
Our Board of Directors is comprised of three young tribal members of the Navajo Nation who share a wide range of education and experience.
Chair – Shawn Greyeyes
Shawn Greyeyes is the son of a Navajo medical doctor who encouraged education and the Navajo traditional way of life. Shawn carries out his father’s traditional teachings, as he is deeply devoted to nature and agriculture. He prefers the simplicity of nature and natural foods and enjoys horseback riding, snowboarding, and chess. Shawn resides in the beautiful San Juan Mountains with his wife, Emmy, and their dogs Dotty and Gamble. He has a degree in biology and chemistry.
Vice Chair: Adriano Tsinigine
Adriano Tsinigine is a young emerging leader of the Navajo Nation. He is politically active and culturally driven; he serves as our cultural advisor and role model to the youth. Adriano has been working on the farm since he was nine years old; therefore, he has a special appreciation for the land, water and fruits of our labor. He is fascinated by botany, plant identification in the Navajo language, and exploring traditional medicinal plants and rare strains of vegetation. Adriano has a biology degree and will continue his studies at Northern Arizona University.
Secretary: Pamela Bryan
Pamela Bryan is directly involved in the overall wellness of our community. As a mental health wellness provider who was born and raised in our community, she has tremendous insight into the social issues faced by our young Navajo population. She integrates traditional Navajo medicine and cultural practices in her professional work. She believes in food as medicine and promotes traditional Navajo farm-to-table eating. Pamela is a graduate of the University of New Mexico and the University of Washington.
Founders
Gloria Lane
Gloria Lane founded Navajo Ethno-Agriculture after hosting an agricultural youth camp at which a Navajo adolescent student asked if blue corn is dyed and at what stage it is dyed.
Gloria comes from generations of Navajo farmers who were displaced from their original homeland because oil was discovered, and forced to move close to the river. Her mother and aunts grew squash, melons, corn and fruit from seeds passed down by previous generations. She remembers seeds being traded among relatives and friends. These heritage seeds are now planted on her field.
Into her retirement, Gloria and her husband, Harry, continue to farm and enjoy teaching young Navajo students the importance of traditional crops and sustaining Navajo culture through food. She loves farming because she regards the fresh melons she ate before leaving to college as the greatest gift she ever received from her mother.
Harry Lane
Harry Lane is a lifetime educator. After teaching in the classroom for 38 years, he has moved his teaching environment to a thriving 14-acre farm. Harry is fluent in Navajo and English and believes that our Navajo language is a powerful tool, especially in education. He currently teaches Navajo Ethno-Agriculture to high school and college students. He designs the course curriculum centered around Navajo culture, language and the use of crops in traditional ceremonies.
Harry is originally from Coppermine, Arizona, but has made northern New Mexico his home since returning to the Navajo Nation after college. He is an alumnus of Haskell Indian Nations University, Northwest Missouri State University and the University of New Mexico. When he is not farming, he enjoys travel, sports events, being with family and friends, and walking his beloved dogs, Buddy-Rascal and Lobo. He farms with his wife and has a daughter and a son.
Our Partners
