With seeds saved from extinction, an SU student grows rooftop corn and an indigenous foods network

"How can we understand these really powerful themes, but in a way that's personal?" said Ethan Tyo, pictured here at his rooftop garden in Syracuse. Photo by Geena Matuson.
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Somewhere in the middle of his master’s degree program at Syracuse University, Ethan Tyo looked up from his books and papers and decided he wanted to get his hands in the dirt.

“I didn’t want to read or write anymore, I wanted action,” said Tyo, who is a member of Akwesasne Mohawk tribe.

A forest of ideas flourished. Tyo started a series of public gardens sowed with Indigenous seeds, a food blog, a plant-based cookbook and now, a canopy brand for his Indigenous food sovereignty projects: AlterNative.

Last month, he won a $10,000 grand prize from the Syracuse University Blackstone LaunchPad incubator for his project idea, which he can use however he likes.

Tyo first wanted to know what grew here, on this land. He found those seeds, salvaged from extinction, at Onondaga Nation Farm, and now those are growing in his gardens. Maybe in the future, he said, these plants can feed whole communities or stock the shelves of Indigenous-run grocery stores.

There’s pride in this work, he said, and creativity.

“This is a true land acknowledgement,” he said.

Cherokee glass gem corn. Photo courtesy of Ethan Tyo

Tyo couldn’t have this kind of connection with his own ancestral land when he was a kid. The St. Lawrence River, which flows through Akwesasne land, has been clogged with carcinogens since hydroelectric-seeking industrial sites first moved upriver in the 1950s.

Man-made environmental disasters disproportionately impact Native American lands, according to multiple peer-reviewed studies.

Tyo learns a lot about macro food systems theories in class, he said, but he wanted to connect those ideas to how real people get food, from their gardens or the grocery store.

He found a bridge in corn, beans and squash, the tenets of the “Three Sisters” growing philosophy. Those plants, in one plot, support each other’s growth. In the SU garden, he used native seeds from Onondaga Nation seed banks to take root, like Tuscarora white corn and crookneck squash.

Colgate University took up the idea, too, and seeded their new Three Sisters plots with Oneida Nation seeds, which are native to the land the schools sit on.

Tyo has directed a series of cooking workshops on Indigenous-based recipes (one of which landed in New York Times Cooking), organized demonstrations of Haudenosaunee food ceremonies and is planning an installation at the Adirondack Experience Museum in Blue Mountain Lake.

For all his projects, Tyo avoided stale lectures. He wanted attendees to help seed, plant, harvest or forage.

“I want to get students in the ground. Like, in the work,” he said.

Ethan Tyo's rooftop garden, with flourishing corn stalks. Photo courtesy of Ethan Tyo.

In Syracuse, Tyo has his own rooftop garden, where the stalks of native corns rustle in the wind over downtown. He planted a popcorn variety this year, full of “dazzling” color, he said.

Tyo graduates next semester, and he’s hoping to travel.

“There so much out there. There’s so many different foods, there are so many different tribes, so many different experiences that I do want to have,” he said.

But he doesn’t think he’ll ever be “gone, gone,” he said.

“Syracuse is my second home,” said Tyo. “It’s central with the Haudenosaunee Nation; there’s so much work going on here behind the scenes.”

On Saturday, Tyo will host a food demonstration event at Salt City Market from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. He will cook his bean patty with raspberry aioli and discuss the Three Sisters philosophy. For more information, go to eventbrite.com.

Jules Struck writes about life and culture in and around Syracuse. Contact her anytime at jstruck@syracuse.com or on Instagram at julesstruck.journo.

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