[Lapg] Permaculture Helps Us Remember Who We Are /Hopi Indian Reservation, Lilian Hil/YES Magazine

[Wesley Roe and Santa Barbara Permaculture Network]

Permaculture Helps Us Remember Who We Are
http://www.yesmagazine.org/for-teachers/teacher-stories/permaculture-helps-us-remember-who-we-are

On the Hopi Indian Reservation, Lilian Hill was raised by her great 
grandparents and beloved elders who taught her the three principals of 
permaculture—Care of the Earth, Care of the People, and Share the 
Surplus. Today, many Hopi young people are no longer connected to the 
land. By returning to traditional farming and ecological wisdom, Lilian 
and Hopi Tutskwa Permaculture are promoting a healthier Hopi community 
and helping youth remember who they are as Hopi People. This is Lilian’s 
story.

by Lilian Hill
posted Dec 20, 2012

I live in the Village of Kykotsmovi, located in northern Arizona on the 
Hopi Indian Reservation, where sandstone mesas stand high over the 
valleys and sandy washes. As a child I was raised among my great 
grandparents and beloved elders who were always busy caring for and 
visiting their families, weaving baskets, cooking, and gathering 
medicines and seasonal foods. These elders were my first teachers and I 
miss them greatly. Although many of the elders did not have a formal 
education, they possessed great knowledge and made a life for themselves 
that was filled with great love, joy, and family. It has always been my 
dream to be just like them one day.


Four generations prune and restore their family orchard in First Mesa, AZ.

Photo by Lilian Hill

In 2004 I helped form a youth leadership project, which grew into a 
community initiative called Hopi Tutskwa Permaculture (HTP). The 
initiative is committed to maintaining our distinct identity and ways of 
life as Hopi people, so we may pass this knowledge to future generations.

Permaculture is an ecological, holistic, and sustainable design system 
and philosophy for creating living spaces. It is a viable method for 
finding sustainable solutions to modern problems, and has been 
successfully used around the world to build beautiful natural homes, 
grow food, revive deserts, build community, and much more. The essence 
of permaculture is its three principles: Care of the Earth, Care of the 
People, and Share the Surplus. I was fortunate to be raised with these 
teachings on the reservation.

When I look at the landscape, I see rabbitbrush, snakeweed, Mormon Tea, 
and four-wing saltbush, and newly planted fruit trees standing proud.

With the founding of HTP, I have witnessed significant changes in my 
community. When I look at the landscape, I see rabbitbrush, snakeweed, 
Mormon Tea, and four-wing saltbush, and newly planted fruit trees 
standing proud. I see more birds, bees, insects, lizards, and wildlife. 
I see more young people farming with their families, and being outspoken 
about their knowledge. I see local schools planting orchards and 
building greenhouses, and teachers who incorporate permaculture into 
their curricula.


HTP Apprentices, Marshall and Ronson, squeeze an unsion of calendula, 
yerba manza, chapparal, and comfrey for an herbal salve.

Photo by Christine Jimenez

Since time immemorial, the Hopi people have lived on our traditional 
homelands as peaceful and humble farmers. Hopi have subsisted on and 
continue to cultivate varieties of corn, beans, squash, melons, 
pumpkins; heirloom fruits; native fruiting shrubs, like sumac berries; 
and medicinal seasonal plant foods. Our health and nutrition depends on 
our deep intimate knowledge of our homeland and our relationship with 
the spiritual forces of nature. This life revolves around the 
cultivation, care, and collection of seeds, fruits, roots, greens, 
berries, and the plants and trees that give us shelter, heat, and 
comfort. In this way we lived in accordance with the original and 
spiritual instructions of our elders. We see this process as spiritual 
growth, and our health and nutrition adapt to this growth.



It was not long ago that our community of about 8,000 people saw a 
decline in the health of our community members and use of traditional 
farming practices. The introduction of mass-produced and commodity 
foods— imposed in the beginning by the federal government, and more 
recently by international commercial food industries—has significantly 
changed our life way and path as Hopi people, and has greatly 
contributed to the increase of diabetes, heart disease, high blood 
pressure, and obesity in our communities, and the loss of biodiversity, 
including ancient heirloom seeds. Although some Hopi continue to 
practice traditional farming, most people rely on food bought from 
nearby cities and government commodity foods for their subsistence.

The essence of permaculture is its three principles: Care of the Earth, 
Care of the People, and Share the Surplus. I was fortunate to be raised 
with these teachings on the reservation.

Hopi Tutskwa Permaculture aims to provide the Hopi people with the 
training and education necessary to develop healthy strategies for 
strengthening food security. Since 2004 we have hosted workshops, where 
community members come together to share, learn, replant fruit orchards, 
build family gardens, restore artesian springs, and develop composting 
systems. In 2009, over 200 Hopi children youth, parents, grandparents, 
school administrators, and visitors planted over 100 trees at a local 
high school—in 60 mph winds! This kind of commitment is inherent in our 
culture as Hopi people.


Through our work, villages, schools, clans, and families continue 
traditional Hopi values of Sumi’nangwa and Nami’nangwa, which mean “to 
help others selflessly for the good of everyone.” In addition, we are 
rekindling interest in relearning traditional skills, principles, and 
values that have been overlooked in recent decades.


Second Mesa Day School first graders apply sheet mulch to their newly 
planted fruit tree.

Photo by Jonah Hill

Our focus is on the next generation— small children, teens, and young 
adults. Hopi youth are immersed in a world full of ceremonial teachings, 
ecological knowledge and wisdom, and family responsibilities. They also 
are absorbed by a lifestyle that is very different their own parents and 
grandparents. Television, media, and mainstream culture have become a 
huge part of Hopi life, and are shaping the ideas and identities of Hopi 
youth today. Many young people no longer have connections to the land.

HTP has created youth programs, such as the Youth in Sustainability 
Leadership Project and the Hopi Permaculture Apprenticeship Program that 
allow Hopi youth and community to connect with place, family, culture, 
and subsistence. When youth are engaged in activities that strengthen 
their minds and bodies, their spirits are awakened to the beauty of the 
world around them. Our program allows youth to be creative, to be 
helpful, to learn ways to cultivate and grow, and to be able to do so in 
a supportive environment. One of our participants, who has participated 
in our youth programs for over 10 years is now studying to be an 
herbalist, and hopes to open an herb shop in his village one day.

The Youth in Sustainability Leadership Project is a summer program that 
focuses on youth leadership, community service learning projects, food 
justice, permaculture, and traditional arts and culture. Youth, ages 
12-18, gain hands-on experience with the guidance of local farmers, 
builders, artisans, and tree experts.

Working with children is a kind reminder that no matter how much 
knowledge and academic achievement we gain in our lives, the world is so 
immense that we can never truly say that we know it all.
The Hopi Permaculture Youth Apprenticeship Project is an eight-week 
intensive training program that supports emerging adults ages 18-30 in 
developing leadership skills and implementing sustainable ecological 
development within the Hopi community. Participants eventually become 
youth mentors and teach permaculture workshops. Our elementary kids grow 
food at school, and the littlest ones work side-by-side with their 
parents planting fruit trees at the Kwangwa’Tsoki Orchard.

I am passionate about HTP because I want to be a part of a solution to 
ensure that my community will be able to thrive and flourish. Working 
with children is a kind reminder that no matter how much knowledge and 
academic achievement we gain in our lives, the world is so immense that 
we can never truly say that we know it all.

It has always been my dream to be able to live in my village and to 
contribute to my community. My vision is to support the growth and 
development of a new generation of Hopi permaculture leaders who have 
the tools, training, and practical experience needed to promote a 
healthier Hopi community. By remembering who we are as Hopi People 
—through Hopi Tutskwa Permaculture —we will be able to flourish and find 
solutions to the many obstacles and challenges that we face as a community.






Lilian Hill is Hopi from the village of Kykotsmovi and a member of the 
Tobacco (Pipwungwa) clan. Lilian has studied at the North American 
School of Natural Building and at Northern Arizona University’s Applied 
Indigenous Studies Department, focusing on Traditional Ecological 
Knowledge. She has traveled the world advocating for the rights of 
indigenous people and environmental justice. Along with her husband and 
four children, Lilian has built an earthen home in her village utilizing 
permaculture. Visit Hopi Tutskwa Permaculture.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hopi-Tutskwa-Permaculture/152816334745755