Garden Is Horn of Plenty for Wind River Reservation in Ethete, Wyo. Story-Date: 09:38 a.m. PST Sunday , November 30, 1997 ------------------------------------------------------------ Garden Is Horn of Plenty for Wind River Reservation in Ethete, Wyo. By Debra Calling Thunder, Indian Country Today, Rapid City, S.D. Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News ETHETE, Wyo.--Dec. 1--A garden that began with a dream and a prayer has brought a harvest of food and hope to the Wind River Indian Reservation and beyond, two of the project's organizers say. For years, Ervin Brown Sr. and his wife Laverne dreamed of donating land for a community garden to help ease hunger among the Arapaho people, their niece Irene Houser said. This year, their dream came true with the creation of the 7-acre Wind River Community Garden on the family's property near the Little Wind River at Ethete. Ms. Houser, who runs the Northern Arapaho Tribe's Community Development Block Grant Program which bought tools for the garden, said it's something she never expected to happen. Sadly, Mr. Brown passed away before seeing the garden. The community garden was planted on a warm day last May by more than 50 volunteers, including 45 students from Wyoming Indian junior high and high schools, two University of Wyoming master gardeners and representatives from various reservation agencies. That morning, before her field was planted, Ms. Brown prayed in the Arapaho language. With the rushing river nearby, she asked the Creator to bless the work the group was about to begin. Now, after months of diligent care by scores of volunteers, the community garden has yielded 10 pickup truck-loads of food for the poor and elderly, in addition to the vegetables harvested by individuals and families. This fall, both Indians and non-Indians received free vegetables from the community garden, including beets, corn, zucchini, carrots, green beans, potatoes, onions and crook neck squash, Ms. Houser and Ms. Revere said. The vegetables were grown without fertilizer or pesticides. Ms. Houser said it was important to share the food with people outside the reservation and of other tribes because hunger knows no racial barriers or tribal affiliations. The food was distributed to families on the Wind River Reservation and the Pine Ridge Reservation in S.D., said Ms. Houser. Food was also donated to the Wind River's three senior citizens centers, St. Stephen's Indian Mission, and to a food bank and needy families in the reservation border town of Riverton. Ms. Houser said with the state's stricter, more punitive welfare reforms, hunger is increasing on the reservation where 8 out of 10 people live in poverty. In her job, Ms. Houser said she sees a variety of people -- families, individuals and senior citizens -- asking for food. "When it gets down to the end of the month, food really gets tight and people share food with each other. It gets scarce. Money gets scare," Ms. Revere said. Wyo. State Representative Harry Tipton, praised the community garden for providing food, education and productive activities for local people. Although federal, state and tribal governments seem to have less money to address problems like hunger, Ms. Revere said the positive side is that projects like the community garden can bring communities and governmental agencies together to meet a common goal. "Once it began to come together -- after we had the land and we had gotten it planted -- all of a sudden more and more people and other government programs decided to put more money into it... so we could buy a small tractor and things like that," she said. "It started out as just an idea and a hope and a dream and it mushroomed." Next year, a new effort will help individuals, families and groups plant gardens on their own land by helping them obtain seed and water for their crops and by plowing their fields, Ms. Revere said. Master gardeners will offer training. Although they were later abandoned, large community gardens were common on the reservation in the 1930s. Shoshone and Arapaho tribal members began farming on the reservation in 1887 using plows and seeds provided by the federal government. Ms. Houser said many older people involved with the earlier community gardens have been among the most enthusiastic volunteers, although it was difficult finding rides to bring them to the garden this summer to work. Both Ms. Houser and Ms. Revere said they see the resurgence of community gardens on the reservation as a sign of the Creator's blessing upon his people and upon the Earth. "Being on the reservation, spirituality is a big part of the traditional beliefs," Ms. Revere said, "and we're thankful that He provided for us. We're thankful that we're able to start it up again." On the reservation where times are growing harder for many people, Ms. Houser said the success of the community garden "gives us hope back into the community. It gives us the capability to believe that He does care." ----- Visit Indian Country Today on the World Wide Web at http://www.indiancountry.com/ ----- (c) 1997, Indian Country Today, Rapid City, S.D. Distributed by Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News. ------------------------------------------------------------