December Partner Highlight: Dream of Wild Health

We had some major end-of-year highlights and announcements in our newsletter this month.

Read our monthly Partner Highlight below on Dream of Wild Health

This year, Dream of Wild Health celebrated their twenty-fifth anniversary as one of the longest continually operating Native American led and focused nonprofits in Minnesota’s Twin Cities. The mission of Dream of Wild Health is to restore health and wellbeing in the Native community by recovering knowledge of and access to healthy indigenous foods, medicines and lifeways. They do this work year-round with youth programs for Native youth ages 8-18 and through food access programs like their Indigenous Food Shares, farmers market stand, and produce giveaways.

They have also been at the forefront of regional organizing around Indigenous food sovereignty as one of the founding members of the Indigenous Food Network, and through their involvement with Indigenous seedkeepers networks throughout the Great Lakes. In 2020, Dream of Wild Health purchased 20 additional acres of farmland and are working with youth, community, and partners to develop the site into a regional hub for training new Native farmers, modeling Indigenous farming practices, growing youth leadership, and stewarding Native Indigenous seeds. 

Originally founded by Sally Auger in 1986 as Peta Wakan Tipi, the organization’s early beginnings are rooted in community-expressed need and action, resulting in connectivity by Native Americans living in transitional housing to spirituality and ancestral foods. In response to residents’ requests for programming that supported reconnection with their traditions, foods, and medicines, the organization shifted their work into a program called Dream of Wild Health in 1998. As word about Dream of Wild Health spread, a Potawatomi elder in Wisconsin Dells named Cora Baker heard about the organization’s work, donating her collection of traditional seeds that she had stewarded throughout her life to the organization. These seeds are now grown out on their ten acre farm in Hugo, where thousands of pounds of produce are also grown annually and used throughout their programs.  
 

The twenty-fifth anniversary celebration in September brought together community members, local leaders and families onto the Hugo farm to share a meal and stories about how the organization has impacted the community over the years. Guests enjoyed foods prepared by local Native chefs, featuring traditional Native foods.


Executive Director Neely Snyder shared reflections on the event,“Having 25 years of experience doing all of this work in community is a huge milestone for us… and I’m so proud of the work that our team has done during my short time here. I’m also thankful to those who created this dream 25 years ago and paved the way for us to continue with our mission to restore health and wellbeing in the Native community. Thanks to all of our partners, staff, board, youth, donors, funders, allies, community and cheerleaders for joining us on this journey!”