Native Roots Farm Foundation (NRFF) puts its mission of revitalizing and amplifying Indigenous ecological knowledge into practice through programming.
Our programs use art, food, and horticulture as tools to highlight specific native plants, educate participants about the relationships Indigenous communities have with the environment, and nurture relationships with plants in hands-on and engaging ways.
NRFF’s programs help rekindle the reciprocal relationships that Indigenous people have with plants. We prioritize outreach to members of local Native American communities, and everyone is encouraged to join, no matter their background.
We hope you’ll join us in the community!
Making Brooklyn Bloom, is the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s annual kickoff to the spring gardening season. This community driven day is free and open to all visitors. Join workshops, tours, and network with NYC greening organizations.
Do More 24 Delaware is a 24 hour day of giving designed to help nonprofits raise more money and engage new donors. Visit DEGives.org to support these and other Delaware nonprofits year round.
Calling all homeschoolers, ages 6-18! Join NRFF at the Dover Library for a free afternoon of hands-on learning. We'll discuss Indigenous ecological knowledge and the relationships that Indigenous people have with plants that are native to this region. We'll also enjoy interacting with some of these plants as food and art: by sipping Tehim Juice (Lenape for Strawberry), savoring Kaxhax'keek cookies (Lenape for Spicebush), and painting with Chàkinkwèm berries (Lenape for Pokeweed). You don't want to miss this hands-on and fun opportunity to engage with plants that are all around us!
Registration is required for all events and opens approximately one month before the event begins. Please ensure that your email and phone number are correct and only register the participating youth (ages 6-18)! One no-call, no-show will result in removal from the registration list, but you are still welcome to join as a walk-in & see if space is available.
For any questions, please email Elizabeth.Miller@lib.de.us and Carlee.Hayden@lib.de.us.
Join NRFF at Grounds For Sculpture to explore the relationships Indigenous people of the area we now call New Jersey have had with native plants in our collection. You’ll learn about both the scientific and cultural importance of these plants. This program includes a one-hour walking tour and art making activity using native plant dye.
Join NRFF at Grounds For Sculpture to explore the relationships Indigenous people of the area we now call New Jersey have had with native plants in our collection. You’ll learn about both the scientific and cultural importance of these plants. This program includes a one-hour walking tour and art making activity using native plant dye.
FREE 24-hour celebration of 532 years of survival. Join us on Randall's Island for New York City's official indigenous People's Day Celebration. Event begins 11:00 a.m October 13th and continues 24 hours. Join us for our sunrise ceremony 7:00 a.m. on October 14th
Delaware is the traditional and current homeland to many Indigenous peoples and their living cultures and practices. This event uplifts current Indigenous initiatives in the Delaware watersheds, fosters campus awareness, and engages in collective learning for the preservation of our environment and First State Indigenous cultures. Come learn from representatives of cutting-edge Nanticoke land stewardship and language revitalization projects for an educational, hands-on, and community-building experience.
Join us for Painting with Pokeweed and celebrate native plants through a hands-on, ethnobotanical, foraging, and artistic experience. After a hayride through Mt. Cuba Center’s natural lands, learn about the relationships Indigenous communities have with Chàkinkwèm (Lenape for Pokeweed), mindfully forage for Chàkinkwèm, make ink from Chàkinkwèm berries, and create watercolor paintings with your homemade pèkòn (Lenape for red dye). Painting with Pokeweed is a partnership between Mt. Cuba Center and Native Roots Farm Foundation. Children must be 8 or older to participate. Closed-toe shoes and clothes that can get messy are recommended. Included with garden admission, advance registration required.
This program takes place in person in Mt. Cuba Center natural lands Saturday, September 21, 2024 (Rain Date: Sunday, September 22, 10 AM-12 PM).
**Special for the NRFF community: when signing up for this program, enter the code POKEWEED50 at checkout and receive 50% off!
This program is supported, in part, by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. The Division promotes Delaware arts events on www.DelawareScene.com.
Join us for Painting with Pokeweed and celebrate native plants through a hands-on, ethnobotanical, foraging, and artistic experience. After a hayride through Mt. Cuba Center’s natural lands, learn about the relationships Indigenous communities have with Chàkinkwèm (Lenape for Pokeweed), mindfully forage for Chàkinkwèm, make ink from Chàkinkwèm berries, and create watercolor paintings with your homemade pèkòn (Lenape for red dye). Painting with Pokeweed is a partnership between Mt. Cuba Center and Native Roots Farm Foundation. Children must be 8 or older to participate. Closed-toe shoes and clothes that can get messy are recommended. Included with garden admission, advance registration required.
This program takes place in person in Mt. Cuba Center natural lands Friday, September 20, 2024 (Rain Date: Sunday, September 22, 2-4 PM).
**Special for the NRFF community: when signing up for this program, enter the code POKEWEED50 at checkout and receive 50% off!
This program is supported, in part, by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. The Division promotes Delaware arts events on www.DelawareScene.com.
Celebrate the 46th Annual Nanticoke Indian Powwow through traditional music, dance, Native American crafts and food. This spectacular 2-day powwow features intertribal Native American dancers and an expansive market of authentic Native American art, crafts, jewelry, food (don’t miss the fry bread & Nanticoke Indian Tacos!), the Southern Delaware Hot Rod Car Show and more. The Nanticoke Indian Powwow is an experience not to be missed, connecting the public to ancient Native American traditions and cultures and to each other.
Join us at the Blue Ball Barn for Folk Art Friday! There will be live music, food trucks, local artists including Denise Bright Dove Ashton-Dunkley (Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape), and activities for all ages!
Come out and join the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Tribal Nation’s 43rd Annual Powwow! A fun event for the whole family! Enjoy some of our people’s traditions, songs, food, and culture!
Learn how to transform fish skin into fish xès (Lenape for leather), an art form that has been practiced by Indigenous communities from around the world. Work with your hands to scrape the skin clean, wash the material, and then soften it into xès.
Join us to celebrate the flowers of Tehim (Lenape for Strawberry) and practice the art form of beadwork.
Learn about local Native American communities, understand the history and journey of beadwork, and appreciate native plants through an Indigenous ecological perspective while creating an artistic representation of a Tehim flower that will be customized into a brooch, keychain, or necklace.
Learn about the Yaupon plant, sample different Yaupon tea blends, and create pottery to enjoy future brews with. Space is limited, sign up now to participate in this program at the Rehoboth Art League. This program is a partnership with Project CommuniTea and the Rehoboth Art League.
The Nanticoke Museum is hosting its annual Heritage Day celebration. Join us in Millsboro celebrate the Nanticoke Tribe and local tribal communities.
Powwow of Arts and Culture at the Delaware Art Museum. We’ll bring the Tehim Juice – you bring your friends and family!
Making Brooklyn Bloom at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. NRFF’s President/Executive Director, Courtney Streett, is giving the keynote address “Roots and Relationships: How Native Plants Connect Us to Our Past and Our Future”.
Make a gift to NRFF March 7-8 and help bring NRFF’s food-based programming to life in 2024!