Our work
Here we share a snapshot of some of the work we do.
Kai Poma
Kai Poma is a tribally-incorporated nonprofit organization founded by representatives of the Sherwood Valley Band of Pomo Indians, Round Valley Indian Tribes, and Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians, with legal, governance, and planning support from Minnow. It serves as the legal entity for the return of 136 acres of land along the Pacific coast in Yuki and Pomo lands, present day Mendocino County, California, as required by SB 231, a bill sponsored by State Senator Mike McGuire (D-North Coast) and signed into law by Governor Newsom in 2021.
We have provided pro-bono legal consulting to the tribal representatives for Kai Poma thanks to support from the California Tribal Fund, a project of the First Nations Development Institute. Our work has included tracking and advising on the legislation, scoping and forming their legal entity, negoitating terms of transfer with state agencies, drafting transfer documents, and consulting on organizational development.
Tierras Milperas
Tierras Milperas is a collective of campesino and Indigenous families working to liberate their livelihoods from subjugation in the extractive agro-industry. Their 140 families are collectively known as La Asamblea (The Assembly), and steward seven milpas in Watsonville and Pajaro, California. They are moving towards acquiring community-managed farmland in which to practice traditional farming in dialogue with local Indigenous communities and to attain food sovereignty.
More than mere community gardens, milpas hold deep significance to the worldviews and religious beliefs of many Mesoamerican cultures, particularly among the Indigenous Peoples of the Yucatan Peninsula. Milpas are as much a complex agricultural system based on farm and fallow cycles, as they are the center of community life around food growing in relationship with plant and animal species.
Minnow began collaborating with Tierras Milperas in 2019 to support their transition into collective governance and autonomy through a new fiscal sponsorship relationship. In 2022, the campesinos faced eviction from their largest and longest-standing milpa. Since then, we have assisted them in strategic campaigns and actions to protect and secure access to their current milpas, while continuing to support their long-term vision for community land tenure.
We do this by providing legal and strategic advice for their transition to a self-governance model, one that’s able to retain their culturally important principles and practices under our Western-colonial legal system. Minnow also leverages financial resources to support the growth and development of La Asamblea as a campesino-led community organization and for their land acquisition needs.
To learn more about Tierras Milperas and support their efforts to establish a land base for their membership, please visit their website.
Photo: Jacque Rupp
The People’s Land Fund
Farmers who are black, Indigenous or people of color (BIPOC) have historically been discriminated against when it comes to financial aid and relief support from government agencies. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic was no exception. The People’s Land Fund was created by members of Minnow, First Nations Development Institute/California Tribal Fund, Mandela Partners, Kitchen Table Advisors, Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association, and Butterfly Movement to organize and manage an emergency response, the California BIPOC Farmers and Land Stewards Relief Fund.
Beyond emergency response, The People’s Land Fund exists as a legal and financial vehicle that is led and governed by leaders of color to support a just transition of land ownership, economic resources, and infrastructure to advance racial and land justice in California.
Today, The People’s Land Fund is dedicated to financially supporting Indigenous and ecological land stewardship practices to foster more equitable regional food systems while creating collective wealth. Its members are food and agricultural leaders from BIPOC communities and organizations that continue to embody the spirit of both being and working for farmers and land stewards of color.
The People’s Land Fund accepts land donations, puts capital in the hands of those who work the land, and works to fulfill the infrastructural needs of farmers. Visit the collective’s website to learn more and get involved.
Pixca Farm
Located on the unceded land of the Kumeyaay along the flood plain of the Tijuana River, Pixca Farm has served culturally significant produce and flowers to the people of South Bay, San Diego. Their locally grown vegetables, farm fresh flowers, seedlings and compost have been offered through a year-round community supported agriculture (CSA) membership program, and through a seasonal food stand open to the public on Saturdays, with everything grown and produced through diversified and ecologically friendly methods.
Pixca Farm has been a community of farmers of color which attracted members of all ages since its inception. Early in 2021, their membership sought to formally organize as a worker cooperative, and Minnow provided the farmers with cooperative development services in collaboration with the San Diego Food Systems Alliance. Services have included cooperative business model and decisional structure workshops, strategic statement drafting, structuring of bylaws and internal governance, along with operational agreements and initial business planning.