Living Earth 2023: Zuni Waffle Gardens and Contemporary Practices

The Zuni have farmed the Colorado Plateau for thousands of years, developing techniques and plant varieties uniquely adapted to their extreme high desert environment. Tribal elders continue to transmit these farming methods to younger generations as part of the Pueblo’s traditional cultural knowledge.
Reyna Banteah (Zuni) is from the Pueblo of Zuni, New Mexico, descended from the Crow Clan on her maternal side and the Sun Clan on her paternal side. She serves on the Zuni Youth Enrichment Project’s agriculture committee, supporting efforts to revitalize and maintain Zuni farming traditions. Her small business founded in 2018, Ts’uyya Farm (ts’uyya is Zuni for hummingbird), focuses on sustainable farming methods and saving native seeds that are adapted to the Southwest’s dry, hot climate. Banteah’s goal is to create thriving, self-sustaining agricultural communities in Albuquerque and surrounding Native communities.