Seeds carry memory,
knowledge, and relationships.
Who we are:
The Shawnee Seed Sanctuary is a Native-led nonprofit dedicated to preserving, regenerating, and rematriating culturally significant Shawnee seeds, medicines, foodways, and traditional ecological knowledge.
Our work serves the three federally recognized Shawnee tribes—the Shawnee Tribe, Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma, and Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma—and the generations who will carry these relationships forward.
More than a seed sanctuary. Seeds do not survive through storage alone. They must be planted, tended, harvested, shared, and returned to the communities and places where they belong.
For that reason, the Sanctuary’s work extends beyond seed preservation. We bring together seed stewardship, traditional agriculture and foodways, education, language, archival research, ethnobotany, and community relationships.
We work to regenerate rare and culturally significant seeds, document the knowledge connected to them, and create opportunities for Shawnee people—especially young people—to know these plants not simply as artifacts of the past, but as living relatives and sources of food, language, knowledge, and connection.
The Prophetstown Seed Alliance
One of our current projects is the return of historic Prophetstown corn to the place where it was first created more than two centuries ago, during the pan-Indigenous community established at Prophetstown under the leadership of Tenskwatawa and Tecumseh.
Planting this corn again at Prophetstown is an act of regeneration and rematriation, but it is also an opportunity to renew relationships. Our long-term hope is to bring together descendants of the many Native nations whose ancestors lived, planted, learned, and built community there.
The Prophetstown Seed Alliance
One of our current projects is the return of historic Prophetstown corn to the place where it was first created more than two centuries ago, during the pan-Indigenous community established at Prophetstown under the leadership of Tenskwatawa and Tecumseh.
Planting this corn again at Prophetstown is an act of regeneration and rematriation, but it is also an opportunity to renew relationships. Our long-term hope is to bring together descendants of the many Native nations whose ancestors lived, planted, learned, and built community there.
Looking forward
We envision the Shawnee Seed Sanctuary growing into a regional Indigenous seed sanctuary, a producer of Native foods, a center for Shawnee ethnobotanical education, and a trusted partner for tribes, growers, universities, museums, and conservation organizations.
Some of the seeds we tend carry histories measured in centuries. Our responsibility is both to what came before us and to those who will plant them next.