Rowen White Honored by American Horticulture Society

The American Horticultural Society (AHS) has announced their AHS Great American Gardeners Awards for 2021. The individuals, organizations, and businesses that receive these national awards represent the best in American gardening, and we applaud their outstanding achievements within their areas of expertise.

Among those honored is Akwesasronon Rowen White receiving the 'Teachers Award'.

AHS presented several awards including Liberty Hyde Bailey Award, B.Y. Morrison Communication Award, Emerging Horticultural Professional Award, Frances Jones Poetker Award, Garden Stewardship Award, Horticultural Therapy Award, Jane E. Taylor Award, Landscape Design Award, and the Meritorious Service Award.

The Teaching Award is given to an individual whose ability to share his or her horticultural knowledge with others has contributed to a better public understanding of the plant world and its important influence on society. First awarded in 1953.

A seed saver, farmer, author, storyteller, and educator, Rowen White is the educational director and founder of Sierra Seeds, an innovative organic seed stewardship organization focusing on local seed and educational programs, based in Nevada City, California.

Known as a passionate activist for indigenous seed preservation and food sovereignty, White is a seed keeper/farmer from the Mohawk community of Akwesasne. She also serves as the national program coordinator for the Indigenous Seed Keepers Network, which is an initiative of the Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance, a non-profit organization that actively promotes and supports tribal food sovereignty projects.

As part of her role, White facilitates creative hands-on workshops and strategic conversations and community organizing focused around seed/food security within tribal and small farming communities nationwide. She has a deep commitment to approaching food systems revitalization through a cultural context. Her moving stories of seeds, food, culture, and sacred Earth stewardship can be viewed on her blog, Seed Songs.