Nalwoodi Denzhone Community (NDC)
In The Media:
October 2021 Update
Due to their dedication to support the San Carlos Apache community, NDC has been a close partner with United Food Bank, distributing hundreds of food boxes to San Carlos families in need during the pandemic. Local First Arizona’s Good Food Film Series captured this partnership in the ‘Farm to Food Bank’ film released in May. The film is accessible through February 2022, so don’t miss your chance to watch it!
In addition, we held our second volunteer engagement - NDC’s first Fall Fest on October 23, 2021. This family-friendly event featured a film screening, farmers & artisans market, Apache food cooking demonstrations, live art, and a fashion show. There will also be plenty of youth activities, including a pumpkin patch and carving station, beading, and archery. We celebrated NDC’s hard work this year and honored the food traditions and resilience of the San Carlos Apache community.
Where It All Began:
In 2020, the Local First Arizona Rural Team set forth on a mission to become better partners to tribal communities in economic development and healthy and sustainable food systems. Our first tribal partnership bloomed from an instant connection with the mission and work of the Nalwoodi Denzhone Community (NDC)NDC was established in 2012 to serve San Carlos Apache youth and families; reconnecting them to agriculture and their heritage, and creating a safe space for the community to come together and heal from historical trauma and toxic stress. When an opportunity presented itself to support NDC by helping to write a grant announced by the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, LFA launched into action and a few months later were notified that NDC had been awarded $250,000 for the proposed 3-year scope of work. This award kickstarted a long-term partnership that has already been incredibly rewarding across both organizations.
In our first 6 months of partnership, LFA supported NDC by conducting a site visit to NDC’s new indoor kitchen and cold storage room. LFA Food Director andCommunity Kitchen Manager, Chef Gabe Gardener, guided a conversation around effective kitchen set-up, equipment, and programming. The NDC crew was later able to visit El Rancho, LFA’s commercial kitchen in downtown Mesa, and get a glimpse into the operations of the kitchen, interaction with the community, utilization of a community garden, and also its role as a food pantry.
Additionally, LFA coordinated a Volunteer Work-Day to get better acquainted with NDC friends and family. A small team of LFA volunteers, in partnership with NDC and UA Cooperative Extension, created a team of 30 volunteers who dedicated 3 hours of their time to help with a variety of farm tasks. Teams planted native landscaping, prepared garden bed soils, repaired a shade to cover the chicken coop for summer, and planted and covered native crops. Relationships were strengthened and NDC's mission was supported while a lot of much-needed farm work was completed to prepare for summer.
Since then, LFA has contracted with Indigenous Enterprise, an indigenous production company that performs around the world and works with clients as successful as the Black-eyed Peas. They were charged to create a tailored video production training program from NDC staff and a few close colleagues. The NDC team expressed the need for this skill set in order to take charge of their storytelling and get more of the San Carlos community and supportive philanthropists engaged in their work. The training series will help NDC understand the process and technologies of video production to produce a short film on the Apache Red Sugarcane that NDC is bringing back to the community.
