UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Penn State Department of Geography, in collaboration with The Arboretum at Penn State and the Indigenous Peoples’ Student Association (IPSA), will host a special "Coffee Hour" lecture on Friday, Sept. 27, from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Arboretum’s Overlook Pavilion.
The event will feature a talk by Devon Mihesuah, a Choctaw historian and award-winning author, on Indigenous gardening traditions and their relevance to food sovereignty and community health today.
Mihesuah, the Cora Lee Beers Price Professor in the Hall Center for the Humanities at the University of Kansas, will deliver the presentation titled "Recovering Our Ancestors’ Gardens."
Her talk will focus on the traditional gardening practices of the Five Tribes — the Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Muskogee-Creeks and Seminoles — and how these practices ensured community survival and resilience in the face of environmental and economic challenges. Mihesuah will also explore the ongoing relevance of these traditions in today’s efforts to reclaim food sovereignty and restore health in Native communities.
Following Mihesuah’s talk, attendees are invited to learn about the Indigenous Connections through Pawpaw project, which aims to raise awareness about Penn State’s Land Acknowledgment, the Indigenous Peoples’ Student Association and create a better understanding of the University’s connections to Native American and other Indigenous communities, both historically and in the present day.
“We are so delighted to have Dr. Mihesuah at Penn State to speak about her work on gardening practices and how they help communities build food sovereignty,” said Powell, associate professor of geography and project leader. “In addition to her expertise on food sovereignty, Mihesuah also has deep personal knowledge about pawpaw, a fruit that holds cultural significance for many Native American tribes, including her own Choctaw community. She has spoken about the importance of pawpaw to her family and the role it played in her upbringing.”
Pawpaw is the largest edible fruit native to the United States. Known for its tropical flavor — a mix of banana, mango and pineapple — pawpaw fruit plays an important role in the diets of Indigenous peoples throughout its range. Members of The Indigenous Connections through Pawpaw project are working to raise awareness about Indigenous connections at Penn State by mapping and placing signs beside pawpaw trees across campus.
Bob Roberts, professor and head of the Department of Food Science, has developed a pawpaw-flavored ice cream called “Lion’s Paw Pawpaw.” Free samples of pawpaw ice cream will be available for tasting at the event.
“The presence of pawpaw in the forests of Pennsylvania marks the extensive history of Native American communities on these lands,” Powell said. “It is the perfect plant to connect people to an opportunity to learn more about the connections between our university and Native communities.”
Seating is limited and cannot be guaranteed, so please register in advance.
For those interested in extending their experience, a native North American food plant walk will follow the lecture and pawpaw tasting. The cost for the walk is $5, payable by cash or check at the time of the program. Registration is required. The walk has a capacity of 40 participants, and if registration exceeds capacity, you will be placed on the waitlist.
This guided walk will explore some of the region’s important food plants and provide insights into Indigenous food systems.
The project is funded by a Equal Opportunity Planning Committee (EOPC) grant. The EOPC grant provides seed funding to Penn State units for programs advancing the University’s goal of equity, respect, and belonging.