Manitoulin Island & Tkaronto · since 2018
Indigenous science, practised on the land.
Cultural Seeds is Celeste Smith’s Indigenous-led practice in Traditional Ecological Knowledge, seed stewardship and food sovereignty. Celeste Smith is an Indigenous scientist working in Traditional Ecological Knowledge, agroecology and food sovereignty. She teaches and advises farms, schools, organizations and policy bodies — work that runs from a seed saved on Manitoulin Island to a policy argued in Rome. Heritage seeds and goods come out of the same practice.
Indigenous science is science.
Traditional Ecological Knowledge shares the methods Western science claims as its own — observation, experience, testing across generations. It is an independent and equal way of knowing, and it is protected under UNDRIP.
It is not folk medicine. Not legends or stories. Not something waiting on Western science to certify it. Most rooms have never been told that plainly, and everything else follows from it.
It also carries no split between the observer and the world. Which is why, here, the seed keeping and the food sovereignty work are not two services. They are one system, described at different distances.
- Natural Law
- Interconnectedness
- Relationships
- Reciprocity
- Gratitude
- Respect
- Responsibility to the future
Seven concepts, and how each one is practised on real ground. That is the teaching, and it is what Celeste is booked to deliver.
Four ways in.
Teaching, advising, research and seed. Different rooms, one body of knowledge.
Teaching & speaking
Keynotes, workshops and facilitated sessions on Indigenous science, treaty, climate, FPIC and food sovereignty — or a session written for your room.
See the sessions → Longer engagementsConsulting & advisory
Curriculum design, programme development, policy advice and seed library work. Project or retainer.
What that looks like → The recordResearch & selected work
A SSHRC partnership on land governance, work at the UN Committee on World Food Security, and who has brought Celeste in.
See the record → In your handsSeeds, plants & goods
Heritage seeds and plants by sale or trade, rematriation at no charge, and the seed sanctuary at Kagawong — filmed by the National Farmers Union for Depth of Field.
Watch the film →Bring this to your room.
Sessions run from an hour to a full day, in person or remote, for farms, schools, boards, conferences and policy bodies. Or describe the audience and the problem, and a session gets written for it.
