The Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation (Hidatsa, Mandan, and Arikara) in North Dakota have always been known as great vegetable farmers. Nearly 200 years ago, Lewis and Clark survived their winter on the Upper Missouri in 1804 due to the abundance of the three tribes’ gardens. When the U.S. Corps of Engineers built Garrison Dam in 1956, however, it flooded their rich and fertile bottomlands, and the people had to move to the rough badlands (see TCJ, Vol. VII, N.2). Farming ceased, according to Sheri Fox-Hartman, horticulturist for Fort Berthold Community College’s agriculture division. The tribes now have one of the highest rates of diabetes in the nation.

Thanks to grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the college is hoping to improve health through gardening. Congress designated 29 tribal colleges as land grant institutions in 1994, making them eligible for similar programs and grants as earlier land grant colleges and universities can get. Fort Berthold Community College (FBCC) has created a land laboratory to reintroduce gardening and other horticulture practices to community youth and adults. Using part of its 1996 equity grant, the college acquired approximately 10 acres of land through a long-term lease from the Corps of Engineers. Fort Berthold also purchased basic garden equipment and building materials. The 1997 equity grant was used to purchase a mower, disk, irrigation accessories, and building materials for a storage shed at the land lab.

“If gardening gets us  back to a traditional diet and lifestyle, we hope it will help reduce the diabetes rates,” said Fox-Hartman (Hidatsa), a biologist who graduated from Fort Berthold before receiving her bachelor’s degree from Minot State University. Over the last two summers, the college had four different gardening projects at the land lab site: a community garden; a college garden for FBCC students; a native cultural garden; and a youth garden, which involved collaboration with the local agricultural extension office. The staff directed preparation of over 50 new garden spots in various areas of the large reservation.

In addition to vegetables, the college has planted three experimental test plots for forage crops; 200 trees as part of an arboretum; a native range forage plot; and flowers. A North Dakota Outdoor Wildlife Learning Site grant helped prepare a flower bed featuring the initials of the college.

The age-adjusted diabetes mellitus death rate for American Indians and Alaska Natives rose to 35.1 in 1992-94. When it is adjusted for miscoding of Indian race on death certificates, it increases to 41.1. This is 3.3 times the U.S. rate for all races.--1997 Trends in Indian Health <www.ihs.gov/PublicInfo/Publications/trends97>