Women of the Hoopa Valley Tribal Community: Land, Food, Future

In 2021, American Farmland Trust's Women for the Land Initiative began a partnership with the Klamath Trinity Resource Conservation District, based in the Hoopa Valley Tribal Community. This unique collaboration was the first formal partnership between AFT and an Indigenous community. It has enabled the Women for the Land program, along with other resource providers from government agencies and non-profits, to host Learning Circles with women food producers and land stewards in Hoopa, as a result, Indigenous producers and land managers are more connected and better poised to reach their land stewardship goals with the aim that the program will support Indigenous producers and land managers in being better poised to access services and support.  

The Hoopa Valley Tribe, also known as the Hupa, has lived in Northwestern California for over a thousand years, settling in the Hoopa Valley around 1000 AD after migrating from the north.  

Today, the current 12-mile square reservation is a fraction of the pre-colonial area they utilized for fishing, hunting, and gathering. The Hoopa shares this land with neighboring tribes and remains a federally recognized and self-sufficient community. They continue to practice traditional customs—such as fishing, hunting, and ceremonial dances—while working toward full political and economic self-determination. The Hoopa maintain a strong connection to their language, history, and homeland, preserving their identity for future generations. 

The project fostered relationships with incredible women food producers and land stewards in Hoopa and captured their stories in the context of their local food system and its history. Hiring a local photographer, Nelia Marshall, a Hoopa Tribal member, our team worked closely with women in Hoopa to document important people, places, and processes that make up the unique, deeply rooted stories of resilience and tribal sovereignty over land and food in the community. These photos were brought together with original artwork by a Hoopa artist, Sorren Richards, and a narrative by Hoopa consultant, Rhoby Cook, into a beautiful and richly layered StoryMap.   

The StoryMap follows Marcellene Norton, Allie Hostler, Crystal and Carlitos Estrada, Emil and Darla Marshall, Meagen Baldy, and Falona Bailey, artfully expressing the history of their tribe's foodways and land-based ethics. It highlights how Hoopa women and their families have been resilient throughout shocks to their food system over the past 170 years, and how they are embracing the power of growing crops, traditional food gathering, preserving, educating youth and forging creative partnerships, with AFT and others, to create healthy futures on their land. Included in their stories are the creative ways these women have utilized USDA resources while maintaining their traditional approaches.   

These stories provide a timely opportunity to shift the narrative about who can and should be supported by the agricultural assistance programs.  

This work comes at a critical moment. Native Americans operate nearly 3% of U.S. farms and ranches, yet receive far fewer resources. Native women, in particular, face systemic barriers to accessing land, capital, and support. But change is coming. With leaders like Zach Ducheneaux, formerly of the USDA’s Farm Service Agency, and Deb Haaland, Former United States Secretary of the Interior, Indigenous voices are helping to shape the future of agricultural policy. 

“The work embodied in this story map illustrates the power, beauty, and resilience of communities like the Hoopa,” said Dr. Gabrielle Roesch-McNally, Director of AFT’s Women for the Land Initiative. “I hope these stories make way for a more collective understanding of how communities can foster resilience amidst great challenges. And personally, it reflects my hope for continued partnership with the Hoopa and other Indigenous communities who are on the frontline of climate change. The work is ongoing and must be cared for and nurtured.” 

These leaders need stories. Stories that ground data in lived experience. Stories like those told by the women of Hoopa, who’ve fought for their river, restored their land, and nurtured a food system that feeds not only bodies, but identities, histories, and hope. 

At AFT, we believe these stories must be heard. They are the evidence of what is possible when equity is more than a policy—it’s a partnership.