Assistant Director of the Immigrant Resource Center connects to culture through food

For Ethan Teo, food is a tangible link between past and present and a way to connect with his heritage.

Teo, who recently assumed the newly created position of Associate Director of Native American and Indigenous Student Initiatives, became involved with the Binghamton University community when he helped create the inaugural Three Sisters Garden on campus in May 2021.

A member of the Mohawk Tribe and Wolf Clan, Tyo grew up in the Mohawk community of Akwesasne, part of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. He is also a first-generation student who attended Syracuse University to study Information Management Technology.

“I've always been fascinated by technology,” Teo said. “But as I progressed, I found myself more drawn to thinking about food, which started to focus on my personal health.”

Teo describes a wellness journey that sparked a deeper exploration of food-related issues, including access, sustainability, and nutrition. What started as a personal endeavor — creating recipes, delving into plant-based foods, and fostering an online community — quickly became an important part of his life. His growing interest in food and diets also helped Teo reconnect with his culture.

“Even though I grew up on the reservation, I often felt like I was moving between two worlds,” Teo said. “I had an internal battle of 'I'm Indigenous, but I'm not Indigenous enough,' and I often struggled with trying to figure out where I fit in. By doing this work, I was able to say, 'Okay, I'm Indigenous This is the work I do to support my people.

Teo drew on his background in technology to look at food-related issues differently.

“I have always been interested in systems thinking and finding workable solutions,” Teo said. “I began studying food-related issues through a systems approach. This helped me understand my place in my community, the impact and importance of our food system, while finding the value I could add and the skills I could bring.

Three Sisters Park: A Model for Community Participation

Despite his background in information technology, Teo returned to Syracuse University to pursue a master's degree in food studies. In May 2020, as part of his graduate program, he began developing the idea of ​​a practical programming that would replace the traditional thesis or dissertation. Part of this project centered on a garden that used native seeds grown in the traditional Haudenosaunee hills – corn, beans and squash; Within this seed-to-seed knowledge framework, the first Three Sisters Sovereignty Garden was born.

“These gardens are so much more than just growing and harvesting traditional crops. “These spaces represent a real acknowledgment of the land between tribal communities and academic institutions,” Teo said. “It is a tangible relationship that requires reciprocity on both sides to maintain, and shows resident-led programs, experiences and stories.” Indigenous Ongoing Commitments to Creating Space for Indigenous Youth in Higher Education.”

Teo used existing garden space on campus, along with seeds from the Onondaga Nation Farm — a working farm just south of Syracuse, which has a large collection of heritage seeds, including 4,000-year-old corn kernels.

Although the Three Sisters Garden was only part of his graduate project, it generated significant interest, including an article in The New York Times. The following year, Teo was approached by student-led groups from Binghamton University and Colgate University interested in starting similar projects on their campuses.

“I started hearing from other students who had seen the Three Sisters Garden and were interested in creating similar spaces on their campus,” Teo said. “I was able to provide a roadmap there, partly because I'm Indigenous and I can make those connections with the community.”

Binghamton University's Three Sisters Garden has received tremendous interest and support from the campus community, and Tyo is very proud to help make this project a reality. Additionally, he formed great relationships with members of the university, which ultimately led to his current position in the Department of Diversity Equity and Inclusion.

“Ethan has been working with faculty, students and staff at the university for nearly three years on various projects, from founding the Three Sisters Garden to the Haudenosaunee Festival to various research projects,” said Bre-Anna Langley, assistant professor of anthropology. . “More broadly, this collaborative work has enriched the University’s teaching, programming, and research and strengthened relationships with Haudenosaunee community partners throughout New York State.”

The Three Sisters Garden continues to serve as a model for building bridges between communities and across time, bringing history into the present. Tyo hopes to continue working on these types of cultural facilities with colleges, K-12 schools, and museums.

“These spaces hold knowledge, but they also have a lot of power in how that knowledge is shared and presented,” Teo said. “The idea is to discover new and innovative ways to engage the public in learning about Indigenous knowledge beyond dioramas, beyond artefacts and archives, and to see that we are living, breathing people.”

Exchange indigenous culture and knowledge

In September 2023, the Binghamton campus hosted the Haudenosaunee Festival, a two-day program in collaboration with the Vestal Museum featuring Indigenous speakers, food, music, dance, art, storytelling and more. It also celebrated the second year's harvest of the Three Sisters Garden at the university.

“The festival has allowed us to take it out of the park by bringing people with different interests together, showing how indigenous knowledge and traditional knowledge can be enjoyed today and changing the mindset of what that knowledge looks like,” Teo said. “One of the biggest things that bothers me is the widespread assumption that Learning about Indigenous people is always in the past.”