Remembering the past to inspire the future.
Highlights
Raised over 2 Million in funding since 2017
Planted over 6000 native plants
Served over 7000 community members
Restored 32 acres of native habitat
Donated more than 2000 Organic Farm Boxes
Given away over 2000 native trees
Created 17 tribal jobs & 4 paid apprenticeships
Held 35 community events
Our mission is to foster sustainable development, preserve cultural heritage, and promote self-determination among our indigenous communities in Southern California.
Paradise Valley Farm
In 2021, Indigenous Regeneration received a COVID Food Relief Grant, enabling us to cultivate and distribute food to elders and community members facing hardship within The San Pasqual Tribe. To date, we have distributed over 2000 food boxes to support our San Pasqual community and facilitated 4 tribal paid apprenticeships.
Building on this momentum, our ongoing collaboration with The San Diego Foundation in 2023 has empowered us to enhance our tribal land relationship center. This expansion includes additional workshops and farm apprenticeship opportunities. Through a strategic partnership with the Indian Health Council, the produce cultivated by our interns will contribute to a groundbreaking free plant prescription program at the Rincon Health Clinic in Pauma Valley in 2024. This initiative represents a significant step towards promoting community well-being and sustainable practices.
Bird Song Documentation
The Birds Song Documentation Project is a digital platform to explore the use of Kumeyaay Bird Songs in substance use disorder programs to increase treatment engagement and retention in San Diego County. This project, pioneered by The Yumans and Indigenous Regeneration, supports the work of Bird Singer Chris Alvarado, San Pasqual, Waipuk Clan, and offers free access to Kumeyaay Bird Songs, their phonetic breakdown and the story behind the song.
We are thrilled to share that in 2023/24 The Sierra Center for Health's generous funding has facilitated the implementation of this groundbreaking project. Our new collaborative partners at the Indian Health Council, specifically in their Behavioral Health Department and Substance Abuse Disorder Programs, are actively exploring the profound connection between cultural elements and their role in aiding substance use disorder treatment through Chris’s site.
Kumeyaay Ethnobotany Board Game
The Kumeyaay Ethnobotany Board Game is a 4 year project with IRG founder Lacey Cannon, documenting the knowledge of “luhunt” elder, Richard Bugbee. We are thrilled to introduce the innovative Kumeyaay Ethnobotany Board Game, a tool that integrates education, community engagement, and cultural respect to advance Indigenous climate resilience, environmental health, and adaptation efforts.
This immersive board game explores the richness of the Kumeyaay indigenous culture, traditional plant knowledge, and a deeply rooted understanding of the Kumeyaay bioregion. The game serves as a holistic educational medium, which will introduce both tribal and non-tribal communities in San Diego to the myriad of indigenous plant species, their uses, and importance to healthy ecosystem functioning.
By fostering an understanding of bioregional intricacies, the Kumeyaay Ethnobotany Board Game enables players to grasp the essence of sustainable coexistence with nature. It will, in turn, equip them to understand the interplay between various plant species, and the pivotal role they play in climate resilience and environmental health. The game will thereby contribute to the initiation and perpetuation of proactive conservation and adaptation strategies within the community.
In addition to its ecological educational value, the game serves a dual purpose of cultural understanding and respect. It intertwines language revitalization within its gameplay, embedding key Kumeyaay words and phrases that instill a sense of appreciation for the indigenous culture. This not only helps in preserving the richness of the Kumeyaay language but also promotes cross-cultural understanding, empathy, and respect among the wider San Diego community.
We look forward to harnessing the power of this innovative educational tool to foster community unity, ignite bioregional learning, and bolster the collective pursuit of environmental health and climate resilience. Game to be released January 2024
