Kanenon We - Original Seeds

SYNOPSIS

KANENON:WE – ORIGINAL SEEDS follows three Haudenosaunee women as they reclaim their sacred roles as seed keepers, working to revive ancestral seed traditions on the brink of extinction. Rooted in generations of Indigenous knowledge, their work sits at the intersection of culture, survival, and resistance.

Before European contact, Indigenous communities cultivated a rich diversity of foods, with women serving as the primary caretakers of seeds and guardians of biodiversity and sustenance. But centuries of colonial violence – including boarding schools, land dispossession, forced relocation, imposed religion, and even food warfare – disrupted these relationships, severing communities from their traditional food systems.

Now, as industrial agriculture and agrochemical corporations control the majority of the global seed supply, the stakes have never been higher. Against this backdrop, these women are not only recovering rare and endangered heirloom seeds; they are also restoring ceremony, knowledge, and sovereignty.

Through intimate, on-the-ground storytelling, KANENON:WE – ORGINAL SEEDS reveals a growing movement led by Native women who are replanting more than seeds – they are regenerating culture, reclaiming identity, and reimagining a future grounded in resilience, reciprocity, and Indigenous knowledge systems.