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THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 2022
Bradley W. Parks/Oregon Public Broadcasting
Left, stakes mark where Upingaksraq Spring Alaska Schreiner has planted corn, beans and squash in a dryland plot. Right, Harrison Hill, at left, and Kobe Stites plant beans in rows in one of
Sakari Farms’ greenhouses.
Indigenous farmer seeks drought
solutions in central Oregon
By BRADLEY W. PARKS
Oregon Public Broadcasting
The pond is full again at Upingaks-
raq Spring Alaska Schreiner’s high
desert farm. It’s a welcome sight for
Schreiner, who owns Sakari Farms
north of Bend.
Last summer, as drought punished
central Oregon, Schreiner’s irrigation
district stopped delivering water. She
watched as the pond gradually disap-
peared, leaving a mud puddle behind.
“I cried last year when I walked
through the dry canal,” Schreiner said.
“I was pissed. I was like, ‘There’s
nothing we can do.’”
Schreiner has rights to a little over
2 acre-feet of water, which makes its
way to the farm from the Deschutes
River through a series of pipes and
canals.
She only got a fraction of that
amount last year.
This year is looking worse.
Gov. Kate Brown has already
declared drought emergencies in 16
Oregon counties, including Deschutes.
That’s the most ever for this time of
year, and Oregon farmers like Sch-
reiner are on edge.
“I’m not sure how to cope with
going in this year knowing that there’s
less water or no water,” Schreiner
said.
Schreiner is Inupiaq, a member of
the Valdez Native Tribe of Alaska and
Chugach Alaska Native Corporation.
Her tribal name is Upingaksraq, which
means “the time when the ice breaks.”
She opened Sakari Botanicals in 2012
and Sakari Farms in 2018 to bolster
and restore access to traditional foods
for Indigenous people locally in cen-
tral Oregon and across the country.
Native people will send seeds to
Sakari, which means “sweet.” The
farm will grow the plants, collect the
new seeds and send them back, keep-
ing Indigenous plant varieties going
strong. Sakari also hosts farm educa-
tion, tribal cooking classes and tribal
community events.
Water has sustained that vision to
this point, but now Schreiner knows
that water is no longer a guarantee.
“All I can do is implement it practi-
cally,” she said.
She’s channeling the frustration
she felt last year into solutions.
On a hill behind the farmhouse are
four old chain-link fence panels sur-
rounding a bare patch of dirt. Beneath
the surface is an elaborate pattern of
squash seeds, beans and corn — the
three sisters.
Schreiner won’t water the plot, but
said she’s hoping seedlings will soon
emerge from the dirt. She said the
moment will surely bring her to tears.
“It’s literally your ancestors telling
you thank you for trying this,” Sch-
reiner said.
The hilltop plot represents one of
the best hopes for Sakari’s future.
Indigenous people, particularly the
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Bradley W. Parks/Oregon Public Broadcasting
Left, Hopi red amaranth grows in starter trays in a greenhouse at Sakari Farms in Tumalo. Right, Sakari Farms owner and Indigenous agriculturalist
Upingaksraq Spring Alaska Schreiner. Schreiner is growing traditional crops during central Oregon’s historic drought.
‘I’M STILL PROMOTING ALL THE FARMERS TO GROW
AS MUCH FOOD AS THEY CAN AND EXTEND THE
SEASONS. BUT IT’S NOT NATURAL, SO THAT’S WHERE
WE’RE GOING TO BE AHEAD OF THE GAME.’
Upingaksraq Spring Alaska Schreiner | Sakari Farms owner and Indigenous agriculturalist
Hopi, have practiced dryland farm-
ing for thousands of years in semi-
arid regions, relying solely on rain and
snowmelt to grow crops.
“It’s imperative that we look for
guidance from Indigenous people on
fi re management, climate change,
water usage, how we grow our crops,
when, why,” Schreiner said. “No one
asks us how to do things. They just
kinda push us in the corner. And that’ll
bite them, I think.”
Schreiner is also installing more
drip irrigation at Sakari and securing
grant money to implement new tech-
nologies like weather stations and
water sensors on-farm to improve
effi ciency.
She said she’s learned lessons on
what not to do by watching other
farmers fail. For example, Schreiner
won’t truck in water from elsewhere
if her pond goes dry again this year.
“I’m still promoting all the farmers
to grow as much food as they can and
extend the seasons,” Schreiner said.
“But it’s not natural, so that’s where
we’re going to be ahead of the game.”
Sakari is almost fully planted and
will only plant once this year. Farm
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workers Harrison Hill and Kobe Stites
were busy putting bean starts in the
ground on a hot Wednesday in late
May.
“The water that we did have to
start out the season isn’t always going
to be here,” Hill said. “We’re going
to have to learn how to use it most
eff ectively.”
Schreiner said if the water’s shut
off again, she’ll cut off the farm plot-
by-plot and seek fi nancial relief for
failed crops.
Still, the plants’ resilience and that
of the people who have grown those
plants since time immemorial give
Schreiner confi dence — even in the
face of Oregon’s drier future.