Seeds in the Archive: Beyond Doomsday, Biopirates, and Vampires

Juliet Saxton, University of Arizona

Seeds have been interwoven with human history and practices for thousands of years, which has led to a level of mutuality as humans and seeds co-evolved alongside each other. This relationship has entered a new period where humans have created systems where harm outweighed benefit over the biodiversity of seeds, which has led to responsive human systems to protect and store seeds. These systems are typically labeled seed banks, though this paper explores how concepts like seed “libraries” or “archives” could better address equitable and accessible seed proliferation. Native seeds specifically have been protected in Indigenous practice and culture, whose practices have also declined under the same systems that afflict the seed: colonialism and capitalism. Seed archives and libraries can be an aspect of combating institutional seed practice, both from transnational seed corporations and agribusiness that treat seed as a controllable “raw material” and stagnant seed banks that do not account for seeds’ needs to adapt and be in continual use. By understanding Indigenous groups as the community base for native seeds, this paper explores how these seed libraries and archives can successfully protect seed, share seed, and create connections between different and new communities on the land. This is shown through examining Indigenous history and storytelling and recent histories of seeds archives in Southern Arizona.

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 Presented in Session 13. Environment, Justice, and Land