YAKANAL

About

The mission of YAKANAL is “To strengthen cultural identity and leadership capacities in Indigenous youth, preparing them to engage with other cultures while preserving their own.” Since 2009, YAKANAL has offered participants authentic connections with their cultural roots through explicit comparisons and links with other Indigenous cultures. Our focused efforts in New Mexico are youth-driven and elder-informed initiatives on food sovereignty, beekeeping, language revitalization, cultural astronomy, medicinal plant cultivation, and strengthening traditional knowledge. Youth mentoring and time with elders deepen the understanding of our culture that is grounded in the land, and a science of place, reigniting cultural preservation. Program participants are primarily youth and elders from Pueblos of New Mexico, particularly Laguna, Acoma, Zuni, Jemez, Santo Domingo, and Cochiti, with timely participation of Zapotec partners from Oaxaca, Mexico, Maya partners from the Yucatan, Mexico, and Maya partners from Guatemala. YAKANAL joins the words for “corn” in the Western Keres and Yucatec Mayan languages, honoring a mutual and sacred relationship with our ancestral food.

Years Supported: 2025
Grant Type: Protection of Water, Preservation of Languages, Sustainable Agriculture
Locations: Pueblo of Jemez, Pueblo of Acoma, Zuni, Pueblo of Laguna, Pueblo of Santo Domingo, Pueblo of Cochiti