Centuries ago, Southwest tribal nations tended vast orchards of peach trees. Thousands of peaches grew along the part of the Rio Grande river system, stretching into Hopi Tribe territory and Grand Canyon communities.
The peaches are special. They are nutritious and have historically figured heavily into ceremonial practices.
"The Hopi nation begins their spring dances when the peaches start blooming. Even for Navajo, there's sacred prayers given to the peaches during certain times of the year," says Reagan Wytsalucy, a member of the Navajo Nation and assistant professor of agriculture at Utah State University.
Though she heard peach stories from her father, Wytsalucy never saw a tree growing up.
Through an agricultural project in college, she realized the trees were in trouble. "The trees have been dying off in large numbers, and the original caretakers have been passing away," says Wytsalucy.
Wytsalucy is now leading a project to recover this heirloom crop. In the last decade, her team has successfully germinated 300 new peach trees, each propagated by individual seeds. She's also connected with families across the Southwest, who have seeds or information to share about how to care for the trees.
"I just feel blessed to be doing this project. I feel very confident to say that this is my calling," says Wytsalucy.
Preliminary studies have shown that Southwest peaches may be more drought resistant and have a higher pest tolerance than mass-produced peaches. That could be critical to peach production in the future.
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This episode was produced by Jessica Yung. It was edited by Rebecca Ramirez. Tyler Jones checked the facts. Gilly Moon was the audio engineer.
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