Ever since Emigdio Ballon was a child, he has had a love for all things that grow.

A member of the Quechua Inca tribe from Bolivia, Ballon has compiled lessons learned from his healer grandfather and forged them with his college education to transform Tesuque Pueblo's agricultural resources department.

Hired as the department director in April, Ballon has already introduced new plants and medicinal herbs into the area along with

750 fruit trees and produce fields, and he has conducted workshops to educate the community.

The pueblo has formed a partnership with the Santa Fe Indian School by bringing classes out to learn from Ballon and it's creating internships for students, Ballon said.

"A thousand years ago Indian people weren't dependent on anything," Ballon said. "Now we're dependent on everything. I'm not saying we were perfect, but our dependency is based on the amount of education we receive. There is no higher education to teach our people than our traditional ways ... like the growing of our own food."

Ballon came to America in 1984. He obtained his master's and doctoral degrees at Colorado State University. While at CSU, he was a research assistant researching crops and diverse growing methods.

As director of the pueblo's agricultural resources department, he wants to help make the pueblo self-sufficient and sustainable, he said.

By sustainable he means pueblo members can grow organic and healthy food in their own backyards and not have to spend 30 minutes driving to the nearest grocery store, he said.

The high rates of disease among Indian people result from the food they eat, Ballon said. That food is laced with chemicals that have adverse health effects, he said. Some of the food is genetically engineered, so the pueblo doesn't know what effects it will have on children or elders. Ballon's solution is to grow all natural foods in hopes of improving the health of tribal members, he said.

The governor has asked tribal members who grow their own food not to buy seeds from Wal-Mart because those seeds have been genetically engineered, Ballon said.

A lot of Ballon's farming involves prayer, and small altars have been placed at each field where he makes an offering to the earth.

"(Outsiders) can't look at our culture with the logic of science," Ballon said. "The reason why we use prayer is that we ask the heavens to guide us. That can't be scientifically proven."

As evidence of what happens when pueblo members invest positive energy and care during planting, Ballon noted that a cornfield adjacent to the pueblo recently was destroyed by deer and elk while Pueblo cornfields were untouched. Ballon is teaming up with his friend Tomas Enos, an herbalist, to make medicines from tribally grown herbs. The two are making all-natural medicine for tribal members and anyone else who would like to try something new, Ballon said.

Their organic honey syrup -- made from honey, osha root, licorice root and cinnamon root -- instructs the person to eat a small portion to soothe sore throats and stop coughing. Lip balm made from olive oil, wormwood, juniper berries, cayenne and beeswax is another product they've made.

"Where I come from, the Indians don't care how much money they make but how much they can do for their community," Ballon said. "For example, if a natural disaster were to happen, the pueblo would be taken care of. We have enough elements to make our food healthy and the pueblo sustainable for the future."

For more information, call (505) 955-7723.

Upcoming workshops

What: Pastured poultry,

from backyard to production

Where: Tesuque Pueblo Farms

When: 2-5 p.m. Sept. 16

Cost: $20

Registration: 955-7723

u u u

What: Agriculture Sovereignty Conference

When: Oct. 6 - 7

Where: Tesuque Pueblo Intergenerational Center

Registration: 983-2667

u u u

What: Virmiculture, biological soil building

Where: Tesuque Pueblo Agricultural Resources Center

When: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday

Cost: $55

Registration: 955-7723

Contact Shannon Shaw

at 995-3837 or sshaw@sfnewmexican.com.

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