Gu’wah’tze (Greetings)

My name is Geoff Kie and I am excited to take the next step in my career. With all the experiences that I’ve had, I want to bring those to the Pueblo of Laguna.

Call to Action: Complete Payments for New Shed & Initial Funds for Kie’s Pies.

There are so many possibilities with the new shed space that was recently installed on my family’s land. My goals are based on Indigenous Food Sovereignty and Indigenous Media, this will serve as the primary kitchen space for my new pizza venture that serves the reservation and surrounding communities, a production studio for various productions. This space creates a new freedom where I can focus on digital stories, create new recipes, and a safe space for cultural learning.

Background: I spent 10 years in Flagstaff, AZ where I received my Bachelor's and Master’s degrees, I also spent years in the kitchen of Beaver Street Brewery where I learned most of my culinary skills. I met my wife in an Indigenous Environmental Justice class and now we live in New Mexico where we assist Farmers, Non-Profits, and Artists with our skills.

In 2021 I completed the Change Labs Business Incubator to create my business Geoff Kie Productions. Since then, I have created digital stories for different communities, organizations, and artists. Because of my work in Food Sovereignty, I applied to the James Beard Foundation Legacy Network. Learning from some of the best culinary minds in the industry has been an eye-opening experience. It affirms that my contributions are valued and necessary for progressing Indigenous Culinary spaces.

I have also been accepted consecutively for 3-years to the Los Angeles Skins Fest, an Indigenous-based film festival. This new space would allow me to create new films and focus on the quality of the entire production.

Barriers: During the COVID-19 lockdowns in Laguna Pueblo, toxic family members called the police to forcibly remove my wife and dogs from the residence we were occupying. So we were forced to start over with our feelings of safety, building new a chicken coop, digging new gardens, and reclaiming our strength.

Tribal officials also make it difficult to start any project because they do not support community projects. Multiple officials have been caught in scandal after scandal. This demonstrates that not only tribal officials in Laguna do not have the capacity for leadership but they actively do not focus on the issues of the people. Right now the main source of food comes from outside the community, operated by Laguna Development Corporation which has put profit over people numerous times. The shed space will house our seed bank and permaculture-type gardens will be the main source of ingredients when the project is in full motion.

Solution: The brand-new shed space will serve in many capacities, food accessibility is one of the biggest factors in our community. Mutual aid in the form of food distribution is a major goal that would be integral to community capacity building. This is also a step forward in diversifying our economies.

A ghost kitchen serves as a place to prepare food in sanitary conditions to serve the Pueblo of Laguna as best we can. This allows us to contribute to the economy, add to the culinary culture of the area, and prepare healthy foods.

My wife and I have learned from the Traditional Native American Farmers Associations, Flowering Tree Permaculture Institute, Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance, and the Hopi Tutskwa Permaculture Institute to bring all of these methods to our communities. These mentors have shown me a way that we can live in our Indigenous Methodologies in the 21st century. This shed space will also serve as a learning center to disseminate all of the knowledge we can with gardens, earthwork, and seed saving.

By contributing to this cause you are actively fighting against these systems of colonization that have been placed upon our communities to exterminate us. This provides a place to build new economies.

Thank you all, I just wish to continue making digital stories for our communities as a way to control our narratives.