Yakama Nation seeks food sovereignty in new farming venture with weighty history

It’s a race against winter to load heavy pallets of squash on the 1,500-acre Inaba farm.

Four generations of his family has farmed this land, but now Lon Inaba and his family are selling it – not to just anyone. They’re selling it back to the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation.



“The tribal people have been really good to my family and the Japanese community for the last 75 to 80 years when they started coming,” Inaba says. “And this is a way for us to return the favor.”

Undesirable alien