top of page
Our Story

- SOPI & Sacred Eagle-

SOPI= Seeds of Preservation Independence

 

Seed saving is nothing new. It has be conducted for centuries, for thousands of years. Our ancestors did it repeatedly and the new evils of genetic modification would honestly be nothing with the heirloom and landrace varieties they stemmed from, they originated from. In many parts of the world, seed saving has become frowned upon and even illegal. Our rights as a human species is to save seeds, as we have for millennia. Our heritage are seeds and we are all connected through them. They identify cultures and civilizations across the globe and have been at their centers for centuries. We were built as an Aquarian species and have drifted away from its real meaning. We have been given all the gifts of seed we could ever need.

​

   Before The Sixth Annual National Heirloom Expo (World’s Pure Food Fair) held in Santa Rosa, California in September of 2016, I felt a need to finally organize the seed library I had been working on for a couple years. At that point with   , it was time to further educate the world and allow access to these rare and beautiful seeds. I rallied up a team of the best founded SOPI, Seeds of Preservation Independence as a seed library organization to collect, preserve, and distribute heirloom and landrace seeds that were being lost.The stories and histories are a favorite item for me  and I always requests that we obtain whatever information we can on a variety so it is not lost. The stories and the people associated with the seeds are just as valuable as the seed and also must be maintained and kept going, correctly at that.

​

​

Earlier this year I had desired to shift SOPI into a seed business to further aid the seeds in getting out there. After some pondering and help from our Vice President Pam Kimsey, we settled upon Sacred Eagle Seedhouse. The Seedhouse will sell our seeds and products as we have them come available and we take care of all necessary legal matters in the process. Our name originates from the sacred value seeds have held across the world, and eagle comes from the corn variety at the right-Waterloo White Eagle. This dent corn was gifted to me in March of 2016 by a Cherokee elder who had obtained it from another 90 year old Cherokee elder who did not want it to be lost. The way of the Cherokee, as is with many other tribes, is gifting seeds and she entrusted me with protecting this beautiful corn that is excellent for cornmeal. It, alongside the other sacred eagle corns we have in the seedbank, always fascinate me and their beauty is absolutely astounding. I am forever intrigued by the patterns and colors associated with the eagle eye patterns that are borne upon the white kernels or solid blue-purple kernels.

 

A deeper and more historical connection has been created with a special document by SOPI-the Declaration of Seedependence. Written by myself as well as Birke Baehr, it is a document based upon one that is very important and that set the example world wide for freedom- the Declaration of Independence. A different but unrelated document to what Dr. Vandana Shiva developed. A written work that outlines and details the list of "abuses" against heirloom and landrace seeds. A document much like the very Declaration authored by Thomas Jefferson that have many countries the influence to fight for freedom. The seeds are no different. They are living organisms too. Our culture and nation was founded on agriculture and the seeds have brought us very far. Hybrids would be no where without the original stock races and heirlooms. Our culture and history are seeds. They, when held and grown, take us back to the early days, to our ancestors. The deeper connections and richness they carry in diversity and history help us reconnect. The abuses against them must be abolished and the seeds as well as their people must have freedom. The seeds were never ruled or unjustly used, genetically modified, or controlled by large corporations. Saving and sharing was never restricted or controlled. Why should it be now?

​

-Stephen Smith, Sacred Eagle Seedhouse/SOPI President and Founder

Stephen Smith, Founder/President/Curator

Pam Kimsey, SOPI Vice President and Sacred Eagle's General Manager

bottom of page