EUCHEE BUTTERFLY FARM
Nestled between the sandy shores of the Arkansas River and the wild backwoods of Concharty Mountain, lies the Euchee Butterfly Farm. This land was originally deeded to Neosho Parthena Brown, a 16-year woman of Euchee and Creek descent, by the United States Government in 1899 as a part of the dissolution of Indian Territory, now called Oklahoma, where her people had made their home since forced relocation during the 1830s from their traditional homelands in Alabama and Georgia. Today, under the direction of Neosho’s great-granddaughter, this land is being used to create economic self-sufficiency for Muscogee (Creek) citizens and other Native people through butterfly farming.
The butterflies of the Euchee Butterfly Farm are raised on site by tribal members, using ecologically sustainable methods, and sold to butterfly exhibits throughout North America and Europe. Additionally, the Euchee Butterfly Farm, is home to the Natives Raising Natives Project which provides training and start-up materials to tribal members in rural areas so that they can raise butterflies on their own land.
The Euchee Butterfly Farm is a founding member of Tribal Environmental Action for Monarchs, a unique coalition of tribes working together to reduce the catastrophic population loss of the monarch butterfly by replanting tribal lands with the native milkweeds and wildflowers that have been extirpated from their natural ecosystems by encroaching development and modern agricultural methods. Our farm provides ongoing support to all aspects of the project, and also maintains a seed bank of locally sourced native milkweeds and wildflowers as a resource for tribal habitat restoration.
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You can help us with these efforts through our sister organization, The Learning Center at the Euchee Butterfly Farm, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization devoted to restoring critical butterfly habitat, educating youth about the importance of butterfly conservation, and training tribal members in butterfly farming to provide sustainable economic development in rural Oklahoma. Please click here to learn more.
