Juneberries were a significant part of the diet and cultural traditions of the mandan (nueta), hidatsa, and arikara (sahnish) nations

The Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College (NHSC) received a $344,528 Project Grant awarded September 15, 2025, under the 1994 Institutions Research Grants Program (CFDA 10.227), administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The three-year project, titled "Integrating Genetics into Juneberry Research for Education (JURE), Optimum Production, and Tribal Food Sovereignty," will be conducted in New Town, North Dakota, and is scheduled for completion by September 14, 2028.

The project delivers applied agricultural research and educational services focused on juneberry cultivation and production optimization, addressing the restoration of this culturally significant traditional food crop for the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nations. NHSC will leverage existing juneberry plantings established over the past 15 years to conduct genetic and horticultural research on open-pollinated seed sources, native plantings, and cultivated orchards. Research outputs will include production guides, management recommendations for water, pruning, and fertilization in mature orchards, and educational curriculum integrating genetics and Western scientific methodologies with Traditional Ecological Knowledge. The project, initiated at the request of tribal elders, supports tribal food sovereignty and provides Native American students with hands-on research and educational opportunities in horticultural genetics and agricultural sciences.

However, most native stands were lost upon the damming of the missouri river in north dakota. While juneberries have been used for generations, they have only recently become a specialty crop, and there is limited information on maximizing fruit production. Recent evaluations indicate cultivars with high yield as determined by weight (ardayfio & hatterman-valenti, 2015). Production guides and extension bulletins provide general guidelines on irrigation and fertilizer; however, more specific information is needed for managing water, pruning, and fertilizer in mature orchards and national resources conservation services (nrcs) plantings, from open pollinated seed sources, for yield in the northern plains (aaard, 2013; barney ET AL., 2009; kaiser & ernst, 2017; laughlin ET AL., 1996; ST-pierre, 2005) ; ST. Pierre, 1999). This juneberry research project will leverage plantings that the nueta hidatsa sahnish college (nhsc, previously known as fort berthold community college until 2016) established in last 15 years (fort berthold juneberry project). The juneberry project was initiated and continues at the request of tribal elders, with ongoing guidance and support from the tribal communities on fort berthold indian reservation in north central north dakota. Literature reviews and interviews with elders, diabetes program personnel, and various federal, state, tribal natural resource personnel support the need for this new research and education project titled integrating genetics into juneberry research for education (jure), optimum production, and tribal food sovereignty, hereafter called jure, encompassing native students' exposure to cutthe area of expertise being developed in this project is a genetic integrated horticulture production research, using the culturally relevant juneberry in native, nrcs plantings, and cultivated orchards. The juneberry fruit is a small pome, and IT is borne in clusters of six to 12 pomes, ripening to purple, red or almost black color. Juneberry is a highly nutritious fruit crop with an excellent source of iron, potassium, magnesium and phosphorus, a higher protein, calcium, and fiber content than blueberry, and a vitamin and phenolic content similar to blueberry (ochterski, 2010). In contrast to blueberry the juneberry is well-adapted to the northern central plains (laughlin ET AL., 1996; ST-pierre, 1999; ST-pierre, 2005) . The major jure goals are development first extensive juneberry genetic resource for management practices for cultivar orchards and ncrs plantings for north dakota conditions and train students in genetics researching edge genetic research, curriculum development, and research experiences for undergraduates. The fort berthold juneberry project has beenreservation. The orchards and wild stands provide hundreds of gallons of juneberries which are distributed to, elders and community members. Members have also successfully marketed juneberries and other juneberry products, unfortunately, there are some years when the fruit yield is very low or non-existent. The purpose of this new research is to manipulate several cultural practices (irrigation, pruning, and fertilizer) in orchards and to use taxonomy and genetics to distinguish cultivars and explore the productivity of ncrs derived seedling plantings and native stands to provide information to enhance management strategies in the three different growing systems. Thissuccessful project will support promoting the RE-establishment of the juneberry on the fort berthold reservation. In addition, cultural notations and educational practices surrounding this traditional food source have also been reestablished in the fort berthold indian reservation