Revitalizing Native Foodways

Source: Kaylena Bray, Melissa K Nelson

Year: 2015

“At a time when food has become better known as a commodity rather than a life source, it is more pressing than ever to remember that food, in its deepest, truest essence, is a gift. It’s a gift that connects us to the land, plants, animals, and waters, that nourishes us, feeds our minds and our bodies, and guides us in our original roles as human members of our sacred ecosystems. As Indigenous peoples, we have a sacred responsibility to take care of our foods and of all the elements of life – soil, water, air, seeds, fire, prayers – that create it.”

Indigenous Food Systems Network Website

Source: Indigenous Food Systems Network

Year: n.d.

“The Indigenous Food Systems Network Website was developed by the WGIFS and is designed to allow individuals and groups involved with Indigenous food related action, research, and policy reform to network and share relevant resources and information.”

Cooking Wild Game for an Event? Resource folder

Source: Understanding Our Food Systems Project (Thunder Bay District Health Unit and the Indigenous Food Circle)

Year: 2020

The Understanding Our Food Systems Project from the Thunder Bay District Health Unit and the Indigenous Food Circle share a series of resources, including info sheets, guidelines, application forms, and other materials for serving wild game at events.

Indigenous Food Sovereignty and COVID-19

Source: Angela D’Elia Decembrini

Year: 2020

“For many Indigenous Peoples, the importance of food goes beyond its nutritional value. Maintaining access to traditional food sources is inextricably linked to Indigenous Peoples’ relationships with the land and environment, the exercise of their Aboriginal title, rights and Treaty rights and the continuity of their cultures and traditions. In recent months, concerns regarding food security have been heightened as COVID-19 related restrictions have placed increased pressure on food supply chains. For Indigenous communities across Canada, however, the pandemic has only exacerbated concerns about their already fragile food systems.”

Chuck and The First Peoples’ Kitchen

Source: Aboriginal Peoples Television Network

Year: n.d.

“Members of Indigenous communities across Canada dish out their knowledge with professional chef Chuck Hughes. Sharing integral parts of their Indigenous culture and culinary heritage through the sharing of family and ancestral recipes. From lobster fishing in Chaleur Bay, moose hunting in Newfoundland, to ptarmigan hunting in Nunavut, the 25-year veteran chef travels through forests, rivers and snow-covered landscapes as he prepares world class meals using the resources the land provides. Guided by his mentors, Chuck becomes a privileged witness of the respect Indigenous Peoples have towards nature.”

Moosemeat & Marmalade

Source: Aboriginal Peoples Television Network

Year: n.d.

“Moosemeat & Marmalade brings together Bush Cook, Art Napoleon, and classically trained British Chef, Dan Hayes to explore and compare Indigenous and European culture and cuisine. Through his Cree heritage, and rough around the edges persona, Art is a man among men when it comes to hunting and surviving in the Northern wilds. From across the pond, Dan draws on years of history and tradition to create modern food that looks as good as it tastes. Every week one of these chefs choose an ingredient and lead the journey. They couldn’t be more different or more set in their ways but these two chefs come together to create and explore culture, culinary traditions, worldviews and, of course, really good food.”

Exploring Indigenous kitchens of North America with Sean Sherman

Source: The Splendid Table with the Sioux Chef

Year: 2017

“Chef Sean Sherman - founder of the company The Sioux Chef - has made a name for himself in the Upper Midwest by sourcing and cooking with ingredients originally used by Native American groups across the region. The result is an eye-opening and healthy take on modern cuisine. However, his interests are not limited to the native peoples of the Midwest. For his new book, The Sioux Chef's Indigenous Kitchen, Sherman and co-author Beth Dooley pulled from his travels to and experiences cooking with native cultures all over North America. Sherman talked with Francis Lam, and shared with him some unique food and ingredients. You can make Sherman's recipes for Maple-Juniper Roast Pheasant and Cedar Tea.”

Decolonizing diets through Indigenous-focused food guides

Source: University of Winnipeg

Year: 2020

“Taylor Wilson’s paper, Decolonizing Diets through Indigenous-focused food Guides, has recently been published in the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development. Her research comes in response to the latest Canadian Food Guide, which was launched in January 2019 with a promise to be inclusive of multicultural diets and diverse perspec­tives on food, including the food systems of Indigenous communities. Wilson’s paper is the result of a project she developed with Dr. Shailesh Shukla during her Master’s in Development Practice: Indigenous Development. Their research examines the scope and limitations of the most recent Canadian food guide and the opportu­nity to decolonize it.”

COVID-19 Did Not Cause Food Insecurity In Indigenous Communities But It Will Make It Worse

Source: Yellowhead Institute

Year: 2020

“It has been just over one month since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, calling for urgent and aggressive action to combat the disease and the virus that causes it. Public health responses have focused on flattening the curve to reduce the burden on healthcare systems and reducing transmission rates. Calls for people to self-isolate and practice social/physical distancing have operated alongside demands that we as a society work collectively to protect those who are most vulnerable. These are critically important actions to take.”

How Families Eat In The Arctic

Source: National Public Radio (NPR)

Year: 2019

“In the most northerly Canadian territory of Nunavut, grocery shopping is expensive. Like, really expensive. So much so that residents regularly post in a Facebook group called Feeding My Family to share photos of high prices at their local stores. A package of vanilla creme cookies: $18.29. A bunch of grapes: $28.58. A container of baby formula: $26.99. Leesee Papatsie, founder of the Facebook group, says she spends at least $500 a week on food for her family of five — and that's just for basics in the capital of Iqaluit, a city of some 7,000 residents. Because it costs a lot to fly goods into communities in remote regions of the Arctic Archipelago, there's not much that can be done to drastically reduce prices, she explains. But that's why — in a territory where about 84% of the population identifies as Inuit — "country food" is still the preferred source of sustenance.”

Corn Tastes Better on the Honor System

Source: Robin Wall Kimmerer

Year: n.d.

“I remember. How their songs drew us up through the warming earth just for the joy of hearing them. How we stretched in the sun and turned air into sugar, my sisters and I, leaves and roots entwined. It’s lonely without them. Grandfather Teosinte has been gone for so long; where is that gentle guidance when we need it most? And our good people—with toes and hoes in the soil, fulfilling the agreement made so long ago? What happened to the songs we knew? I remember how they celebrated my beautiful children with feasting and honor and passed them hand to hand in thanksgiving. I remember when they knew my name. The people have forgotten, but the seed remembers.”

Reclaiming Indigenous Food Relationships: Improving Health with Culture

Source: American Indian Cancer Foundation

Year: n.d.

A slide deck from the American Indian Cancer Foundation to bring attention to American Indian cancer burdens and solutions, covering Indigenous worldviews, the root causes of chronic disease, and going upstream to achieve health equity.

Why bringing traditional food into Haida Gwaii hospitals and schools matters

Source: National Observer
Date: Feb 2021

A story about her father and his hatred of beets continues to remind Elizabeth Moore why bringing traditional food and teaching to her home of Haida Gwaii is so important.

What’s behind the trend of local food?

Source: Food Service and Nutrition Magazine
Year: 2016

To meet the growing demand for more local food on institutional menus it’s important to start with understanding what’s behind the trend – why do people seek out local food?