We are excited to announce that the The Sioux Chef, Sean Sherman, will be keynoting. Over 50 symposiums were submitted to help develop the program covering three days of presentations and hands-on demonstrations. Please note this event is hybrid, featuring in-person sessions and virtual attendance.
Table of Contents 1
I. OVERVIEW 3
II. AGENDA AT A GLANCE 6
III. PLACE MAPS 8
MAY 20 – DAY 1 – Gakiiwe’onaning (Keweenaw Bay) 8
MAY 21-22 DAYS 2 & 3 – Gichi-namebini Ziibing (Marquette) 9
IV. SESSION DESCRIPTIONS 11
Since Time Immemorial: Practicing Food Sovereignty 11
Friday, May 20, 2022 (Day 1) 11
L’Anse Indian Reservation (map) 11
OPENING & WELCOME 9-10 11
Red Pines Campground 11
CONCURRENT SESSIONS 10-1 11
Ojibwa Recreation Area (10-12:30) 11
Debweyendan (“believe in it) Indigenous Gardens (DIGs) (10:30-1) 12
COMMUNITY LUNCHEON 12:30-1:30, 1:30-2:30 13
Red Pines Campground 13
CONCURRENT SESSIONS 2-5
(2-4:30, 2:30-5) 13
Ojibwa Recreation Area 13
Debweyendan (“believe in it) Indigenous Gardens (DIGs) 13
BAAMAAPII & DEPARTURE 13
Red Pines Campground 13
Two Sides of a Circle: Ecology & Economy 14
Saturday, May 21, 2022 (Day 2) 14
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CONCURRENT SESSIONS 9:30-12:00 (Break 10:30-11)
Northern Center, Grand Ballroom 14
Session ID: 5/21am I | Room I : Food Justice & Ethics 14
Session ID: 5/21am II | Room II – Food Justice and Ethics 15
Session ID: 5/21am III | Room III – Indigenous producers & practices 15
CONCURRENT SESSIONS 2:30-5:00 (Break 3:30-4)
Northern Center, Grand Ballroom 16
Session ID: 5/21pm I | Room I – Seed lineage & genealogy 16
Session ID: 5/21pm II | Room II – Indigenous producers & practices (B) 16
Session ID: 5/21pm | Room III Indigenous producers & practices (C)
(virtual presentation) 17
Two Sides of a Circle: Ecology & Economy 18
Saturday, May 21, 2022 (Day 2) 18
CONCURRENT SESSIONS 9:30-12:00 (Break 10:30-11)
Tourist Park (TP), Marquette (outdoor sessions) 18
Session ID: 5/21 TP1 18
Session ID: 5/21am TP2 18
Session ID: 5/21am TP3 18
CONCURRENT SESSIONS 2:30-5:00 (Break 3:30-4)
Tourist Park (TP), Marquette (outdoor sessions) 19
Session ID: 5/21 TP1 19
Session ID: 5/21pm TP2 19
Session ID: 5/21pm TP3 19
Session ID: 5/21pm TP4 19
The Earth Will Show Us the Way: Education & Diversity 20
May 22, 2022 (Day 3) 20
CONCURRENT SESSIONS 9:30-12:00
(Break 10:30-11)
Northern Center, Grand Ballroom 20
Session ID: 5/22am I | Room I – Centering Indigenous health and wellbeing 20
Session ID: 5/22am II | Room II – Returning to ourselves and reclaiming Indigenous food practices 21
Session ID: 5/22am III | Room III – Engaging in equitable Indigenous community and institutional
partnerships 22
CHEF’S PLENARY 1-2 PM
Northern Center, Grand Ballroom 23
Session ID: 5/22pm GB 23
2
CONCURRENT SESSIONS 2:30-5:00 (Break 3:30-4)
Northern Center, Grand Ballroom 23
Session ID: 5/22pm I | Room I – Centering Indigenous health and wellbeing 23
Session ID: 5/22pm II | Room II – Returning to ourselves and reclaiming Indigenous food practices 24
Session ID: 5/22pm III | Room III – Returning to ourselves and reclaiming Indigenous food practices
24
The Earth Will Show Us the Way: Education & Diversity 25
Sunday, May 22, 2022 (Day 3) 25
CONCURRENT SESSIONS 9:30-12:00 (Break 10:30-11)
Tourist Park (TP), Marquette (outdoor sessions) 25
Session ID: 5/22 TP1 25
Session ID: 5/22am TP2 25
Session ID: 5/22am TP3 25
Session ID: 5/22am TP4 26
CONCURRENT SESSIONS 2:30-5:00 (Break 3:30-4)
Tourist Park (TP), Marquette (outdoor sessions) 26
Session ID: 5/22 TP1 26
Session ID: 5/22pm TP2 26
Session ID: 5/22pm TP3 26
Session ID: 5/22pm TP4 27
V. PRESENTERS & ORGANIZERS 28
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I. OVERVIEW
The Build and Broaden Indigenous Agriculture and Food Sovereignty Symposium is sponsored by the
National Science Foundation’s Build and Broaden conference grant (Award #2037303). On May 20-22, 2022,
the Indigenous Agriculture and Food Sovereignty Symposium will take place in two primary locations within
Anishinaabewaking ᐊᓂᔑᓈᐯᐧᐊᑭᒃ (Land of the Anishinaabe). The first location is known as Wiikwedong
(Place where Portage is Made), also called Gakiiwe’onaning (Keweenaw Bay). The second location is known as
Gichi-namebini Ziibing (Place of the Great Sucker Fish River, Marquette). It is important to situate the
importance of place in the area now known as the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. In doing so, our intentions
are to honor and acknowledge the people through ceremony, reciprocity, and respect.
This Symposium is in response to a collective need articulated by diverse scholars and professionals
currently practicing community-based, -engaged, and -directed agriculture and food systems initiatives
work across the United States. The Symposium aims to provide space for researchers, practitioners and
community members to share common interests in the field of Indigenous agriculture and foods, centered in
food sovereignty as rooted to Tribal Nation sovereignty. The guest presenters will share progress, approaches
and outcomes of food research studies, with broader Symposium themes in food ecology, economy, diversity,
and sovereignty relationships; and, invited guests will also engage in practical demonstrations with
conference attendees illustrating diverse food sovereignty work taking place currently across Turtle Island
landscapes.
According to the Declaration of the Forum for Food Sovereignty (Nyéléni 2007), food sovereignty means to
exercise autonomy in all territorial spaces: countries, regions, cities and rural communities. Food sovereignty
is only possible if it takes place at the same time as political sovereignty of all peoples. Food sovereignty is the
ability to feed ourselves and feed ourselves well. It is a state of being in which communities are able to have a
safe, culturally acceptable, and nutritionally adequate diet through a sustainable food system that promotes
community self-reliance and social justice throughout Indigenous territories (LaDuke 2005; Mihesuah and
Hoover 2019; Simpson 2014). Indigenous territories are a rich and vast garden where foods and medicines
abound throughout our land and waterscapes. Since time immemorial, our stories are and have always been
focused on cultivating and protecting relationships within ecosystems and between humans and beings of all
kinds (Simpson 2017). Indigenous people have endured a long and detrimental history yet our identity as a
people survives (Dunbar-Ortiz 2014). We are agriculturalists, gardens, hunters, fishers, and gatherers; we
share our harvests and our knowledge with each other. We envision the restoration of honorable harvesting
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across our landscape (Kimmerer 2013), and in doing so, we aim to strengthen sovereignty for our community
and all our relatives.
Food sovereignty is critical to the survivance and resiliency of tribal nations. The challenges tribes are facing
in revitalizing traditional foodways and related economies are many, including changes in seasonal weather
patterns, increase in extreme weather events, habitat degradation, pollution, and toxic contamination, and
loss of native plant, fish and animal relatives (species). These challenges are exacerbated by tribes’ limited
capacity (e.g., MSIs, funds, staff, and expertise) and the lack of knowledge by others that make decisions that
affect the lives of Indigenous people in our region. Tribal communities must address ongoing threats while
simultaneously revitalizing Indigenous obligations to land and life and recovering and sharing the knowledge
needed to do so. These challenges yield negative social, cultural, and economic consequences, particularly
due to the loss of subsistence and commercial harvesting opportunities which also impedes transmission of
knowledge to future generations. In recent years, there has been a continuous and growing call for
Indigenous knowledge from communities (and abroad) in order to supplement and integrate with scientific
research and management regimes to better understand and interact with ecosystems. Indigenous
communities have an important role in protecting and restoring our nation’s ecosystems and economies,
particularly because Indigenous knowledge and practices have been sustained in the region for millennia.
The Indigenous Agriculture and Food Sovereignty Symposium will explore histories, contemporary
movements, and future transformations of Indigenous agriculture and food sovereignty in North America.
Presenters will share their explorations and experiences on food-human relations, food justice and ethics,
and Indigenous sovereignty. Such examinations enhance our understanding of the ways agricultural and food
systems shape and are shaped by both human and natural systems at different scales. Science, technology,
public policy, culture, and market forces increasingly interact with climate, ecosystems, and species to
produce and reconfigure modern food systems. We will also take a closer look at impacts and disparities of
modern food systems and what communities are doing to restore and preserve local economies, cultures, and
wellbeing through food sovereignty actions.
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II. AGENDA AT A GLANCE
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III. PLACE MAPS
MAY 20 – DAY 1 – Gakiiwe’onaning (Keweenaw Bay)
Ojibwa Campground & Recreation Area
101 Lighthouse Road (Red Pines Campground, Pow Wow Grounds), Baraga MI 49908
Debweyendan (“believe in it) Indigenous Gardens (DIGs)
DIGs Community Teaching Garden, 16037 Brewery Road (map), L’Anse MI 49946
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MAY 21-22 DAYS 2 & 3 – Gichi-namebini Ziibing (Marquette)
Marquette MI Symposium places: Northern Michigan University (NMU), NMU’s
Northern Center, Tourist Park, Lodging, and other places of interest.
Food Sovereignty Symposium : Google Map Directions
<https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1XECWDD8d9jZSZUCROtT6p2XwnlwpnDiw&ll=46.66772846
981963%2C-87.92769475000001&z=10>
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IV. SESSION DESCRIPTIONS
5/20/2022
Keweenaw Bay
Indian
Community
Since Time Immemorial:
Practicing Food
Sovereignty
Friday, May 20, 2022 (Day 1)
L’Anse Indian Reservation (map)
The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC) is the
successor in interest of the L’Anse and Ontonagon
Bands of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, and
signatories to the 1842 Treaty with the Chippewa (7 Stat.
591) and the 1854 Treaty with the Chippewa (10 Stat.
1109). The KBIC are an Anishinaabe Ojibwa tribe, the
oldest federally-recognized tribe, and retain the largest
land base, in the State of Michigan. KBIC is dedicated to
the long-term protection of natural resources and the
preservation of Ojibwa culture – this dedication has
contributed to our people’s survival and resiliency for
many generations. The KBIC continuously seeks ways to
bridge Indigenous knowledge and science and share
these practices and understandings with others. This is
crucial to strengthening collaborative relationships
across the landscape, and contributes to the resiliency
of our shared communities, landscapes, and future.
OPENING & WELCOME 9-10
Red Pines Campground
Ojibwa Recreation Area (Pow Wow Grounds)
US Hwy 41 to 101 Lighthouse Road (map)
Baraga MI 49908
CONCURRENT SESSIONS 10-1
Participants will attend one session in the morning and
the other session in the afternoon so that each attendee
has the opportunity to share learning at the Ojibwa
Recreation Area and at the Debweyendan (“believe in it)
Indigenous Garden (DIGs).
Ojibwa Recreation Area (10-12:30)
Ojibwa Recreation Area, 101 Lighthouse Road (map),
Baraga MI 49908
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“Keweenaw Bay Indian Community – Who We Are” (Pow
Wow Dance Arena)
Evelyn Ravindran (Keweenaw Bay Indian Community
Lake Superior Ojibwa, Standing Rock Lakota), KBIC Nat
Res Dept
Erin Johnston, KBIC Nat Res Dept
Valoree Gagnon (Korean, British/Irish/Scottish),
Michigan Tech
Emily Shaw (German/British ancestry), Michigan Tech
“A Tribute to our Fishermen… (Minaadowenjigaaziwaat
Gidoo giigoonkeninii-minaanik…)”
(Buck’s Marina)
“Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Stewardship and
Restoration” (Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) –
Sand Point shoreline)
Lake Superior’s Keweenaw Bay is the ancestral and
contemporary homeland of the Anishinaabe Ojibwa and
their relatives. However, its waters, shorelines, and fish
beings are polluted by an unknown tonnage of legacy
mining waste rock called ‘stamp sands’ containing
unsafe levels of toxic compounds. This session
describes Ojibwa stewardship principles and reciprocal
obligations, illustrating First Treaty With Gichi-Manitou
practices of restoring relations within a landscape
burdened by toxic compounds. We share a story from
Keweenaw Bay’s Sand Point restoration project (2002-)
to elucidate distinctly different approaches and
challenges to restoring ecological relationships,
including those between human and more-than-human
beings. Restoring thirty-five acres of barren shoreline
into a thriving landscape concurrently created space for
reclaiming Ojibwa stewardship obligations to land,
water, and life. The goal was to restore Sand Point to be
a self-sustaining plant community, but maintenance
remains demanding and costly. Lake Superior forces
continually mobilize stamp sands, and recently, with
greater force by extreme storm events. Thus ‘success’
measures are reconsidered annually, a reminder that ‘in
perpetuity’ toxic governance regimes are as unstable as
riskscapes themselves. Yet Sand Point is a story of hope.
Substantial transformations atop the surface reflect the
restoration of many relationships between
communities, institutional partners, and
more-than-human beings. It is our Sand Point plant
relatives who share the most invaluable lessons of
restoring sustainable livelihoods: resilience is
inter-dependent communities caring for one another.
The Ojibwa Public Recreation Area’s Sand Point was
purchased from the State of Michigan in the 1990s. Sand
Point is the name used for the general area between U.S.
Highway-41 to the west and Lake Superior to the east,
totaling several hundred acres in size with
approximately 2.5 miles of Lake Superior shoreline.
Sand Point is KBIC Trust property, wholly owned by the
Community and located entirely within the L’Anse
Indian Reservation.
Sand Point has been peopled and storied since time
immemorial. As part of a larger area considered to be
sacred by the Ojibwa, its lands and waters are
abundantly diverse and thriving with life beings. It
consists of one hundred ninety seven (197) acres of
coastal wetland, in addition to small meadows, a pine
forest, two ponds and the Sand Point Sloughs which
supports wild rice beds and cranberry bogs. There are
also two Tribal campgrounds, one amongst the pine and
another on the waterfront, and a Tribal marina, a
historic lighthouse, walking trails, beach areas, and the
Community Powwow grounds. Significantly, Sand Point
is a historic Ojibwa village with historic Ojibwa burial
mounds. Sand Point continues to be an important area
for medicinal plant collection for the Community’s
Traditional Healing Clinic which is also located on site
beside the Powwow arena.
Debweyendan (“believe in it)
Indigenous Gardens (DIGs)
(10:30-1)
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DIGs Community Teaching Garden,16037 Brewery Road
(map), L’Anse MI 49946
The Debweyendan (“believe in it”) Indigenous Gardens
(DIGs) is a large area that maintains individual and
community garden plots, a fruit orchard, and a
managed forest, all rich with food and medicines. DIGs
is focused on promoting food sovereignty practices in
the Community by providing access to healthy foods
and medicines, and also, implementing food
experiences and educational workshops to enhance
intergenerational learning.
Biskakone Greg Johnson (Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe)
“Traditional Asemaa”
Charlee Brissette (Anishinaabe), MSU Extension Tribal
Educator
“The Gift of Ojibwa Medicines”
The Honorable Harvest, landscape abundance, the gift
of teas, and reciprocity with our plant relatives
Karena Schmidt (German), KBIC Nat Res Dept
“Pathway to healing with herbal teas”
Dean Baas (white, Dutch descent), Michigan State
University Extension
Monica Jean, Michigan State University Extension
“The Living Soil Community” Respecting your soil and
reclaiming soil health practices.
The rainfall simulator will be used to demonstrate the
impact of different soil management practices on runoff
and infiltration. Participants will be able to observe how
tillage and cover crops contribute to soil health and
performance. There will also be a hands-on station
where participants can learn easy ways to evaluate your
soil health using qualitative observations and low cost
methods such as the slake test. Educators will be
available to answer your questions about soil health.
Co-organizers – Erika Vye (Welsh, Irish, German),
Michigan Technological University, Shelby Lane-Clark
(Irish/German/Scandinavian), Michigan Technological
University
COMMUNITY LUNCHEON
12:30-1:30, 1:30-2:30
Red Pines Campground
Ojibwa Recreation Area
101 Lighthouse Road (map)
Baraga MI 49908
CONCURRENT SESSIONS 2-5
(2-4:30, 2:30-5)
Participants will attend one session in the morning and
the other session in the afternoon so that each attendee
has the opportunity to share learning at the Ojibwa
Recreation Area and at the Debweyendan (“believe in it)
Indigenous Garden (DIGs).
Ojibwa Recreation Area
Ojibwa Recreation Area, 101 Lighthouse Road (map),
Baraga MI 49908
Debweyendan (“believe in it)
Indigenous Gardens (DIGs)
DIGs Community Teaching Garden,16037 Brewery Road
(map), L’Anse MI 49946
BAAMAAPII & DEPARTURE
Red Pines Campground
Ojibwa Recreation Area (Pow Wow Grounds)
US Hwy 41 to 101 Lighthouse Road (map)
Baraga MI 49908
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5/21/22 NMU
NORTHERN
CENTER
Two Sides of a Circle:
Ecology & Economy
Saturday, May 21, 2022 (Day 2)
CONCURRENT SESSIONS
9:30-12:00 (Break 10:30-11)
Northern Center, Grand Ballroom
Session ID: 5/21am I | Room I : Food Justice
& Ethics
Tara Maudrie (Sault Ste Marie Ojibwe), Johns Hopkins
Bloomberg School of Public Health
Co-author(s) Victoria O’Keefe, PhD (Cherokee and
Seminole Nations); Kerry Hawk Lessard (Shawnee),
Native American Lifelines of Baltimore and Boston;
Dustin Richardson (Blackfeet), Native American
Lifelines of Baltimore
“Reimagining Food Security for an East Coast Urban
Native Community”
Presentation (½ hour)
Summary In partnership with the Baltimore Native
community we designed a multi-phase research study to
better understand the prevalence, drivers of, and solutions to
food insecurity. To our knowledge this is the first in depth
study of food security in an urban Native community. This
presentation will share the results of the study which
consisted of a quantitative survey covering topics such as food
security and COVID-19 hardships individuals may have
encountered, and in depth interviews that focused on
experiences with food security, what food sovereignty means
to an urban Native person, and lastly what food system
improvements they believe would be effective in addressing
food insecurity. We use these findings to paint a picture of the
food environment of the Baltimore Native community and a
food justice lens to approach food security for urban Native
peoples. In closing, we offer policy recommendations to
support urban Native food security, as well as examples of
resilience and innovation from the Baltimore community as
they work to provide for their most vulnerable relatives.
Intended Audience: General Audience, Researchers, Students,
Government Agencies
Joseph Gazing Wolf (Lakota/Amazigh), Arizona State
University
“Land Tenure Equity and Security as a Prerequisite to
Resilient Indigenous Food Systems”
Presentation (½ hour) – PRERECORDED
Summary Resilience frameworks posit diversified farming
systems as essential for the development of adaptive capacity
in response to the challenges of climate change. However,
land management and diversified outputs are often based on
land tenure dynamics and the historical, socio-cultural, legal,
and economic/market structures that shape them. Resilience
frameworks often remain agnostic to the issues of equity in
land access, resource distribution, and decision-making
power, which disproportionately affect Indigenous
communities. This review situates land tenure equity and
security as a likely prerequisite in the theory and practice of
resilient and sovereign food systems. It does so by assessing
the linkages between land tenure regimes and adaptive
capacity in Native American agricultural communities. This
presentation draws from relevant social-ecological and
historical literatures, published case studies and grey
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literatures, economic and legal policy, governmental and
tribal statistics, and the author’s auto-ethnography as a
former buffalo rancher. Enhancing adaptive capacity in
marginalized Indigenous communities requires structural
reform and local activism that prioritizes rights to long-term
ancestral land access and food sovereignty. Therefore, land
tenure equity and security is a prerequisite to Indigenous food
systems resilience and biocultural restoration.
Intended Audience: General Audience, Food Producers,
Researchers, Students, Tribal Community Members,
Government Agencies
Ruth Plenty Sweetgrass-She Kills (Hidatsa, Mandan,
Sioux, Assiniboine), Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College
Linda Black Elk (Korean/Mongolian/Catawba descent),
United Tribes Technical College
“Strengthening local food systems through regional
tribal food consortiums”
Workshop (1 hour)
Summary Traditional tribal food systems have maintained
our people for millennia by creating strong relationships
between our people & the land. The plant foods & medicines
have nourished our bodies, minds, and spirits. Our tribal food
systems have been under attack for the past two centuries by
policies, companies, & acculturation. Relationships & access
to the land and plants we had lived with began to be taken
away from us. Our health, wellness, and identities suffered.
This session will be an opportunity for attendees to
participate in co-creating a vision on strengthening local
traditional food systems through a regional tribal food
sovereignty consortium. As we continue to move forward in
our individual healing journeys, we have an opportunity to
join together and collectively restore and reclaim our
relationships, knowledges, and trade connections with each
other. One potential mechanism to continue these
conversations & engage additional stakeholders is through
Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs). They were established
with common visions of strengthening our tribal communities
through education, as well as preserving traditional
knowledge & languages. There are over 30 TCUs; therefore,
they serve as the perfect base camp for renewing mental,
emotional, spiritual and physical ties to food, personal
wellness, community connections, & traditional trade
networks.
Intended Audience: General Audience, Food Producers,
Students, Tribal Community Members
Session ID: 5/21am II | Room II – Food
Justice and Ethics
Carly D. Griffith Hotvedt (Cherokee), Indigenous Food
and Ag Initiative
Mary Belle Zook, (Citizen Potawatomi), Abi Fain
(Choctaw Nation)
Abi Fain (Citizen of the Choctaw Nation), IAC
“Native Farm Bill Coalition”
Roundtable and interactive dialogue (2 hours)
Summary The Native Farm Bill Coalition (NFBC) is a
nationwide initiative to advance the policy priorities of Native
American tribes and producers in the upcoming 2023 Farm
Bill through a strong, united voice. NFBC Policy Roundtables
are an in-person opportunity for Tribal leaders, citizens,
producers, and subject matter experts to share their
experiences. NFBC representatives will present information
about the Farm Bill processes, NFBC successes in the 2018
Farm Bill and policy goals for Farm Bill 2023 as well as solicit
feedback and input from Roundtable Attendees to inform
policy proposals supporting Indian Country agriculture.
Session ID: 5/21am III | Room III –
Indigenous producers & practices
Spring Alaska Schreiner (Chugach Alaska Native
Corporation- Valdez Native Tribe), Sakari Farms LLC
“Sweetgrass – Traditional Uses”
Hands-on Demonstration (1 hour)
Summary This session will be a hands on presentation and
will include traditional ceremonial uses of Sweetgrass,
Braiding Demonstration, Flavor and Uses for Culinary
applications. Sakari Farms LLC farm’s Sweetgrass, The
presenters will bring fresh/dried harvested-bulk Sweetgrass
to share with participants to utilize for braiding, doll making,
etc. We will also discuss the success of our Tribal Food
Production/Educational farm, and engage in dialogue focused
on technical assistance with interested and/or beginning
farmers to share more on basics of growing traditional foods,
and starting a food/farm business.
Intended Audience: General Audience, Food Producers, Tribal
Community Members
15
CONCURRENT SESSIONS
2:30-5:00 (Break 3:30-4)
Northern Center, Grand Ballroom
Session ID: 5/21pm I | Room I – Seed lineage
& genealogy
Rebecca Webster (Oneida Nation), Ukwakhwa
Farmstead
Co-Presenter Jen Falck (Oneida Nation), Kahulahele
Farmstead
“Indigenous Seed Exchange & Barter Market”
Presentation followed by hands on event (½ hour)
Summary In this session, we will facilitate a seed barter and
exchange event using Indigenous protocols. First we will share
two videos we made about Indigenous Barter Etiquette Basics
and Indigenous Seed Exchange Etiquette followed by a
discussion of the protocols for barter and exchange.
Participants will then be welcome to practice the protocols
among each other with guidance from the presenters. (If you
are interested in participating in this presentation and hands-on
session, please bring seeds and/or items to share and to practice
barter and exchange protocols with other attendees.)
Intended Audience: Food Producers, Tribal Community
Members
Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance
“Indigenous Seed Keeping,”
Shelley Buffalo
Panel (1 hour)
Summary This panel session will begin with a brief
presentation about the Indigenous Seed Keepers Network
(ISKN) and how it supports food and seed sovereignty,
followed by a panel dialogue by seed keepers from the ISKN
network. The Regional Seed Network Coordinator will also
share information about the peer-to-peer learning
opportunities, capacity-building tools, and resources that are
available to growers in the network. Specifically, the
presentation will highlight the Seed Sovereignty Assessment
toolkit, Seed Rematriation toolkit, and our region’s plan to
establish a regional seed grower’s cooperative; the panel
dialogue welcomes network members to share their Midwest
food work and seed sovereignty leadership. This session aims
to elevate visibility of Indigenous food sovereignty initiatives
in the region, as well as expand our reach to people who may
benefit from the Indigenous Seed Keepers Network.
Intended Audience: General Audience, Food Producers,
Students, Tribal Community Members
Session ID: 5/21pm II | Room II – Indigenous
producers & practices (B)
Jen Falck (Oneida), Kahulahele Farmstead
“SNAP Certification for Small Scale Indigenous
Growers”
Presentation (½ hour)
Summary Jen is the Co-owner of Kahulahele Farmstead, a
small scale produce and livestock operation on the Oneida
Reservation. She will share her experience with SNAP
certification and the Oneida Nation’s Food Code and Cottage
Food Exemption program.
Intended Audience: Food Producers, Tribal Community
Members, Government Agencies
Jen Falck (Oneida), Menominee Department of
Agriculture and Food Systems
“Menominee’s Journey Toward Food Sovereignty and
Sustainability”
Presentation (½ hour)
Summary In this session, we share the work of the
Menominee Department of Ag & Food Systems which is
building a comprehensive food system that starts with
families, supports communities, and impacts tribal wide
decisions. In time, we hope that our work may impact food
sovereignty at the national level.
Intended Audience: General Audience, Researchers, Students,
Tribal Community Members, Government Agencies
Mattie Griswold (White), Montana State University
Genesis Chavez (Hispanic/Latina), Montana State
University
Havilah Burton (White), Montana State University
Brittany Robles (Navajo), Salish Kootenai College
Wan-Yuan Kuo (Asian/Taiwanese), Montana State
University
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“How an invasive lake trout can support food
sovereignty – A Case Study”
Presentation (½ hour)
Summary In this session, we share results of a research study
that provides insight into how invasive species management
and food product development can support human and
environmental health and Indigenous food sovereignty. The
Flathead Indian Reservation (FIR) in Montana, is the
remaining homeland of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai
Tribes (CSKT). The FIR borders Flathead Lake, which provides
habitat for Native species that are being threatened by
invasive lake trout. Native Fish Keepers Inc. (NFKI), a Tribal
nonprofit, is leading restoration efforts and supporting food
sovereignty by harvesting, processing and distributing lake
trout to food pantries and commercial establishments. We
partnered with NFKI to develop a value-added smoked fish
product to increase NFKI’s revenue. However, two questions
arose regarding product marketing and guided the focus of
this research: Can a food product made from an invasive
species, by Native people, be called a Native food? And, how
does this product fit into NFKI’s nonprofit designation?
Through a community survey and stakeholder focus group,
research revealed that the smoked lake trout product should
be advertised as Native made, but not as Native food. This
study revealed the significance of storytelling in marketing,
and that consumers should be aware of how their purchase
supports NFKI’s mission and food sovereignty. Findings also
indicated market potential for the smoked fish product and
commercial interest in Native produced foods.
Intended Audience: General Audience, Food Producers,
Researchers, Students, Tribal Community Members,
Government Agencies
Session ID: 5/21pm | Room III Indigenous
producers & practices (C)
(virtual presentation)
Andres Tzunun (Kaqchikel), Asociación Mesoamericano
de Permacultura – IMAP
Co-presenter Lcda. María Ines Cuj
“Nutrición nativa con enfoque en Amaranto”
Summary El programa Nutrición Nativa inicia por el rescate y
la conservación de las semillas nativas y criollas, así como
también contribuir a las comunidades y atender uno de los
más grandes problemas que sufre la población guatemalteca
que es la desnutrición, es una realidad preocupante saber que
Guatemala se encuentra dentro de los primeros 10 países con
problemas de malnutrición a nivel mundial, esto dio inicio a
formular un alimento que ayude a los niños y madres
embarazadas así como también a toda la familia en general,
basándonos en una bebida tradicional como lo son los “Atoles”
creamos el “Super Atol” una fórmula a base de amaranto, maíz
y ajonjolí. Para el año 2020 ante una crisis mundial logramos
apoyar a 700 niños, 160 estudiantes de secundaria y la
generación de empleos locales.
Nuestro compromiso es la creación de soluciones sostenibles
para el desarrollo de las comunidades indígenas, creemos que
el trabajo en conjunto genera mejores resultados.
Actualmente contamos con 42 productores de 5 comunidades
ellos son los encargados de la producción de las semillas de
amaranto, maíz y ajonjolí; toda esta cosecha es llevado a
nuestro centro de procesamiento, obteniendo el producto
final Super Atol y derivados de la semillas de amaranto como:
Cereal de Amaranto (Böcel), Galleras Alegrias, Harina 100% de
Amaranto y Granola.
Para este año 2021 nuestra meta es continuar apoyando a los
niños, jóvenes y las familias en general a implementar los
productos a su dieta diaria.
Intended Audience: General Audience, Food Producers, Tribal
Community Members, Government Agencies
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5/21/22
TOURIST PARK
Two Sides of a Circle:
Ecology & Economy
Saturday, May 21, 2022 (Day 2)
CONCURRENT SESSIONS
9:30-12:00 (Break 10:30-11)
Tourist Park (TP), Marquette
(outdoor sessions)
Session ID: 5/21 TP1
Laura Manthe (Oneida Nation Wi) Ohe·láku (among the
cornstalks)
Co-presenters Robin John, Lea Zeise, Stephenie Stevens
“Traditional Corn Processing” (morning & afternoon
sessions)
Summary This session’s content relates to and provides
benefits for Indigenous Peoples and their food systems by
introducing them to traditional corn processing. In our
hands-on demonstration, we will be using traditional
Tuscarora corn grown by Ohe.laku and hand harvested. Using
cast iron shellers, we will sort and winnow, and cook the corn
with hardwood ashes, and make corn mush to share. We will
demonstrate proper storage techniques for preserving corn,
and provide various recipes. We’ll be sharing our corn to
expand the participants’ knowledge, experience and
understanding of this important food source.
Intended Audience: General Audience, Food Producers, Tribal
Community Members, chefs and cooks
Session ID: 5/21am TP2
Alexandria Palzewicz, Taste the Local Difference
“Relationships Cooking Demonstration & Dialogue:
Procuring, Utilizing and Respecting Indigenous Foods”
Food Hands on Demo/Dialogue
Summary In this session, Alex will share stories that have
been shared with her over the years to paint a picture of the
U.P. food system for attendees, with a specific focus on
Indigenous owned businesses. She’ll provide resources to
learn more about the local growers, gatherers and others who
help bring good food to their communities and call out ways
to support them. While sharing and helping engage food story
conversations, Alex will be demonstrating cooking techniques
learned from mentors, and sharing her methods for doing
educational cooking demonstrations and organizing
community local food events that put food at the center of the
conversation. A toolkit to help others plan their own events
will be provided. Her dish will be cooked over fire and utilize
local foods from local UP producers.
Intended Audience: General Audience, Food Producers,
Students, Tribal Community Members, chefs
Session ID: 5/21am TP3
Frank Sprague (Potawatomi), Waabooz Ziibing Makuker
Family
Assistant Instructors Angus Oglivie-Bush (Potawatomi)
“Carving Cooking Paddles and Planting Sticks”
Hands-on Demonstration
Summary Join Potawatomi artist and traditional knowledge
bearer Frank Sprague to carve your own cooking paddle or
planting stick. Frank and crew will have a full workshop set up
and will guide you through the process of carving traditional
and beautiful tools for you to cook and/or garden with. All
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tools and materials will be provided for participants. Students
will have a choice of what they want to make. There will be a
material fee for participants to cover the cost of supplies.
Cooking paddle: $60, Planting Stick: $90
(Invited Session by Kat Jacques, MSU Extension)
CONCURRENT SESSIONS
2:30-5:00 (Break 3:30-4)
Tourist Park (TP), Marquette
(outdoor sessions)
Session ID: 5/21 TP1
Laura Manthe (Oneida Nation Wi)
Co-presenters Robin John, Lea Zeise, Stephenie Stevens
“Traditional Corn Processing” (morning & afternoon
sessions)
Summary This session’s content relates to and provides
benefits for Indigenous Peoples and their food systems by
introducing them to traditional corn processing.. In our
hands-on demonstration, we will be using traditional
Tuscarora corn grown by Ohe.laku and hand harvested. Using
cast iron shellers, we will sort and winnow, and cook the corn
with hardwood ashes, and make corn mush to share. We will
demonstrate proper storage techniques for preserving corn,
and provide various recipes. We’ll be sharing our corn to
expand the participants’ knowledge, experience and
understanding of this important food source.
Intended Audience: General Audience, Food Producers, Tribal
Community Members, chefs and cooks
Session ID: 5/21pm TP2
Arlie Doxtator (Oneida Nation)
“Cooking with Clay Pots”
Hands-on Demonstration
Summary Arlie Doxtator will present on the cultural
significance of Clay Pots, and provide a Cooking
Demonstration.
Intended Audience: General Audience, Food Producers,
Researchers, Students, Tribal Community Members
Session ID: 5/21pm TP3
Kevin Finney, Waabooz Ziibing Makuker Family
Assistant Instructors; Frank Sprague, Angus
Ogilvie-Bush (Potawatomi), Zac Earley (White Earth
Ojibwe), Kaitlyn Grenier (Bemidji MN)
“Anishinaabe Jiimaanan; The roles and spiritual
connections of traditional watercraft to our food
systems and seasonal foodways”
Hands-on Demonstration
Summary Join our crew for a discussion and teachings about
how traditional canoes can create powerful connections
within our communities and land bases. We will also share
about the work our crew has been dedicated to in using the
jiimaan (canoe) as a powerful restorative, regenerative and
healing tool in Indigenous communities around the Great
Lakes Region. We will also cover some of the methods and
tools we use to build canoes. Our crew will have a 16ft
gete-anishinaabe wiigwaasijiimaan (old style ojibwe birch
bark canoe) and a 17ft mitigojiimaan (white pine dugout canoe)
for participants to see, handle and possibly paddle. (Invited
Session submitted and supported by Kat Jacques, Michigan
State University Extension)
Session ID: 5/21pm TP4
Lauren Jescovitch, Michigan Sea Grant
“KBIC fisheries: An immersive 360 experience from the
waters of Lake Superior”
360 VR experience
Summary Many Tribal Nations in the Great Lakes region,
including Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC), have a
rich culture with fisheries. In the summer of 2021, Inland Seas
Education Association will sail on a tall ship schooner to Lake
Superior which lead to the creation of a place-, vessel-, and
experiential-based program organized by KBIC, Michigan Sea
Grant, Michigan State University Extension, and Michigan
Technological University. This program offers a learning
experience on cultural heritage within ceded lands and
waters, and the fisheries system supporting food sovereignty.
From this in-person program, an immersive 360 virtual
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reality experience will be developed. Come join us and
experience KBIC’s work for fish sovereignty as we explore the
Natural Resources department’s hatchery, go aboard a ship to
the waters of Lake Superior to discover the rich geo-heritage
that provides spawning grounds for the local fisheries, and the
fishers who harvest fish to sustain their communities and
families. This program will be offered in person using 360 VR
headsets and online using a computer or phone.
Intended Audience: General Audience, Food Producers,
Researchers, Students, Tribal Community Members,
Government Agencies
5/22/22 NMU
NORTHERN
CENTER
The Earth Will Show Us the
Way: Education & Diversity
May 22, 2022 (Day 3)
CONCURRENT SESSIONS
9:30-12:00 (Break 10:30-11)
Northern Center, Grand Ballroom
Session ID: 5/22am I | Room I – Centering
Indigenous health and wellbeing
Taylor Thompson (Cherokee Nation), Yurok Tribe
Environmental Program – Food Sovereignty Division
Co-author Louisa McCovey (Yurok), Yurok Tribe
Environmental Program Director
“Nue-ne-pueh Mehl Kee Tey-nem’mo-nee ‘Oohl (Food
for the People) – Yurok Food Villages”
Presentation (½ hour)
Summary In this presentation, we will share the development
process of the Yurok Food Villages program which may help
guide other indigenous communities in creating their own
food sovereignty programs. Founded in 2020 as a branch of
the Yurok Tribe Environmental Program (YTEP), the Food
Sovereignty Division has the overarching goal to create food
security for tribal members within the Yurok Indian
Reservation (YIR) and obtain total food sovereignty for the
Yurok Tribe in an environmentally sustainable manner. To
achieve this, the Food Sovereignty Division has developed a
Food Village model that incorporates Yurok Traditional
Ecological Knowledge (YTEK) and Scientific Ecological
Knowledge (SEK) in a centralized space for the procurement
and processing of traditional foods, production of
contemporary foods through gardens and orchards, and
cultural practices that extend beyond food. The three initial
Food Villages will also serve as resources for Tribal members
looking to produce and obtain food for their households or
sell and trade to other community members or outside of the
YIR. Fully actualized, the Food Villages will also host farmer’s
markets, be a source for technical assistance for food
production and traditional land management practices, have
commercial kitchens and food processing equipment for
tribal member use, and host students and community
members for educational events.
Intended Audience: General Audience, Tribal Community
Members, Government Agencies
Braiding the Sacred
Lea Zeise (Oneida Nation)
“Braiding the Sacred Talking Circle”
Talking Circle (1 hour)
Summary Braiding the Sacred is a movement of Indigenous
corn and cultures. Our gatherings bring together Native corn
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growers to discuss and put into action our sacred relationship
with corn and seeds. In this one hour talking circle, we’ll
moderate a discussion on our relationships with corn and the
sacred role she plays in the healing of our communities.
Session ID: 5/22am II | Room II – Returning
to ourselves and reclaiming Indigenous
food practices
Brandon Francis, NMSU ASC
“Diné & Food Justice in the 21st Century in the San Juan
River Valley”
Presentation (½ hour)
Summary The San Juan River Valley in the Four Corners has a
rich agriculture dating back thousands of years. Indigenous
peoples have seen it decline and revitalize many times
throughout the years. The tribes who continue to call it home
and hold the area sacred, are very familiar with their
precarious environment. Through trial and adaptation, their
survival is testament to the deep kinship with the water,
mother earth and all living things that they have. Despite the
global decline in farming and gardening, efforts are in place to
preserve this holy occupation and way of life. In this
presentation, we discuss some of these efforts and the work
being to return to Holy Corn Pollen Path. Examples of the
work include classroom healthy eating and gardening lessons
and continued monitoring of the health of the soil, water and
plants after the 2015 Gold King Mine Spill.
Intended Audience: General Audience
Evie Ferreira (Yoeme), Native American Studies
Department at Humboldt State University
Co-presenters Carrie Tully, Amanda McDonald, Cody
Henrikson
“Building Wiyot Plaza: Native American Studies’ Food
Sovereignty Lab at HSU”
Presentation (½ hour)
Summary We are pleased to announce the development of the
Native American Studies Food Sovereignty Lab (FSL) &
Cultural Workshop Space at Humboldt State University. This
lab will be a leading institute of research and collaboration to
build the next generation of food sovereignty in our region
and beyond. In this presentation, we share this story to
inspire those who work within educational institutions to
imagine decolonial practices that can transform perspectives
and empower communities. Guided by our Steering
Committee of predominantly Native practitioners,
professionals and students, and functioning as a workspace
and research center, this lab will be a leading institute of
research and collaboration to build the next generation of
food sovereignty in our region and beyond.
Intended Audience: General Audience, Food Producers,
Researchers, Students, Tribal Community Members,
Government Agencies, Local Organizations and non-profits
Ana Lara (Taino), University of Oregon
“The Buren and the Comal: Traditional Ecological
Knowledge in the Kitchen”
Co-Presenter Polet Campos Melchor
Panel (1 hour) VIRTUAL ATTENDANCE
Summary In this dialogue, we open the space to talk about the
traditional ecological knowledge connected to our kitchen
practices and technologies. The buren and comal are cousins.
Ana (Taino) will talk about the buren – the traditional cooking
technology among Caribbean Indigenous peoples. What are
the knowledges required to build a buren? To cook on a
buren? And what are the food and food preparation practices
connected to the buren? As a cooking technology, the buren
requires knowledge about relationship, stove architecture,
woods, clay, and seasons. The buren is used to prepare casabe,
the traditional bread made of cassava root, that also requires
knowledge of soil, seeds, lunar cycles, planting seasons,
agricultural tools and practices. As such, the buren is a rich
source of traditional ecological knowledge as it has been
passed down by Taino peoples. Polet will talk about the comal
– a traditional cooking technology among South American
Indigenous peoples. Her focus will be on her family’s use of
the comal and their preservation of traditional forms of
farming in Mexico. She asks: What role do women have in the
care of the comal? How do women’s ecological knowledge
from the field move to the kitchen? How do such knowledges
contribute to the strengthening of food sovereignty and
sustain people’s kitchens? The comal facilitates the
preservation of knowledges and community.
Intended Audience: General Audience, Researchers, Students
21
Session ID: 5/22am III | Room III – Engaging
in equitable Indigenous community and
institutional partnerships
James DeDecker, MSU UPREC
Parker Jones, MSU Extension
Jamie Rahrig, MSU Center for Regional Food Systems
Sarah Goodman, MSU UPREC
“MSU Programs for Food Entrepreneurs As a Path
Toward Equity”
Presentation (1 hour)
Summary Michigan State University offers several programs
and services to support people starting new food and farming
businesses. Examples include the portfolio of services offered
by the MSU Product Center, MSU Center for Regional Food
Systems, and the MSU Farm Business Incubator (FBI) program
(FBI) at the Upper Peninsula Research and Extension Center
(UPREC). The MSU Product Center helps Michigan
entrepreneurs develop and launch new product and service
ideas into the food, ag and bioenergy markets. Their team of
experts analyzes the level of service each client needs, taking
some from concept development to launch, while helping
others with specialized issues such as packaging, labeling or
nutritional analysis. The UPREC FBI program began in 2015 as
a launching point for individuals interested in starting their
own small-scale vegetable farming enterprise. This residential
program provides land, equipment, tools, and mentorship to
qualified applicants for up to five years so participants can
develop a business plan, establish accounts, build capital, and
fine-tune skills. While starting a food or farm business can be
a challenging and expensive venture for anyone, beginning
Indigenous entrepreneurs may face extra barriers to entry
with potentially fewer resources to draw on. Furthermore,
Land Grant universities, like MSU, have been criticized for the
way in which much of their land and resource base can be
traced to historic land grabs or treaty violations
disenfranchising Native people. Through this lens, the MSU
programs outlined above may be effective tools to begin
addressing food sovereignty, Indigenous access and equity in
local food economies. This session will describe the history,
resources and outcomes of MSU programs for food
entrepreneurs, including a new statewide effort called Food
SPICE (Food Systems Partners Investing in Communities and
Entrepreneurs). We will also explore, with participant input,
the potential of these programs to lift-up Indigenous farmers
through access to land, farm infrastructure, mentorship and
business development resources.
Intended Audience: Food Producers, Students, Tribal
Community Members
James DeDecker, MSU
Co-presenters Joseph N. Fisher II (Saginaw Ojibwe),
Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College
Kathy Hart,
“The Hemp Tribal Research Initiative for Michigan
(TRIM)”
Co-presentation, or presentation/panel hybrid (1 hour)
Summary Cannabis is making waves across Indian County as
a tool for economic development and an expression of
sovereignty. Hemp is cannabis with <0.30% THC, the
psychoactive component in marijuana. Hemp can be used in
many different ways, yielding food, fiber and/or medicine
depending on the variety grown and how it is managed and
processed. Hemp is legal, but highly regulated by the USDA in
partnership with states/tribes. The Hemp Tribal Research
Initiative for Michigan (TRIM) is a coalition of Michigan tribal
colleges, tribal farms, Lake Superior State University and
Michigan State University seeking to address the needs and
questions of Native communities around the topic of hemp.
Our team is conducting hemp variety trials for CBD, grain and
fiber to better understand which hemp genetics and products
are best suited to our environment and farms. The goal of this
session will be to share what we are learning regarding hemp,
and to gather input from participants about the role of hemp
in Native communities and economies. You’ll hear from
university researchers and indigenous farmers, and have an
opportunity to share your experiences, questions and
perspective on this dynamic topic.
Intended Audience: Food Producers, Researchers, Students,
Government Agencies
CHEF’S PLENARY 1-2 PM
Northern Center, Grand Ballroom
Session ID: 5/22pm GB
22
Facilitated By: Kristina Stanley (Red Cliff), I-Collective
Panel Members: Sewa Yuli, Kirsten Kirby Stoote, M.
Karlos Baca
“Narrative Change Work”
Presentation (1 hour)
Summary In this session we will discuss the I-Collective’s
Mission and current Multi-media Cookbook and Webinar
Project. We will share our journey about bringing Indigenous
voices to the tech space, and developing and sharing
Indigenous Narratives.
Intended Audience: General Audience, Food Producers,
Researchers, Students, Tribal Community Members
CONCURRENT SESSIONS
2:30-5:00 (Break 3:30-4)
Northern Center, Grand Ballroom
Session ID: 5/22pm I | Room I – Centering
Indigenous health and wellbeing
Tipiziwin Tolman (Standing Rock Dakota Lakota),
University of Victoria Graduate Student
“No One Is Coming To Save Us, We Are All We Got”
Presentation (½ hour)
Summary In this presentation, I will share my experience of
creating Food as Medicine COVID Support Bundles during the
COVID-19 pandemic. My reasons for creating these bundles
are rooted in a foundational tenet of the my Dakota Lakota
people, “Ounkichiyapi”, which means “We Help Each Other.” I
sought advice from our Indigenous spiritual mentors
regarding what plant medicines and food as medicines would
be most beneficial to support our peoples through COVID and
other ailments like the flu and the common cold. My family
began making, harvesting and sending these bundles to
support tribal elders, families and individuals who were
battling COVID. I will share my recipes for each plant relative
medicine support and food as medicine support, with the
vision that tribal community members can began to create
and make their own medicines for their families.
Intended Audience: General Audience, Tribal Community
Members
Martin Reinhardt (Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa
Indians), Northern Michigan University
Co-Presenter Kat Arkansas
“Overview of the Great Lakes Indigenous Materials
Poop Study (GLIMPS)”
Presentation (½ hour)
Summary As an extension to the Decolonizing Diet Project
(DDP), a study of the relations between humans and
Indigenous foods of the Great Lakes Region, the GLIMPS
project is focused on the next stages of the digestive process.
The research team focused on the cultural significance of
excrement, including methods, tools, and teaching’s.
Outcomes of a literature review, interviews with traditional
knowledge holders, and some experimentation will be shared
and discussed.
Intended Audience: General Audience, Food Producers,
Researchers, Students, Tribal Community Members,
Government Agencies
Mae Hey (Anishinaabe), Virginia Tech
“Nature-centered learning; nourishment for healing”
Presentation (½ hour)
Summary Healing occurs through decolonizing and
conscientizing our relationships with Land, each other, and
ourselves. To resist colonizing forces, we must see that they
encourage exploitation through dissociation and stray us from
our innate ways of engaging with the ‘other’ (human or
more-than-human) to commune our spirits and find our fit
within Creation. Nature is the most patient and enduring
teacher we will ever have and, because her rhythms were
pre-existing and absolute before our arrival, we must learn
her ways to participate well within her established and
complex systems to survive and thrive. Nature teaches her
language, culture, and balanced re-generational ways on and
in her own time to those who are able to see her lessons; the
human teacher must learn ways to support that interaction
and scaffold ways to gradually step back from the engagement
until direct communication between Nature and student is
seamless. In this session, I would like to discuss a
Nature-centered program I have developed that helps us
re-inhabit Indigenous ways of growing in knowledge,
wellness, empowerment, community,
sustainability—relatedness, reciprocity, and responsibility.
Tom Goldtooth of the Indigenous Environmental Network says
that historically, Land-based peoples have been the greatest
23
threat to colonizing forces. It is time to fully reclaim this
position of resistance—a position of being a good relative and
ancestor that we held since time immemorial. I hope to share
my approach.
Intended Audience: General Audience
Centering Indigenous health and wellbeing Panel –
Session presenters Dialogue with attendees (½ hour)
Session ID: 5/22pm II | Room II – Returning
to ourselves and reclaiming Indigenous
food practices
Derrick Kapayou (Meskwaki), Iowa State University
“A Look At Three Sisters Agriculture From the Ground
Up”
Co-Presenter Christina Gish-Hill
Presentation (½ hour)
Summary Growing corn, squash, and beans, together in the
same space during the same growing season is a traditional
method of growing food for many Native Nations in the Upper
Midwest and around this country. This production method
has come to be called the Three Sisters. This presentation
examines Three Sisters agriculture from the ground up, in
order to contextualize how this cropping practice interacts
with the environment it is placed into, particularly
considering the impact on soil, and to more fully understand
it’s value as a food production method in 4 midwestern Native
communities. Cultural ties in these Native communities to
this cropping practice run very deep. Historically, Native
Nations who chose to grow biodiverse cropping systems were
able to combine the different characteristics within each plant
to create a high-yielding environment that would allow them
to harvest enough food not only to survive until the next
growing season, but to fuel a robust trade economy. Because
different plant species respond to challenging environmental
issues in different ways, Native Nations using this cropping
practice appears to be more sustainable than the modern
practice of growing fields of a single-species monocrop when
dealing with adverse weather events. Learning how different
Native Nations interact with their Three Sisters gardens and
the soils that support them may help motivate other Native
people to consider gardening and enjoy the benefits.
Intended Audience: General Audience, Food Producers,
Researchers, Students, Tribal Community Members
Crystal Wahpepah (Kikapoo), AIF
Co-Presenter Becky Green
“Utilizing indigenous ingredients to make a sustainable
product”
Workshop (1 hour)
Summary This workshop will feature a chef demo with a
presentation on how Wahpepah’s bars came to fruition.
Presenters will discuss using sustainable and easily sourced
ingredients and demonstrate how to imagine a product and
execute development with samples at the end.
Intended Audience: General Audience, Food Producers,
Students, Tribal Community Members
Session ID: 5/22pm III | Room III –
Returning to ourselves and reclaiming
Indigenous food practices
Marie Richards (Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa
Indians), Sault Tribe
“Feeding Our People: (Re)Integrating Food Sovereignty
into Cultural Programming”
Hands-on Demonstration (1 hour)
Summary Integrating food sovereignty into cultural
educational programming is one way to engage tribal
community members to introduce, educate, and encourage
members to build their personal and family relationships with
food to build healthier—physical and social–community and
heal as we decolonize Baawating and other communities.
Sault Tribe Language and Culture Department continuously
learns of new ways of integrating food sovereignty
conversations and actions into cultural programming.
In our session, we will share our initiatives regarding what
projects we have done, how we have accomplished it, and
demonstrate some of our how-to success with a hands-on
activity. In this space, we hope to hold conversations with
session participants about their efforts to generate cultural
programming supporting food sovereignty. This
cross-community conversation with hands-on engagement is
an effort to help support others endeavors and to share some
of the more complicated aspects of programming
development with each other.
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Intended Audience: General Audience, Tribal Community
Members, Government Agencies
5/22/22
TOURIST PARK
The Earth Will Show Us the
Way: Education & Diversity
Sunday, May 22, 2022 (Day 3)
CONCURRENT SESSIONS
9:30-12:00 (Break 10:30-11)
Tourist Park (TP), Marquette (outdoor
sessions)
Session ID: 5/22 TP1
Linda Black Elk (Korean/Mongolian/Catawba descent),
United Tribes Technical College
Luke Black Elk (Itazipco Lakota, Cheyenne River
Reservation)
“Food is Medicine Plant Walk” (morning and afternoon
sessions)
Hands-on Demonstration
Summary The words “Food is Medicine” get thrown around a
lot these days, but do we ever think about the literal
implications of this phrase? Many of the delicious wild edible
plants that we gather and prepare also have important
medicinal applications. Join Linda and Luke Black Elk as they
lead a plant walk to highlight both the culinary and medicinal
uses of local plants. They’ll also bring some delicious
medicinal snacks for everyone to try! Come prepared for bugs,
sun, food, fun, and laughter!
Intended Audience: General Audience, Food Producers, Tribal
Community Members
Session ID: 5/22am TP2
Arlie Doxtator (Oneida Nation), Native American Food
Sovereignty Alliance
Kristina Stanley (Red Cliff, Ojibwe), Native American
Food Sovereignty Alliance, I-Collective
“Cooking with Clay Pots”
Hands-on Demonstration
Summary Arlie Doxtator will present on the cultural
significance of Clay Pots, and provide a Cooking
Demonstration.
Intended Audience: General Audience, Food Producers,
Researchers, Students, Tribal Community Members
Session ID: 5/22am TP3
Kevin Finney, Waabooz Ziibing Makuker Family
Charlee Brissette (Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa
Indians)
Larry Jacques
“Making & Using Bootaagan”
Hands-on Demonstration
Summary Sharing historical, cultural, and spiritual teaching
of the bootaagan from our keeper relations. Benefits
Indigenous Peoples by supporting community in
re-connecting with traditional corn mortar knowledge.
(Invited Session submitted and supported by Kat Jacques,
Michigan State University Extension)
Intended Audience:
Session ID: 5/22am TP4
Scott Herron (Miami and Anishinaabe Ojibwe), Ferris
25
State University
Cole McGowen, Ferris State University
“Use of wild foraged and cultivated mushrooms in
decolonized diet”
Hands-on Demonstration
Summary Early academic literature in the Great Lakes
assumed tribal communities and individuals were
mycophobic (fearful of mushrooms) and did not use them in
their diet and medicine. Scott has refuted that with literature
and oral traditions working with University of Michigan and
Ferris State along with tribal communities to revitalize the
knowledge, harvest, use, and preparation of wild foraged
mushrooms and fungi in a decolonized diet that is healthy and
has diabetes/cholesterol prevention and treatment
implications.
Intended Audience: General Audience, Food Producers, Tribal
Community Members
CONCURRENT SESSIONS
2:30-5:00 (Break 3:30-4)
Tourist Park (TP), Marquette (outdoor
sessions)
Session ID: 5/22 TP1
Linda Black Elk (Korean/Mongolian/Catawba descent),
United Tribes Technical College
Luke Black Elk (Itazipco Lakota, Cheyenne River
Reservation)
“Food is Medicine Plant Walk” (morning and afternoon
sessions)
Hands-on Demonstration
Summary The words “Food is Medicine” get thrown around a
lot these days, but do we ever think about the literal
implications of this phrase? Many of the delicious wild edible
plants that we gather and prepare also have important
medicinal applications. Join Linda and Luke Black Elk as they
lead a plant walk to highlight both the culinary and medicinal
uses of local plants. They’ll also bring some delicious
medicinal snacks for everyone to try! Come prepared for bugs,
sun, food, fun, and laughter!
Intended Audience: General Audience, Food Producers, Tribal
Community Members
Session ID: 5/22pm TP2
Elena Terry (Hocak), Wild Bearies
Co-presenters TBD
“Wild Bearies, Building community through the healing
power of food”
Presentation and workshop/chef demo
Summary Wild Bearies has made great strides in Wisconsin
and beyond to reconnect people who have suffered a
disconnect through Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse (AODA)
issues or emotional traumas, through the healing power of
ancestral foods. Having started as an educational outreach
non-profit, Wild Bearies has added components to develop a
holistic food system. From agricultural endeavors, to foraging
and environmental stewardship, to knowledge sharing, the
Bearies have benefitted from the work we do.
Intended Audience: General Audience
Session ID: 5/22pm TP3
Kevin Finney, Waabooz Ziibing Makuker Family
Angus Oglivie-Bush (Potawatomi)
Zac Earley (White Earth Ojibwe)
Kaitlyn Grenier (Bemidji MN)
“Building an Anishinaabe Iskigamiziganaatig
(sugaring/kettle frame)”
Hands-on Demonstration
Summary As a group in this demonstration we will learn how
to select, harvest and prepare logs from the forest to assemble
a large cooking frame capable of safely hanging a series of
large cooking kettles that can hold as much as 2000 lbs. These
kettle frames use some very simple but ingenious engineering
principles and have been a critical component of our ancestral
food systems for countless generations. In our community in
SW Michigan, we continue to use this kettle system as our
primary method to boil sap for making maple sugar. The
iskagamiziganaatig which we build in the class will be used
throughout the event as an outdoor kitchen for the chefs to
prepare meals. (Invited Session submitted and supported by
Kat Jacques, Michigan State University Extension)
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Intended Audience:
Session ID: 5/22pm TP4
Roger LaBine (Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior
Chippewa Indians), Lac Vieux Desert
Scott Herron (Miami and Anishinaabe Ojibwe), Ferris
State University
Cortney Collia (Ojibwe, Scandinavian, Italian descent)
Wild Rice (Manoomin) Processing and Traditional
Knowledge
Workshop (Invited session)
Summary This workshop will be a comprehensive hands-on
and experiential manoomin/wild rice processing workshop
with multiple expert instructors, teaching both the
Anishinaabek history and traditional to modern techniques
used to take this heritage wild grain from the waters
(previously harvested) to the storable food item (finished,
small batch fire-parched, winnowed and sorted/cleaned).
Come learn how to turn your lake harvested wild rice into a
storable food item that will be sure to make its way into many
of your meals.
Intended Audience: General Audience, Food Producers,
Students, Tribal Community Members
27
V. PRESENTERS & ORGANIZERS
A
Alaska Schreiner, Spring (Inupiaq Alaskan- Chugach
Alaska Native Corporation/Valdez Native Tribe), Sakari
Farms
My name is Upingakraq (time when the ice breaks)
Spring Alaska Schreiner is the owner and Principal
Ecologist-Indigenous Agriculturalist of Sakari Farms and
the Central Oregon Seed Exchange. I am an enrolled
member and shareholder of the Chugach Alaska Native
Corporation and Valdez Native Tribe. Inupiaq lineage
allows a unique/diverse cultural perspective of use of
historical food systems ranging from Alaska to Oregon
and regional tribal lands on Turtle Island. Spring serves
on multiple regional and national agricultural boards and
educational committees and serves as an advocate for
local farmers and tribal members. Spring received the
2019 NASDA Women Farm to Food Award, and more
recently, the recipient of the 2021 Na’ahlee Tribal
Fellowship, 2022 Ecotrust Indigenous Leadership Award.
She also participates in the USDA Indian Agricultural
Council, Made by Native American Export Food Program,
Indigenous Seed Keepers Network, Native American
Food Sovereignty Alliance, American Indian Housing
Authority, Warm Springs Indian Tribe Community
Garden, PNW Intertribal Food Sovereignty Coalition and
many other regional policy based boards and
committees.
Link(s) of interest: Nourishing communities during the
pandemic, Part II: More inspiration from Spring Alaska
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/21 am Indigenous producers &
practices
B
Baas, Dean (white, Dutch descent), Michigan State
University Extension
Dean Baas is an Extension Educator in Sustainable
Agriculture. Dean is involved in cover crop, soil health
and organic agriculture research and education. Farmers
28
and commodity groups are an integral part of his projects
and programs. He is a member of the Midwest Cover
Crops Council Executive Committee. He is the
Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE)
Coordinator for the state of Michigan. Dean partnered
with the Intertribal Ag Council to deliver soil health and
cover crop education at the 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019
Great Lakes Intertribal Food Summits. He demonstrates
the impact of soil management practices on soil health
using demonstrations such as the rainfall simulator.
Dean has a Ph.D. in Environmental Geosciences and
Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering and a B.S. in
Agricultural Engineering from Michigan State University
(MSU). Prior to returning to MSU for graduate study, he
had a 20-year career with the Kellogg Company.
Link(s) of interest: MSU Cover Crops Site, Midwest Cover
Crops Council, National SARE, North Central SARE,
Michigan SARE
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/20 KBIC DIGs, Planning Team
Baca, M. Karlos (Tewa/Dine/Nuucui), Native American
Food Sovereignty Alliance
M. Karlos Baca (Tewa/Dine/Nuchu) is an Indigenous
Foods Activist from the Southern Ute Nation. He is the
founder of Taste of Native Cuisine, which was created
alongside the Southern Ute Cultural Center and
Museum, to promote traditional Indigenous Foodways in
the community and has grown over the last decade to
include work with Tribal Nations across the country, the
founder of 4th World Farm which is focused on
pre-colonial foods and agricultural systems of the high
desert region of the southwest, and is a co-founder of the
Indigenous food activist group the I-Collective which
uses Indigenous Foodways as a medium to combat
structural white supremacy and continued warfare
against Indigenous people. Most importantly he is a son,
father, uncle, and grandfather.
Link(s) of interest: NAFSA::Native American Food
Sovereignty Alliance | Native American Food Sovereignty
Alliance, Blue Corn, Bear Root, and Resilience | Native
America
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/22pm GB Narrative Change Work
Brissette, Charlee (Anishinaabe), MSU Extension Tribal
Educator
Charlee is an Indigenous health and wellness educator,
with a Masters in Science from the University of Texas in
health behavior and intergenerational trauma. She is an
enrolled member of the Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians.
Her approach to holistic wellness uses a thorough
understanding of teachings of the Four Directions and
Anishinaabe Maadiziiwin. She is dedicated to working
with tribal communities to reach optimal wellness by
engaging in traditional Anishinaabe practices and
lifeways.
Role(s) / Session(s): KBIC DIGs; 5/22am TP3 Making &
Using Bootaagan
29
Buffalo, Shelley (Meskwaki), Upper Midwest Indigenous
Seed Keepers Network
Shelley Buffalo lives with her two sons on the Meskwaki
Settlement, in central Iowa. Iowa is the land between
two rivers, the Mississippi and the Missouri, located in
the upper midwest of the United States. Iowa is the most
biologically altered state in North America. Where there
was once lush oak savannah, tall grass prairie, forested
river valleys, wetlands, marshes and many unpolluted
springs, streams, lakes and rivers, there is now an
ecology and landscape unrecognizable to itself from
industrial agriculture, commodity farming and
development. Shelley reflects, “We Meskwaki are an
island of indigeneity tenaciously holding onto our
language, culture and relationship with the land while
surrounded by the impact of European settlement. It’s a
challenging environment to grow up in, to say the least,
and the Meskwaki, as any historian of their resistance to
colonization knows, are up to the challenge. This is my
home. Wherever I may wander, my path winds back
home to my community along the Iowa River. I’m drawn
back because this is where I belong and who I belong to.
This community formed me into who I am today. Some
of that formation was harsh and some of it was loving. I
am middle aged now and still have much to learn. If there
is one thing that I can do in my lifetime that is
meaningful, it is to interrupt colonization by staying
committed to my own Meskwaki cultural development.
Everything I do and say is measured by what my elders
have taught and continue to teach me.” The Meskwaki are
unique in that their land based community is a
settlement, not a reservation. The Meskwaki resisted
removal to reservations west of the Missouri River and
established the Meskwaki Settlement in 1857 with the
purchase of 80 acres near Tama, Iowa. The settlement
has grown to over 8,600 acres. Here’s a link to learn more
about the Meskwaki: https://www.meskwaki.org/history/
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/21pm Seed lineage & genealogy
Burton, Havilah (white, she/her), Montana State
University
Havilah graduated from Montana State University
Spring 2021 with a B.S. in Hospitality Management.
While at MSU, she did independent research under Dr.
Wan-Yuan Kuo in the Food Product Development Lab
concerning market viability for the smoked fish product
to support Native food sovereignty. Havilah’s interest in
this project stems from her upbringing on Flathead Lake
and moved back to the lake after graduation.
Link(s) of interest: MSU Food Product Development: Food
Product Development Lab – Food Product Development
Lab (MSU), Education at Salish Kootenai College.
Empower yourself today., Native Fish Keepers, INC.
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/21pm Indigenous producers &
practices
30
Black Elk, Linda (Korean/Mongolian/Catawba descent),
United Tribes Technical College
Luke and Linda Black Elk are food sovereignty activists
and teachers of traditional plant uses, gardening, food
preservation, and foraging. They spend their time
collecting and preparing traditional foods and medicines
for Indigenous peoples and communities in North
Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, and beyond. Linda is
the Food Sovereignty Coordinator at United Tribes
Technical College, where she teaches ethnobotany and
traditional skills. Together, Luke and Linda sit on the
board of Makoce Ikikcupi, a Native non-profit, which is a
Reparative Justice project on Dakota lands in Minnesota.
Luke and Linda make sure their three sons stay involved
in all of this important work, so they may learn about the
importance of feeding themselves and their communities
with food and medicine that nourishes and heals
mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.
Link(s) of interest: Makoce Ikikcupi (Land Recovery) – A
Project of Reparative Justice, United Tribes Technical
College: Home
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/21am Indigenous producers &
practices, 5/22 Food is Medicine Plant Walk
Black Elk, Luke (Itazipco Lakota), Cheyenne River
Reservation
Luke and Linda Black Elk are food sovereignty activists
and teachers of traditional plant uses, gardening, food
preservation, and foraging. They spend their time
collecting and preparing traditional foods and medicines
for Indigenous peoples and communities in North
Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, and beyond. Luke is
one of the founding board members of the Tatanka
Wakpala Model Sustainable Community, which is a
Native non-profit on the Cheyenne River Nation
focusing on traditional building design, permaculture,
food sovereignty, and a return to Lakota spirituality as a
guide for everyday life. Together, Luke and Linda sit on
the board of Makoce Ikikcupi, a Native non-profit, which
is a Reparative Justice project on Dakota lands in
Minnesota. Luke and Linda make sure their three sons
stay involved in all of this important work, so they may
learn about the importance of feeding themselves and
their communities with food and medicine that
nourishes and heals mentally, emotionally, physically,
and spiritually.
Link(s) of interest: Makoce Ikikcupi (Land Recovery) – A
Project of Reparative Justice, United Tribes Technical
College: Home
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/22 Food is Medicine Plant Walk
C
Chavez, Genesis (Hispanic / Latina, she/her)
Genesis is pursuing a M.S. in Sustainable Food Systems at
Montana State University. Genesis is currently
co-developing a tasty, nutrient-dense snack with youth at
the Flathead Reservation in Montana. Her research focuses
on utilizing locally produced and culturally relevant
ingredients such as Bison, Saskatoon berries, and Indian
ricegrass to connect younger generations to their food
heritage. By engaging youth in the development process,
she hopes to create a sense of ownership and
empowerment. Genesis hopes to become an advocate for
31
safe, nutritious, and inclusive food systems where no one is
left behind.
Link(s) of interest: MSU Food Product Development: Food
Product Development Lab – Food Product Development
Lab (MSU), Education at Salish Kootenai College.
Empower yourself today., Native Fish Keepers, INC.
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/21pm Indigenous producers &
practices
Collia, Cortney (Ojibwe, Scandinavian, Italian descent)
Cortney Collia is a student of the natural and healing
arts, an environmental educator, and Earth advocate.
Currently attending the Institute for Massage Education
to expand on the knowledge and skills she has gained in
various healing modalities. Through her studies of
Hawaiian Lomi Lomi massage, life coaching, birth doula
training and apprenticeship with traditional Ojibwe
Medicine man Donnie Ozahwanaqwat Dowd, she hopes
to aid those in need with their continued physical,
mental, emotional and spiritual health. She has spent 20
years in outdoor education, conservation and land
restoration and pairs that with 8 years teaching about
the cultural history, importance, restoration and
protection of Manoomin (Wild Rice) with Roger Labine of
Lac Vieux Desert which helps her form her holistic and
integrated approach to life. She is an active advocate for
water and environmental health who works under the
philosophy that the physical, spiritual, mental and
emotional health of humans is directly related to and
reliant upon the health of the Earth and all of those
beings who reside here.
Link(s) of interest: Plants & Gathering (glifwc.org), NATIVE
WILD RICE COALITION – Home,
Manoomin (Wild Rice)
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/22pm Wild Rice (Manoomin)
Processing and Traditional Knowledge
Cornelius, Dan (Oneida), Intertribal Agriculture Council
Role(s) / Session(s): Leadership Team, Planning Team,
5/21am Indigenous producers & practices
D
DeDecker, James, Michigan State University
Dr. James DeDecker is Director of the MSU Upper
Peninsula Research and Extension Center (UPREC) in
Chatham, MI. He is a partner in the “”Northern Flint
Corn Revitalization”” project, supervises the UPREC
Farm Business Incubator program, provides leadership
for the Hemp TRIM project. He has partnered with
32
Indigenous communities in Michigan on other food and
agriculture projects since 2014.
Link(s) of interest: MSU Upper Peninsula Research and
Extension Center, College of Menominee Nation
Sustainable Development Institute – Research Education
Outreach, Hemp Tribal Research Initiative for Michigan
(TRIM) 2020 CBD Hemp Cultivar Trial, Waishkey Bay
Farm | Bay Mills Community College, Ziibimijwang Farm
– Minogin Market – Northern Michigan
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/22am Engaging in equitable
Indigenous community and institutional partnerships
Doxtator, Arlie (Oneida Nation), Native American Food
Sovereignty Alliance
Arlie Doxtator is a professional chef of 30+ years from the
Oneida Nation in Wisconsin. In the past 20 years he has
done research on many of the indigenous foods of the
Lotinuhsyo=ni= – People of the Long House, with an
emphasis on Oneida Nation specific foods and cooking
techniques, specifically cooking in Lotinuhsyo=ni= clay
pots. He has worked with many staff members in the
Oneida Cultural Oneida and Mohawk clay pot makers as
well as others from the Six Nations, to reintroduce their
indigenous foods and cooking techniques to his people
and shares his journey of Shiakwa> shutlané
yukwakkwa> – reconnecting to our foods. Today, you
can find him working in the gardens, presenting at
Native food summits, or cooking alongside some of the
best cooks in Lotinuhsyo=ni= Confederacy, preparing
meals for the recitation of The Great Law of Peace and the
constitution of the Iroquois Confederacy.
Link(s) of interest: NAFSA::Native American Food
Sovereignty Alliance | Native American Food Sovereignty
Alliance
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/21pm Cooking with Clay Pots, 5/22am
Cooking with Clay Pots
E
Early, Zac (White Earth Ojibwe)
Zac Earley is the co-director, with Kaitlyn Grenier
(Bemidji MN), of the native led grassroots nonprofit,
Manidoo Ogitigaan. Manidoo Ogitigaan is a grassroots
native led nonprofit organization based in Bemidji MN
and serving native community members in northern
MN.
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/21 TP Anishinaabe Jiimaanan; The
roles and spiritual connections of traditional watercraft
to our food systems and seasonal foodways; 5/22 TP
Building an Anishinaabe Iskigamiziganaatig
(sugaring/kettle frame)
33
Etnia Kaqchikel, Ines Cuj
Ines Cuj de etnia Kaqchikel coordinadora de IMAP,
Licenciada en Contaduría Pública y Auditoría, cómo
Mujer es un reto para mí ser la coordinara de una
Asociación con más de 20 años, en nuestra cultura es
difícil que las mujeres sobresalgan en el ámbito laboral
pero puedo decir que somos capaces de alcanzar nuestros
sueños y tomar responsabilidades grandes, son 9 años
donde he sido parte del equipo IMAP y durante los
últimos 4 años he dirigido la asociación en los dos
últimos 2 años han sido los más difíciles ya que vivimos
las secuelas de una pandemia, pero no ha sido imposible
seguir trabajando.
Link(s) de internet: About the Mesoamerican Permaculture
Institute (IMAP), Niñez…¿futuro de nuestro país? |
EntreMundos, La Producción Local ante los Retos
Actuales | EntreMundos, £30,000 Prize Celebrates
Climate Solutions
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/21pm Nutrición nativa con enfoque
en Amaranto
F
Fain, Abi (Citizen of the Choctaw Nation), IAC
Abi Fain is an attorney who has devoted her career to
tribal advocacy and protecting tribal sovereignty. The
scope of Abi’s practice has ranged from representing
tribes in federal litigation and advocating on behalf of
tribes before members of Congress and federal agencies,
to working with tribes on developing and implementing
tribal codes and policies tailored to meet their needs and
support their goals. Prior to practicing law, Abi worked
for the Notah Begay III Foundation, where she worked on
developing messaging around the correlation between
food deserts in Indian Country and negative health
outcomes among Native children. It was here she first
began to understand the critical need for agriculture
development in Indian Country. Abi received her
bachelor’s degree from Oklahoma State University, and
her J.D. and Certificate in Federal Indian Law from the
University of Oklahoma College of Law. She is licensed to
practice law in Oklahoma, as well as the Osage Nation,
the Muscogee Nation and the Cherokee Nation.
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/21am Food Justice and Ethics
Falck, Jen (Oneida Nation), Kahulahele Farmstead,
Menominee Dept. of Agriculture & Food Systems
Jen Falck currently works for the Menominee Tribe’s
Department of Agriculture and Food Systems focusing
on food policy, food code. Jen is a Co-Owner of
Kahulahele Farmstead in Oneida, Wisconsin. Her family
operates a small scale regenerative produce operation,
including chicken, eggs, and pork. Kahulahele’s goal is to
build a micro food system and provide quality food to
their tribal community. The farm sells products, accepts
34
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits,
and focuses on bartering for their products. Jen’s family
is also part of Ohelaku- Oneida’s grassroots white corn
growing group. Jen has a BS in Natural Resource
Management and a Master’s in Public Administration.
She worked for the Oneida Nation for many years as a
Sanitarian and then as Director of the Legislative
Reference Office. She currently works for the Menominee
Tribe’s Department of Agriculture and Food Systems.
Link(s) of interest: Menominee Tribal Department of
Agriculture and Food Systems (Facebook),
https://www.facebook.com/Kahulahele, NAFSA::Native
American Food Sovereignty Alliance | Native American
Food Sovereignty Alliance, Dream of Wild Health –
Native-grown, youth led, Ukwakhwa
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/21pm Seed lineage & genealogy,
5/21pm Indigenous producers & practices
Ferreira, Evie (Yoeme Yaqui, Mestiza Mexicana,
Portuguese), Native American Studies: Food Sovereignty
Lab Steering Committee Member at Humboldt State
University
Evie Ferreira is passionate about intergenerational
efforts to steward the land, restore traditional plants and
Native lands, and revitalize Native Foodways. For the last
four years, she has dedicated time to the Potawot
Community Food Garden at the United Indian Health
Services. During her mentorship with the Potawot
farming crew, she strived to uplift food as medicine,
support revitalizing community wellness, and provide
healthy food for the local rancherias and reservations.
She also assists in organizing college student projects
centered around environmental engineering,
community-based learning, and growing food in good
relation to the land. She is one of the original students to
help found Rou Dalagurr, the Native American Studies:
Food Sovereignty Lab & Cultural Workspace. Today, Evie
is the Native Foodways Manager at The Cultural
Conservancy.
Links of interest: Learn about the Food Sovereignty Lab &
Cultural Workspace, hsunas, NAS Food Sovereignty Lab
& Cultural Workshop Space at HSU
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/22am Returning to ourselves and
reclaiming Indigenous food practices
Kevin Finney, Waabooz Ziibing Makuker Family
Kevin is a community activist, who over the past twenty
years has worked to promote equitable and sustainable
solutions through community based revitalization of
traditional knowledge and land-based relationships in
Indian Country. Kevin served as Executive Director of the
35
Jijak Foundation for the Match-E-Be-Nash-E-Wish Band
of Pottawatomi Indians from 2012- 2016, and currently
serves as Executive Director of the Great Lakes Lifeways
Institute and a partner at Nengoskwan Consulting. He
makes his home with his family along the beautiful
Waabozosiibing (Rabbit River) in Western Michigan.
Link(s) of interest: “BEST OF” Red Hoop Talk,
Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum |
Two Great Locations, One Organization
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/21am Indigenous producers &
practices, 5/21pm Anishinaabe Jiimaanan; The roles and
spiritual connections of traditional watercraft to our food
systems and seasonal foodways, 5/22am Making & Using
Bootaagan, 5/22pm Building an Anishinaabe
Iskigamiziganaatig (sugaring/kettle frame)
Fisher II, Joseph N. (Saginaw Ojibwe),
Saginaw-Chippewa Tribal College
Joseph Fisher is a student at Saginaw-Chippewa Tribal
College assisting with the Hemp TRIM project at that
location. He is also a community organizer focused on
Indigenous food and land revitalization.
Links of interest: Hemp Tribal Research Initiative for
Michigan (TRIM) 2020 CBD Hemp Cultivar Trial,
Waishkey Bay Farm | Bay Mills Community College,
Ziibimijwang Farm – Minogin Market – Northern
Michigan
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/22am Engaging in equitable
Indigenous community and institutional partnerships
Francis, Brandon NMSU Agricultural Science Center
Brandon Francis was born and raised on Black Mesa,
Arizona. His clans are: Nát’oh dine’é Táchii’nii nishli,
Tótsohnii bashishchiin, Tódich’ii’nii ei dashichei,
Kinłichii’nii dashinali. Since 2014, Brandon Francis has
been working as a Research Laboratory Technician and
Education Resource Coordinator for the NMSU
Agricultural Science Center in Farmington, New Mexico.
One of his initial projects was being part of a human
study where NMSU wanted to see how gardening
affected participants’ diet and exercise. In this study,
Brandon built backyard gardens for participants on the
Navajo Nation who lived along the San Juan River.
During the Gold King Mine spill of 2015, Brandon got
involved in 3 studies (currently ongoing) that monitor the
health of the farms in the San Juan River Valley. This
guided him to become deeply involved with many
communities along the San Juan River and form lasting
connections which endure today. Brandon’s current
research project is called Yéego Gardening where he
36
teaches gardening to third and fourth graders on the
Navajo Nation. Brandon hopes this project will help kids
reconnect to their Diné cultural ties to agriculture. He
also farms and gardens with his family and works with
many partnerships on soil testing and teaching dryland
farming practices.
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/22am Returning to ourselves and
reclaiming Indigenous food practices
G
Gagnon, Valoree S (Korean, British/Irish/Scottish),
Michigan Technological University
Valoree S Gagnon (she/her/ki/kin) serves as an Assistant
Professor in the College of Forest Resources and
Environmental Science, and the Director for
University-Indigenous Community Partnerships at the
Great Lakes Research Center, at Michigan Technological
University. Gagnon’s interdisciplinary expertise in
environmental policy, food sovereignty and
community-engaged research focuses on human
dimensions of natural resources and the socio- cultural
impacts of legacy toxic compounds, particularly on
fishing communities. Her research, teaching, and service
center on elevating Indigenous peoples and knowledge,
facilitating equitable research practice and design, and
guiding partnerships that prioritize the protection and
restoration of land and life in the Great Lakes region.
Link(s) of interest: Bridging Knowledge Systems and
Equity, Sharing Resources
Role(s) / Session(s): Leadership Team, Planning Team, 5/20
KBIC Sand Point
Gazing Wolf, Joseph (Lakota/Amazigh), Arizona State
University
Joseph Gazing Wolf (Lakota/Amazigh) is an
Environmental Life Sciences PhD student at Arizona
State University. His research interests germinate from
his experiences as a tribal shepherd in the Nile valley and
as a buffalo range rider in the Northern plains of the US.
An emerging theme of his research is the restoration of
social-ecological resilience through biocultural diversity
in tribal and BIPOC agricultural communities. He works
to elucidate the socio-cultural, agricultural, economic,
governmental, and ecological variables that contribute to
social-ecological resilience and sustainable livelihoods,
with a particular focus on the unique strengths,
contributions, and struggles of women
farmers/ranchers. In this vein, he is currently focusing
on land tenure dynamics in tribal communities and how
these dynamics shape tribal food sovereignty and
sustainability.
Link(s) of interest: ASU PhD candidate’s ecological research
on inequity is inspired by tribal identities | Graduate
37
College, Undergraduate Research at Cal Poly Pomona,
Joseph Gazing Wolf (@shunkaha3)
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/21pm Food Justice & Ethics
Gish Hill, Christina (she, her, hers), Iowa State University
Christina Gish Hill is an associate professor in the World
Languages and Cultures department at Iowa State
University, focusing on American Indian/Native cultures
of the Northern Plains and Midwest. Her current
research explores Native food sovereignty, including the
efforts of Native nations and growers to reinvigorate
Native foodways, particularly Indigenous forms of
agriculture, including welcoming Native seeds home
through rematriation. She studies the history of Native
agriculture in North American, the impact of U.S. settler
colonialism, and the efforts of communities to reverse
that process today.
Link(s) of interest: Home • Three Sisters Project • Iowa State
University
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/22pm Returning to ourselves and
reclaiming Indigenous food practices
Grenier, Kaitlyn (Bemidji MN)
Kaitlyn Grenier is the co-director, with Zac Early (White
Earth Ojibwe), of the native led grassroots nonprofit,
Manidoo Ogitigaan. Manidoo Ogitigaan is a grassroots
native led nonprofit organization based in Bemidji MN
and serving native community members in northern
MN.
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/21 TP Anishinaabe Jiimaanan; The
roles and spiritual connections of traditional watercraft
to our food systems and seasonal foodways; 5/22 TP
Building an Anishinaabe Iskigamiziganaatig
(sugaring/kettle frame)
Goodman, Sarah, Michigan State University
Sarah Goodman is the UPREC North Farm Coordinator.
She manages research and commercial vegetable
production at the North Farm, while providing
mentorship and technical assistance for participants in
the Farm Business Incubator program.
Link(s) of interest: Farm Business Incubator – Upper
Peninsula Research and Extension Center, MSU
Extension Product Center, Center for Regional Food
Systems Newsletter
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/22am Engaging in equitable
Indigenous community and institutional partnerships
Griswold, Mattie (Mixed European descent, she/her),
Montana State University
38
Mattie has a background in environmental studies,
community gardening, and collaborative partnership
development. Mattie is supporting ongoing research
in Native food product development and her master’s
thesis will support the development of a Tribal bison
farm-to-school model to support economic, ecological,
and community wellbeing. She hopes to support local
and Indigenous food sovereignty through her graduate
work and beyond.
Link(s) of interest: MSU Food Product Development: Food
Product Development Lab – Food Product Development
Lab (MSU), Education at Salish Kootenai College.
Empower yourself today., Native Fish Keepers, INC.
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/21pm Indigenous producers &
practices
H
Hart, Kathleen, Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribes (SCIT)
Elders Advisory Board
For the past 12 years Kathy has been on the Saginaw
Chippewa Indian Tribes (SCIT) Elders Advisory Board
(EAB) as Chair and co-chair as well as an elder delegate
for SCIT on the Michigan Indian Elders Association
(MEIA). Kathy is the USDA Equity Program Coordinator
in the Land Grant Office (LGO) at Saginaw Chippewa
Tribal College (SCTC).
She has been at SCTC for 11 years working with science
faculty and students, developing educational programs
such as the High School Pathway Program and the
College and Career Expo. She helps enhance student
learning though programming, oversees the
Environmental Stewardship Research Interns, advises
the STEAM Student Organization, and helps with
recruitment & retention. Kathy and SCTC student
interns collaborated with Central Michigan University
(CMU) Facilities Department and a two CMU students,
Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribes (SCIT) Environmental
Team, and Andahwod the SCIT Elders Assisted Living
center on a food waste reduction project. They diverted
over 6000 tons of waste from the landfill. Students
collected data, did research, and created cultural relevant
recycling posters, as well as a professional poster to
present at future conferences. More recently SCTC LGO
collaborated with Bay Mills Community College,
Michigan State University, and Ziibimijwang Farm on
the Hemp Tribal Research Initiative for Michigan (TRIM)
project. This has been one of the most exciting projects
Kathy has been involved with thus far. This coming up
season LGO staff and student interns will collect data and
compare findings from last year’s crops. SCTC LGO are
developing a farm and an outdoor classroom to help with
food sovereignty and sustainability. Kathy has four boys,
two girls, and 11 grandchildren.
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/22am Engaging in equitable
Indigenous community and institutional partnerships
Hawk Lessard, Kerry (Shawnee), Native American
Lifelines of Baltimore and Boston
Kerry Hawk Lessard (Shawnee) is the executive director
of Native American Lifelines and a lifelong Baltimorean.
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/21am Food Justice & Ethics
39
Henrikson, Cody (Ninilchik Village Tribe- Dena’ina and
Sugpiaq), Native American Studies: Food Sovereignty Lab
Steering Committee Member at Humboldt State
University
Links of interest: Learn about the Food Sovereignty Lab &
Cultural Workspace, hsunas, NAS Food Sovereignty Lab
& Cultural Workshop Space at HSU
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/22am Returning to ourselves and
reclaiming Indigenous food practices
Herron, Scott (Miami and Anishinaabe Ojibwe), Ferris
State University
Scott Herron is a lifelong forager, professor of
botany/mycology, and faculty advisor of Ferris State
Mycology Club. He cultivates edible and medicinal fungi,
forages seasonally for many species of mushrooms and
has learned to cook with them using traditional Great
Lakes foods, incorporating mushrooms into recipes that
are healthy, loved by kids and adults, and often help
medically, including diabetes, blood pressure regulation,
brain health, heart health and more. Students from the
FSU Mycology Club have been fundamental to Dr.
Herron’s revitalization of ethnomycology, including how
the Anishinaabeg have used mushrooms in the past and
present food/medical traditions.
Link(s) of interest: FSU Mycology Club – Home, New
Mycology course to be offered at Ferris State next fall,
Book Review: Puhpohwee for the People by
Keewaydinoquay Peschel
Role(s) / Session(s): Leadership Team, Planning Team,
5/21am Indigenous producers & practices, 5/22am Use of
wild foraged and cultivated mushrooms in decolonized
diet, 5/22pm Wild Rice (Manoomin) Processing and
Traditional Knowledge
Hey, Mae
Hey stewards the Indigenous Friendship Garden at
Virginia Tech. In the garden and other spaces, she works
with Land to support Nature-centered learning, to close
wellness inequities involving food, and to promote
sustainability through kinentric ecology. She also serves
Virginia Tech as an Assistant Professor, a Faculty Fellow
for their Office of Inclusion and Diversity, a Faculty
Affiliate for their Food Studies Program, and a Faculty
Fellow for their Center for Food Systems and Community
Transformation. She is a Sequoyah Fellow of the
American Indian Science and Engineering Society and a
member of the Native American Food Sovereignty
Alliance’s culinary mentorship program.
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/22pm Centering Indigenous health
and wellbeing
Hotvedt, Carly Griffith, JD/MPA (Cherokee), Associate
Director, Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative
40
Carly Griffith Hotvedt, a citizen of Cherokee Nation, is a
seasoned legal professional, admitted to practice in
Oklahoma, Cherokee Nation and Muscogee (Creek)
Nation, with an affinity for government law, agriculture,
tribal policy and public administration. As the Associate
Director of the Indigenous Food and Agriculture
Initiative, she works with tribes and in tribal policy to
advance food security and tribal agriculture enterprise
development, supervises staff work and research, and
interfaces with policymakers to elevate Indian Country
stakeholder needs and priorities. Prior to joining IFAI,
she shepherded the creation of and directed the Division
of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Muscogee
(Creek) Nation, where she initiated an overhaul of the
Agribusiness operation resulting in a 70%+ loss margin
reduction and set the program on track for sustainable
operation. Carly clerked for the late Oklahoma Supreme
Court Justice Marion Opala. She practices Tribal Election
law with a 100% success rate in the Courts of the
Cherokee Nation. Carly also serves on the Oklahoma
Farm Service Agency State Committee, Oklahoma State
University’s Political Science Advisory Board, and the
Greater Tulsa Indian Affairs Commission. She is the
sponsor for the University of Arkansas College of Law’s
chapter of the Native American Law Student Association.
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/21am Food Justice and Ethics
J
Jacques, Kathryn (Éireannach & Balkan, white,
she/her/hers), Michigan State University
ExtensionKatKat coordinates MSU Extensions Federally
Recognized Tribes Extension Program (FRTEP). FRTEP
works to build relationships between tribal partners and
extension and to leverage the resources within extension
to support tribes’ self-determined community food
system projects and food sovereignty activities where
appropriate. We co-plan and deliver youth food system
programming including hands-on apple cider Press
science, crop planning, seed starting & transplant
production, Boat to School and seed saving.
Links of interest: Michigan State University Extension
Federally Recognized Tribal Extension Program (FRTEP)
– Tribal Extension, FRTEP with Michigan State
University Extension – Home
Role(s) / Session(s): Planning Team
Jacques, Larry (Niigaanigetebamase), Sault Ste. Marie
Tribe of Chippewa Indians
Larry Jacques is a Member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of
Chippewa Indians and is part of the Bear Clan. He lives
in the Gnoozhekaaning area in Brimley, MI. Larry has
recently started down the path of wood working mainly
engaging in small traditional projects at home with his
wife and 4 yr. old son. Some of his recent wood related
projects include four snowsnakes, bootagans, a maple
sugar trough, an adze, cedar cordage, medallions,
mallets, wood blue tooth speakers, and a handful of other
projects. He and his family also spend time enjoying
their small backyard garden and woods with sage,
tobacco, sweetgrass, and cedar, along with the three
sisters and various other plantings. He has also worked
41
as the Director of Strategic Planning for his Tribe for the
past 7 years.
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/22am TP Making and Using
Bootaagan
Jean, Monica Atkin (white, European descent), Michigan
State University Extension
Monica Jean is an Extension Educator in Sustainable
Agriculture. Monica is involved in Field crop production,
environment and community-based agriculture research
and education. Farmers and commodity groups are an
integral part of her projects and programs. She is a
member of the Midwest Cover Crops Council Board of
Directors, North Central Climate Collaborative Executive
Committee, and the North Central Region Water
Network. She has a lot to learn about belonging to the
land and tries to demonstrate that awareness through
her professional work by listening, learning, and
teaching about climate change, soil health, cover crop
and cropping system research, education, and outreach.
Monica has a MS in Animal Science from Michigan State
University, B.S in Biology from Central Michigan
University and an upbringing on a small, diverse, carbon
sink farm around Mt. Pleasant, MI. She would like to
recognize that her family’s farm occupies the ancestral,
traditional, and contemporary lands of the
Anishinaabeg.
Link(s) of interest: MSU Cover Crops Site, Midwest
Cover Crops Council, MSUE Farm Resilience,
@Agnomad, North Central Climate Collaborative, North
Central Region Water Network
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/20 KBIC DIGs
Jescovitch, Lauren (she/her), Michigan Sea Grant
Extension
Dr. Lauren Jescovitch works as an Extension Educator in
the Houghton/Hancock area in the Upper Peninsula.
Lauren’s work focuses on state and tribal aquaculture and
commercial fisheries, HACCP and seafood processing,
water quality, STEM education, and 360 technology.
Lauren also has an office at the Great Lakes Research
Center where she collaborates with researchers from
Michigan Tech University and serves on the Western UP
Food Systems Collaborative.
Link(s) of interest: Michigan Sea Grant | Helping to foster
economic growth and protect Michigan’s coastal, Great
Lakes resources through education, research and
outreach., MSU Extension
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/21pm KBIC fisheries: An immersive
360 experience from the waters of Lake Superior
John, Robin (Oneida Nation Wi), Ohe·láku (among the
cornstalks)
Ohe.laku is a non-profit Native American Agriculture
Co-op. We are 18 adults and 19 youth that grow our
heirloom white corn on the Oneida Reservation in Wi.
Each one of us brings a particular gift or skill to the
42
group that makes us stronger together. We use
traditional growing methods, conservation growing
methods and conventional growing methods on three
different fields. Ours is a year round responsibility, as we
prepare the fields and plant together in the spring, care
for the plants together in the summer, hand harvest,
hand husk, hand braid in the fall and weigh, distribute
and plan in the winter. Distribution of corn depends on
the number of hours worked divided by the total harvest
weight.
Link(s) of interest: Ohe∙láku – Among the Cornstalks
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/21 Traditional Corn Processing
Johnson, Biskakone Greg (Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe)
Biskakone Greg Johnson is a proud member of the Lac du
Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians. He
is a devoted partner and father of four beautiful children.
Biskakone is an acclaimed artist and graphic designer.
He has mastered the art of Ojibwe moccasin-making and
is motivated to educate the next generation of makers in
this field. Greg is a teacher in the school system and
community. You may find him sharing his passion for
traditional seasonal Anishinaabe living with
communities throughout the Great Lakes region. He is a
hunter, gatherer, spear fisherman, and fierce advocate
for treaty rights. His efforts to further sovereignty for the
Anishinaabe have been featured in multiple publications.
Biskakone’s commitment to family, ceremonies, and
community will always be foremost in his life.
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/20 KBIC DIGs
Johnston, Erin (Irish/Swedish/German), Keweenaw Bay
Indian Community Natural Resources Department
Erin Johnston is the Wildlife Biologist and Wildlife &
Habitat Section Lead for the Keweenaw Bay Indian
Community (KBIC) Natural Resources Department. She
has worked for KBIC for over 12 years, 10 of those years
with the Natural Resources Department. As the Wildlife
& Habitat Section Lead, Erin is responsible for oversight
of a number of projects related to wildlife and wetlands
monitoring, habitat/native plant restoration, and
invasive species monitoring and control. When she’s not
at work, Erin enjoys spending time with her husband and
two young daughters enjoying the great outdoors.
Link(s) of interest: Home | Natural Resource Department
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/20 KBIC Sand Point
Jones, Parker (white/caucasian, he/him/his), Michigan
State University
43
Parker Jones is an Extension Educator and small business
counselor with the MSU Product Center. In this role, he
helps food, agriculture & natural resource entrepreneurs
to access support services and meet their business goals.
Parker is also co-PI of the USDA Regional Food Systems
Partnership, Food SPICE (Food System Partners
Investing in Communities and Entrepreneurs) project.
Link(s) of interest: Farm Business Incubator – Upper
Peninsula Research and Extension Center, MSU
Extension Product Center, Center for Regional Food
Systems Newsletter
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/22am Engaging in equitable
Indigenous community and institutional partnerships
K
Kapayou, Derrick (Meskwaki), Iowa State University
Derrick Kapayou is a double masters student at Iowa
State University pursuing degrees in Sustainable
Agriculture and Anthropology. Derrick’sresearch looks at
the soil effects from using traditional Great-Lakes area
Native American cropping techniques and crop varieties,
as well as trying to learn how these collaborating
communities interact with soil in a culturally significant
way to grow food. As a member of the Meskwaki Nation
located in central Iowa, Derrick’s research project is
particularly interesting to him because he gets to interact
with other Native communities outside of his own while
learning about the importance of soil from them.
Through his research, he feels he has started to
understand the importance of food growers having a
respectful relationship with the Earth, as well as some of
the human/ecosystem benefits associated with that type
of relationship. His favorite thing to grow in his garden
is cherry tomatoes because they remind him of his
Grandma.
Link(s) of interest: Home • Three Sisters Project • Iowa State
University, Derrick Kapayou (@dgk68479837),
u-poster
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/22pm Returning to ourselves and
reclaiming Indigenous food practices
44
Kirby-Shoote, Kirsten (Tlingit), Native American Food
Sovereignty Alliance
Kirsten Kirby-Shoote is a Tlingit food activist, chef and
urban farmer originally from Portland, Ore. In 2015, she
moved to Detroit in order to explore Indigenous food
sovereignty and how it’s integrated into urban
landscapes. Kirsten is dedicated to providing the
community with access to traditional foods/medicines,
her agriculture project (Leilú Gardens) mission is to
cultivate relationships with our plant relatives and help
heal the wounds of ancestral trauma. She also hosts
pop-up dinners in Detroit to raise awareness of the local
Indigenous food-movement and creating a more
equitable food system.
Link(s) of interest: NAFSA::Native American Food
Sovereignty Alliance | Native American Food Sovereignty
Alliance
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/22pm GB Narrative Change Work
Kuo, Wan-Yuan (Asian/Taiwanese/she her hers), Montana
State University
Dr. Wan-Yuan Kuo is the director of the MSU Food
Product Development Lab who’s research focuses on
sustainable food product development – using food
science knowledge to develop nutritionally, culturally,
and ecologically healthy food products to support
Indigenous communities. Presentation Co-Authors:
Havilah Burton, Montana State University; Brittany
Robles, Salish Kootenai College, Navajo; Rachel
Andrews-Gould, Dean of Business Division, Salish
Kootenai College, Confederated Salish and Kootenai
Tribes; Dacia Whitworth, Salish Kootenai College,
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes; Mattie
Griswold, Montana State University; Wan-Yuan Kuo,
Montana State University.
Link(s) of interest: MSU Food Product Development: Food
Product Development Lab – Food Product Development
Lab (MSU), Education at Salish Kootenai College.
Empower yourself today., Native Fish Keepers, INC.
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/21pm Indigenous producers &
practices
L
LaBine, Roger (Ojibwe), Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake
Superior Chippewa Indians
45
Roger LaBine is an enrolled member of the Lac Vieux
Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and is currently
employed in the Environmental Department as a Water
Resource Technician. Roger is the tribal delegate on the
Michigan Wild Rice Initiative and co-chairs the
Education and Outreach Subcommittee, and co-chairs
the Michigan Wild Rice Coalition. He is a
consultant/advisor on several Manoomin Research
projects with the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, the
University of Minnesota, and a Manoomin Restoration
Project on the properties of the University of Michigan.
Roger is a member of the Midewiwin Lodge and received
his Mentoring and Teachings from the lodge, his
Grandparents and his Uncle Niigaanaash (Ne-gone-osh).
Roger was the recipient of the 2019 Michigan Heritage
Award given by the State of Michigan and Michigan State
University for his work of preservation, education,
outreach, and restoration efforts throughout the State of
Michigan and the Great Lakes Basin. He conducts
Manoomin Camps and Manoomin workshops
throughout the year across the Great Lakes Basin, and
they are open to both the tribal members and to the
general public.
Link(s) of interest: Plants & Gathering (glifwc.org), NATIVE
WILD RICE COALITION – Home,
Manoomin (Wild Rice) (michiganseagrant.org)
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/22pm Wild Rice (Manoomin)
Processing and Traditional Knowledge
Lane-Clark, Shelby (she/they,
Irish/German/Scandinavian), Michigan Technological
University
Shelby Nicole Lane-Clark is a master’s student at
Michigan Technological University in the College of
Forest Resources and Environmental Science. She is
currently working under Dr. Tara Bal to assess the impact
of exotic earthworms, initially introduced during the
colonization of Turtle Island by Europeans, on the health
of sugar maples and how this could impact the
production of maple syrup and sugar, which is
traditionally a staple food for indigenous peoples of the
Great Lakes region. Shelby has a background in
plant-pollinator relationships and forest ecology and is
interested in a career in forest health management
because she is enthralled by the interconnectedness of all
members of forest communities and how each member
plays a vital role in the overall health of the forest. Shelby
enjoys spending her free time playing with her pets,
looking at cool bugs, birdwatching, cooking with her
husband, gardening, and taking naps.
Role(s) / Session(s): Planning Team
Lara, Ana Maurine (Taino and Black), University of
Oregon
Ana-Maurine Lara (Taino and Black) is committed to the
healing of indigenous and Black relations. She is a fifth
generation curandera, and every year hosts a gathering
drawing together First peoples and Black relations in the
46
Dominican Republic to talk about our stories, struggles
and solidarity. She is currently an Associate Professor in
Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies at University of
Oregon.
Link(s) of interest: CARIBBEAN WOMEN HEALERS |,
Journeys on the Dusty Road
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/22am Centering Indigenous health
and wellbeing
M
Manthe, Laura (Oneida Nation Wi), Ohe·láku (among the
cornstalks)
Ohe.laku is a non-profit Native American Agriculture
Co-op. We are 18 adults and 19 youth that grow our
heirloom white corn on the Oneida Reservation in Wi.
Each one of us brings a particular gift or skill to the
group that makes us stronger together. We use
traditional growing methods, conservation growing
methods and conventional growing methods on three
different fields. Ours is a year round responsibility, as we
prepare the fields and plant together in the spring, care
for the plants together in the summer, hand harvest,
hand husk, hand braid in the fall and weigh, distribute
and plan in the winter. Distribution of corn depends on
the number of hours worked divided by the total harvest
weight.
Link(s) of interest: Ohe∙láku – Among the Cornstalks
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/21 Traditional Corn Processing
Maples, Shiloh (Ojibwe/Odawa, Little River Band of
Ottawa Indians), Native American Food Sovereignty
Alliance
Shiloh Maples is the Program Manager for Native
American Food Sovereignty Alliance and is a community
organizer based in southeast Michigan.
Link(s) of interest: NAFSA::Native American Food
Sovereignty Alliance | Native American Food Sovereignty
Alliance, Dream of Wild Health – Native-grown, youth
led, Ukwakhwa
Role(s) / Session(s): Planning Team
Maudrie, Tara (Sault Ste Marie Ojibwe), Johns Hopkins
Bloomberg School of Public Health
Tara Maudrie is an enrolled member of the Sault Ste
Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians and a member of the
Baltimore and Detroit urban Native communities.
47
Maudrie received her MSPH from the Johns Hopkins
Bloomberg School of Public Health (JHBSPH), and is a
PhD student in social and behavioral sciences at JHBSPH
Tara is passionate about food justice, food sovereignty,
Indigenous research methodologies, and urban Native
health. Maudrie coordinateda community-based
participatory research study with Baltimore Native
LifeLines to explore food security and food sovereignty
within the context of urban Native communities. In the
future, she hopes to advocate for changes in public health
policy to better support urban Native food security and
food sovereignty.
Link(s) of interest:
arch, Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health,
New Book | Indigenous peoples, Momentum and
Longevity for Tribally Driven Health Equity Science:
Evidence from the Gathering for Health Project
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/21am Food Justice & Ethics
McCovey, Louisa (Yurok), Yurok Tribe Environmental
Program
Louisa McCovey, the Director of the Yurok Tribe
Environmental Program (YTEP) since 2015, is a Yurok
Tribal member and cultural practitioner with vast
experience teaching traditional gathering and processing
methods. Louisa has created the Food Sovereignty
Division and the Enforcement, Response, and Education
(ERE) Division of YTEP, as well as provided direction,
support, and drive for the expansion and development of
the Pollution Prevention Division, Water Quality
Division, Community and Ecosystems Division, and Air
Quality program. Outside of her professional work,
Louisa is also a skilled photographer and jewelry maker,
sharing the beauty of Yurok designs with the world.
Link(s) of interest: Food Sovereignty Division – Yurok Tribe
Environmental Program, Nue-ne-pueh Mehl Kee
Tey-nem’mo-nee ‘Oohl – Cooperation Humboldt
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/22am Centering Indigenous health
and wellbeing
McDonald, Amanda
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/22am Returning to ourselves and
reclaiming Indigenous food practices
McGowen, Cole, Ferris State University
Cole McGowen is a recent alumnus of Ferris State
University, who was a student researcher, Environmental
Biology major, Mycology Club leader.
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/22am Use of wild foraged and
cultivated mushrooms in decolonized diet
Melchor, Polet Campos (Xicana), University of Oregon
Polet Campos Melchor is a Xicana PhD student at the
University of Oregon. She studies kitchen practices
among Mexican migrants in Oregon. Her work is
informed by time spent in her Abuela’s kitchen in rural
Mexico and California.
Link(s) of interest: CARIBBEAN WOMEN HEALERS |,
Journeys on the Dusty Road
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/22pm Centering Indigenous health
and wellbeing
48
Morseau, Amber (Pokagon Band of Potawatomi
Indians), Director of the Center for Native American
Studies at Northern Michigan University.
Amber is an alumna of Eastern Michigan University,
earning her bachelor’s of science in psychology and
anthropology (2016) and a masters of arts in educational
leadership, higher education student affairs (2018). She
has served as the Native American Recruitment
Coordinator under the Wokini (whoa-kee-nee) Initiative
at South Dakota State University, and later became the
American Indian Programs Coordinator. Her time at
SDSU brought growth and inspiration for her to go
beyond programming and recruitment to conduct
research to promote cultural connectedness to science in;
“Storytelling through Science: Using Oral History and
Chemistry to Revitalize Quill Working Societies”, a
project focusing on decolonizing curriculum in tribal
schools and the rematriation of traditional knowledge in
contemporary education. She is the Secretary of the
Michigan Indian Education Council. As the Director of
the Center for Native American Studies at Northern
Michigan University she applies her knowledge and
passion for student and community growth by
supporting faculty autonomy in the classroom,
supporting student-led initiatives, and providing
research bridges and opportunities between academic
and tribal communities.
Role(s) / Session(s): Planning Team
O
Oglivie-Bush, Angus (Potawatomi)
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/21am Carving Cooking Paddles and
Planting Sticks, 5/21pm Anishinaabe Jiimaanan; The roles
and spiritual connections of traditional watercraft to our
food systems and seasonal foodways, 5/22pm TP3
Building an Anishinaabe Iskigamiziganaatig
(sugaring/kettle frame)
P
Palmer, Abbey (white, she/her), Community Food
Systems Educator, Michigan State University, Upper
Peninsula Research and Extension Center
Abbey coordinates educational activities for people of all
ages who are curious about where food comes from and
how it is produced. Abbey became involved with food and
farming through work at the Marquette Food Co-op,
Rock River Farm, then came onboard at the UP Research
and Extension Center in 2015. Her work focuses on how
K-12 students and producers can work together on
sustainability issues with outcomes that benefit the
whole community.
Link(s) of interest:
https://www.canr.msu.edu/uprc/education
Role(s) / Session(s): Leadership Team, Planning Team
Palzewicz, Alex (Polish, German, French Canadian,
she/her), Taste the Local Difference
Alex Palzewicz grew up in the Upper Peninsula, and for
the last four years has been working to support small
49
food and farming businesses in her work with Taste the
Local Difference and the Upper Peninsula Food
Exchange. She has over 10 years of restaurant experience
and is a graduate from Northern Michigan University’s
Hospitality Management program.
Link(s) of interest: Book by Decolonizing Diet Project
Edited by Martin Reinhardt, Leora Lancaster, & April
Lindala, Taste the Local Difference | Marketing Local
Food in Michigan, food products & catering |
RENEGADE SHEEP | upper peninsula | food
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/21am Relationships Cooking
Demonstration & Dialogue: Procuring, Utilizing and
Respecting Indigenous Foods
Plenty Sweetgrass-She Kills, Ruth (Hidatsa, Mandan,
Sioux, Assiniboine), Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College
Ruth is the Food Sovereignty Director for the Nueta
Hidatsa Sahnish College. She enjoys growing, gathering,
and trading for traditional plant foods and medicines.
Link(s) of interest: Welcome – NHS College
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/21am Indigenous producers &
practices
Pressley, Rachael (she/they), Western Upper Peninsula
Planning and Development Region
Rachael Pressley is the Regional Planner for the Western
U.P. Planning and Development Region (WUPPDR). She
has worked for WUPPDR since May 2018 after she
returned to live in the Western Upper Peninsula with her
husband, child, and dog. Her planning responsibilities
include rural food systems, hazard mitigation,
recreation, and non-motorized transportation. Rachael
also coordinates a local seed library, volunteers for the
farmer’s market and participates in a mutual aid group
called Growing From the Heart. Rachael is originally
from Alaska and enjoys spending time outdoors, foraging
for berries and mushrooms, hiking, gardening, and
cooking.
Link(s) of interest: https://www.wupfoodsystems.com/
Role(s) / Session(s): Planning Team
R
Rahrig, Jamie (she/hers) Michigan State University
Center for Regional Food Systems and MSU Product
Center
50
Jamie Rahrig manages the Michigan Good Food Fund at
Michigan State University Center for Regional Food
Systems and is part of the MSU Product Center team. In
her role, Jamie provides business coaching to good food
businesses statewide from farm to fork with a goal of
providing equitable access to healthy and affordable
food. She has focused her career on public health issues
from nutrition and food access to cancer. She has a
Master of Public Health from UM Flint and a Bachelor of
Science in Dietetics from MSU.
Link(s) of interest: Michigan State University Center for
Regional Food Systems, MSU Product Center, Funding
Sources for Food-Related Businesses, Michigan Good
Food Fund
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/22am Engaging in equitable
Indigenous community and institutional partnerships
Ravindran, Evelyn (Keweenaw Bay Indian Community
Lake Superior Ojibwa, Standing Rock Lakota), Keweenaw
Bay Indian Community Natural Resources Department
Evelyn Ravindran is an enrolled member of the
Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC) and serves as
the Director of Natural Resources for the KBIC. In
working for the KBIC for more than three decades, she
has served in many capacities for the protection of treaty
resources and revitalization of food sovereignty. Her
main priorities are to share KBIC stewardship and
governance practices for Lake Superior basin
communities and to work in partnership with others for
the restoration and protection of relationships between
water, air, fisheries and forests, and many other plant
and wildlife communities.
Link(s) of interest: Home | Natural Resource Department
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/20 KBIC Sand Point
Reinhardt, Martin (Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa
Indians), Northern Michigan University
51
Dr. Martin Reinhardt is an Anishinaabe Ojibway citizen
of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians from
Michigan. He is a tenured professor of Native American
Studies at Northern Michigan University. He is the
president of the Michigan Indian Education Council, and
the lead singer and songwriter for the band Waawiyeyaa
(The Circle). His current research focuses on revitalizing
relationships between humans and Indigenous plants
and animals of the Great Lakes Region. He has taught
courses in American Indian education, tribal law and
government, and sociology. He has a Ph.D. in
Educational Leadership from the Pennsylvania State
University, where his doctoral research focused on Indian
education and the law with a special focus on treaty
educational provisions. Martin serves as a panelist for
the National Indian Education Study Technical Review
Panel and as the primary investigator for the
Decolonizing Diet Project. He has also served as Chair of
the American Association for Higher Education
American Indian/Alaska Native Caucus, and as an
external advisor for the National Indian School Board
Association. He also holds both a Bachelor’s and a
Master’s degree in Sociology.
Link(s) of interest:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/decolonizingdietproj
ect
Role(s) / Session(s): Leadership Team, Planning Team,
5/22pm Centering Indigenous health and wellbeing
Richards, Marie R. (Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa
Indians), Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians
Marie R. Richards is the Repatriation and Historic
Preservation Specialist for Sault Tribe and Sault Tribe
member. Ms. Richards is currently working on her PhD
in Industrial Heritage and Archaeology at Michigan
Technological University. Her work in both spaces
focuses on traditional cultural landscapes and the
repatriation and rematriation of Ancestors, land, seeds
and foodways.
Link(s) of interest: Sault Tribe Language and Culture –
Home (Facebook), Language & Culture – The Sault Tribe
of Chippewa Indians Official Web Site
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/22pm Bridging traditional and
scientific ways of knowing to restore land and life
Richardson, Dustin (Blackfeet), Native American
Lifelines of Baltimore
Dustin Richardson (Blackfeet) is the clinical director of
Native American Lifelines.
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/21am Food Justice & Ethics
S
Schmidt, Karena (German), Keweenaw Bay Indian
Community Natural Resources Department
52
Karena is an ecologist for the Keweenaw Bay Indian
Community Natural Resources Department. Within her
oikos are lichen and fungi of intricate beauty, orchids of
the boreal sort, increasingly fertile garden soils, trees
that have grown very old, dark fruits, buzzing
invertebrates pollinating alluring blossoms, wetland teas
that energize and heal, vertebrates beckoning with new
pathways to follow, and manoomin telling vivid stories to
guide her with teachings on how to reciprocate the many
gifts from the Earth.
Link(s) of interest: Food Sovereignty | Natural Resource
Department
Role(s) / Session(s): Planning Team, 5/20 KBIC DIGs
Shaw, Emily (German/British ancestry), Michigan
Technological University
Emily Shaw is a PhD student doing research, in
partnership with the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community,
to quantify chemical contamination in fish. Previously,
she taught Great Lakes ecology to students of all ages.
Her dissertation research has refocused her work
towards food systems. She enjoys tending vegetable
gardens, cooking and sharing meals with friends, and
hiking.
Link(s) of interest: NA
Role(s) / Session(s): Planning Team, 9/19 KBIC Sand Point
Sprague, Frank (Potawatomi), Waabooz Ziibing Makuker
Family
Frank Sprague is a Potawatomi artist and traditional
knowledge carrier from SW Michigan. Over the past 30
years his work has largely focused on working with
Native youth as well as teaching traditional woodworking
and other art forms including drum making and making
lacrosse sticks. He has also been a part of many
community canoe builds, serves as a firekeeper for his
community and has been involved in many other native
community projects and initiatives throughout his life.
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/21am Carving Cooking Paddles and
Planting Sticks, 5/21pm Anishinaabe Jiimaanan; The roles
and spiritual connections of traditional watercraft to our
food systems and seasonal foodways
Stanley, Kristina (Red Cliff, Ojibwe), Native American
Food Sovereignty Alliance (NAFSA), I-Collective
53
Kristina Stanley (Red Cliff Ojibwe) is an advocate, chef,
and community organizer currently located in the
Midwest in SouthCentral Wisconsin. Kristina attended
Northland College where she studied Ecopsychology –
with a focus on Horticulture Therapy. Her studies
focused around food ecosystems, food access, and how
an individual’s relationship with food and the natural
environment affects both physical and mental health.
Kristina joined the Native American Food Sovereignty
Alliance (NAFSA) in 2021 as the Food & Culinary Program
Coordinator, where she works diligently to connect
Indigenous people to resources needed to develop
regional Culinary Food Sovereignty networks and
initiatives. Kristina is also the Operations Manager and
elected Leadership Team Member of I-Collective, a
collective of Indigenous Activists, focused on Food
Sovereignty and Narrative Change Work.
Link(s) of interest: NAFSA::Native American Food
Sovereignty Alliance | Native American Food Sovereignty
Alliance
Role(s) / Session(s): KBIC Culinary Team, 5/22pm GB
Narrative Change Work
Stevens, Stephanie (Polish, German and Scottish),
Ohe·láku (among the cornstalks)
Ohe.laku is a non-profit Native American Agriculture
Co-op. We are 18 adults and 19 youth that grow our
heirloom white corn on the Oneida Reservation in Wi.
Each one of us brings a particular gift or skill to the
group that makes us stronger together. We use
traditional growing methods, conservation growing
methods and conventional growing methods on three
different fields. Ours is a year round responsibility, as we
prepare the fields and plant together in the spring, care
for the plants together in the summer, hand harvest,
hand husk, hand braid in the fall and weigh, distribute
and plan in the winter. Distribution of corn depends on
the number of hours worked divided by the total harvest
weight.
Link(s) of interest: Ohe∙láku – Among the Cornstalks
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/21 Traditional Corn Processing
T
Terry, Elena (Hocak Nation), Wild Bearies
Several TBD Bearies will help with the presentation
Elena Terry is the Executive Chef/Founder of Wild
Bearies and is a member of the Hocak Nation. Raised in a
traditional family, Elena started cooking for ceremonies
at an early age and realized the importance ancestral
foods have within prayer. Elena is a contributing mentor
for the Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance and is
also a 2021 NDN Changemaker Fellow, representing the
Great Lakes region.
Link(s) of interest: Wild Bearies
Role(s) / Session(s): Planning Team, 5/22pm Wild Bearies,
Building community through the healing power of food
Thompson, Taylor (Cherokee Nation), Yurok Tribe
Environmental Program
54
Taylor Thompson, the Yurok Tribe Environmental
Program (YTEP) Food Sovereignty Division Manager, is a
two-spirit citizen of the Cherokee Nation. Taylor has
worked in the environmental field for over ten years, with
experience in wildlife, invasive species mitigation, and
habitat restoration before beginning to work with
indigenous food systems. In addition to program
creation for the Food Sovereignty Division, Taylor also
tends their personal garden at their home in Wiyot
Ancestral territory and can frequently be found running
through the nearby redwood forest and marshlands.
Link(s) of interest: Food Sovereignty Division – Yurok Tribe
Environmental Program
Nue-ne-pueh Mehl Kee Tey-nem’mo-nee ‘Oohl –
Cooperation Humboldt
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/22am Centering Indigenous health
and wellbeing
Tolman, Tipiziwin (Standing Rock Dakota Lakota),
University of Victoria Graduate Student
Tipiziwin Tolman is Wičhíyena Dakota and Húŋkpapȟa
Lakȟóta from the Standing Rock Sioux Indian
Reservation in North Dakota, USA. She is a
representative of the Skunk, Pretends Eagle, and Yellow
Lodge extended families of the Standing Rock people and
the Young extended family from the Spirit Lake Dakota
people. Tipiziwin carries on the tradition of winter count
keeping of her Yellow Lodge ancestors, and she belongs
to the Circle of Advisors for Deep Medicine Circle.
Tipiziwin is a graduate of Sitting Bull College (BS),
completed the Bush Foundation’s Native Nation
Rebuilders governance program, and Washington State
University’s Ti’tooqan Cuukweneewit Indigenous
Teacher Preparation Project, and is currently a substitute
teacher in the Pullman School District in Pullman,
Washington and serves on the National Academies of
Medicine’s Culture of Health Program Advisory
Committee. Currently, she is a graduate student in the
Master’s of Indigenous Language Revitalization at the
University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. As a
former Lakota Language Activities Instructor in the
Lakota Language Immersion Nest from 2012 to 2017, she
has served as a member and co-chair of Standing Rock’s
Education Consortium’s Lakota Language and Culture
Committee and taught at the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s
annual Dakotiyapi Lakotiyapi Summer Institute. She is
55
married to T Tolman, also a former Lakota language
immersion instructor at Wičhákini Owáyawa on
Standing Rock, and they have six children: MathoSkawin,
Itazipalutaslutela, Ptehewoptuha, Wigiiyaothi,
Wanblikunzawin, and Wanapheya and one grandchild,
Rylen. They make their home in Pullman, Washington,
and own “Haipazaza Phezuta”, Which means Medicine
Soaps in the Lakota language, an online soap and body
product store that promotes family, sustainability, and
respectful indigenous reciprocity relationships with
medicine plant relatives.
Link(s) of interest: http://www.haipazazaphezuta.com
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/22pm Centering Indigenous health
and wellbeing
Tully, Carrie (Mixed European and Ashkenazi Jew,
she/her), Native American Studies: Food Sovereignty Lab
Steering Committee Member at Humboldt State
University
Carrie is a co-founder of Rou Dalagurr, the Food
Sovereignty Lab & Cultural Workspace. She is a graduate
student in the Environment & Community program at
Humboldt State University and works for Save California
Salmon, and the Northcoast Environmental Center.
Motivated by her own complex life experiences, she
strives to address, understand, and seek ways to heal
traumas by building relationships with her community.
This passion is what drove her to work on the Food
Sovereignty Lab project and her thesis project which
focuses on land return. There is a fundamental need for
communities to build and maintain stronger bridges
between them. It is Carrie’s aim to establish some of
those bridges via her work.
Links of interest: Food Sovereignty Lab & Cultural
Workshop Space | Native American Studies, HSU Giving
Native American Studies Food Sovereignty Lab –
Humboldt State University, HSU – Imagining an
Indigenized Campus (NAS 331 Class Project)
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/22am Returning to ourselves and
reclaiming Indigenous food practices
Tzunún, Andres Shalix
Soy Andres de la comunidad de Quixaya, San Lucas
Tolimán, Sololá Guatemala tengo 26 años y mi trabajo en
IMAP ha sido exactamente en el proceso de Amaranto y
plantas Nativas, el amaranto una planta ancestral que por
sus beneficios ha sido fundamental en la alimentación
básica de la cultura Maya, con los año ha ido
desapareciendo y en IMAP estamos volviendo a
incorporar a la dieta de las familias en las comunidades
luego de un virus como el Covid vimos lo vulnerable que
somos y fue cuando IMAP salió para apoyar la nutrición
de las familias afectadas a través de productos como el
amaranto. Link(s) de internet: About the Mesoamerican
Permaculture Institute (IMAP), Niñez…¿futuro de
nuestro país? | EntreMundos, La Producción Local ante
56
los Retos Actuales | EntreMundos, £30,000 Prize
Celebrates Climate Solutions
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/21pm Nutrición nativa con enfoque
en Amaranto
V
Vye, Erika (Welsh, Irish, German), Michigan
Technological University
Erika Vye is a Geosciences Research Scientist and part of
the University-Indigenous Community Partnership
program at the Great Lakes Research Center, and Adjunct
Assistant Professor, Geological and Mining Engineering
and Sciences at Michigan Tech. With expertise in
geoheritage, she believes that we have strong
relationships with rocks and landscape that connect us
and shape our sense of place. Erika works with many
valued community partners as a geoscience educator and
outreach specialist focused on formal and informal
place-based education initiatives that help broaden Earth
science and Great Lakes literacy in our community
through shared ways of knowing.
Role(s) / Session(s): Planning Team, 5/20 KBIC DIGs
W
Wahpepah, Crystal (Kickapoo tribe of Oklahoma)
Crystal Wahpepah is an enrolled member of the Kickapoo
nation of Oklahoma. She was born and raised alongside
a multi-tribal community in Oakland, CA where she
learned Ancestral food ways as well as the formalities of
running her own catering and food business. Crystal’s
passion to create food by honoring the origins and land
of each ingredient, as well as cultivating connection to
indigenous farmers and land stewards.
Link(s) of interest: Wahpepah’s Kitchen
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/22pm Returning to ourselves and
reclaiming Indigenous food practices
Webster, Rebecca (Oneida Nation), Ukwakhwa
Farmstead, University of Minnesota Duluth
Dr. Rebecca Webster is a citizen of the Oneida Nation;
she is also an Assistant Professor in the Department of
American Indian at the University of Minnesota Duluth.
She and her family have a 10 acre farmstead called
Ukwakhwa: Tsinu Niyukwayayʌthoslu (Our foods: Where
we plant things). They focus on growing out varieties of
Haudenosaunee foods with a focus on corn, beans,
squash, and sunflowers. She and her family are also
57
founding members of Ohe·láku (among the cornstalks), a
cooperative of 10 Oneida families growing traditional
heirloom corn together.
Link(s) of interest: NAFSA::Native American Food
Sovereignty Alliance | Native American Food Sovereignty
Alliance, Dream of Wild Health – Native-grown, youth
led, Ukwakhwa
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/21pm Seed lineage & genealogy
Y
Yuli, Sewa, Mi Xantico
Sewa Yuli (they/them) is a queer, community cook,
Student Midwife, bodyworker, and parent. Rooted in
Mexican curanderismo, Traditional Mexican postpartum
care, and Food Justice advocacy, Sewa is the founder of
Mi Xantico (pronounced chan-tico). In addition to the
aforementioned services, they provide 1:1 meal prep
services, postpartum nutritional support, catering,
cooking classes and more. Centered around Ancestral
Foods, Sewa utilizes culinary medicine to promote
healing, connection to tradition and health autonomy in
all their practices.
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/22pm Narrative Change Work
Z
Zeise, Lea (Oneida Nation), Founding Member of
Ohe·láku (among the cornstalks), Agriculture Program
Manager at United South and Eastern Tribes
Lea Zeise, is a citizen of the Oneida Nation and is an
organizer in the Oneida white corn cooperative,
Ohe.láku, and also works as the Agriculture Program
Manager for a Tribal non-profit, United South and
Eastern Tribes. Ohe·láku is a non-profit Native American
Agriculture Co-op. We are 18 adults and 19 youth that
grow our heirloom white corn on the Oneida Reservation
in Wi. Each one of us brings a particular gift or skill to
the group that makes us stronger together. We use
traditional growing methods, conservation growing
methods and conventional growing methods on three
different fields. Ours is a year round responsibility, as we
prepare the fields and plant together in the spring, care
for the plants together in the summer, hand harvest,
hand husk, hand braid in the fall and weigh, distribute
and plan in the winter. Distribution of corn depends on
the number of hours worked divided by the total harvest
weight.
Link(s) of interest: Menominee Rebuilders: Community |
WI | Menikanaehkem, Ohe∙láku – Among the Cornstalks
58
– Home, UW Organic Collaborative | The home for
organic research, education, and extension at
UW-Madison
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/21pm Indigenous producers &
practices, 5/21 Traditional Corn
Zook, Mary Belle (Citizen Potawatomi),
Communications Manager and Program Specialist,
Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative
Mary Belle Zook heads up communications at the
Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative and is a
member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation (Bourassa
family descendant). Agriculture has always been an
important part of Mary Belle’s life. She grew up on a farm
outside of Waynoka, Oklahoma, participated in 4-H and
FFA in her youth, and graduated from Oklahoma State
University with a degree in agricultural communications.
Before coming to IFAI, Mary Belle worked in CPN’s
Public Information Office, assisting with communication
efforts, marketing and events as well as writing and
editing content for CPN’s monthly newspaper, the
Hownikan. During her time at CPN, she won numerous
state and national-based journalism awards and was
named to NextGen Under 30 in 2019. Mary Belle
appreciates the chance to support IFAI’s mission to
promote Tribal sovereignty through food and agriculture.
Role(s) / Session(s): 5/21am Food Justice and Ethics
59
Food Sovereignty Symposium and Festival • May 20-22 