Indigenous Communities Work to Reclaim Their Food Sovereignty
In partnership with: Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.
As cities throughout the U.S. work to strengthen food and agricultural systems in response to the pressures of the coronavirus pandemic, Wisconsin’s Indigenous communities are looking to the wisdom of their ancestors to develop intertribal connections for food sovereignty.
Gary Besaw, a Menominee Tribe member who served 15 years in Tribal Legislature, saw an urgent need to create a sustainable system for accessing nutritious Indigenous foods to address health issues in his community even before the pandemic hit. He helped establish the Menominee Tribal Department of Agriculture and Food Systems (DAFS) three years ago and now serves as its director.
“We decided that if we had an ag department, we could look at trying to bring back some of those truly Indigenous foods that we once had, and we could make sure we knew how those foods were grown and what went into them,” Besaw explains. “We also knew that by doing that, we could grow our Tribal economy.”
On the home front, the Menominee are developing zoning codes and making training and resources available to increase agriculture and gardening efforts. But they are also seeking to collaborate with Wisconsin’s other 10 federally recognized tribes and the state’s Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) to reinvigorate the region’s Indigenous food web.
Before native people were moved to reservations, Besaw says, his ancestors traveled seasonally. They harvested wild rice and maple syrup, hunted game, foraged in the forests, cultivated gardens and fished the lakes and rivers. They also traded goods with other tribes.
See more: Wisconsin Tribal Nations Increase Access to Healthy, Traditional Food
Now, the Menominee DAFS is working with Wisconsin’s Intertribal Agriculture Council and other groups to advance a new system that will link them with traditional food products, such as fish, bison, corn and apples, that are grown and processed by other Wisconsin tribes. For example, the Menominee recently formed a partnership with the Oneida Nation, Feeding Wisconsin and DATCP to secure a National Regional Agri Food Distribution Grant from Feeding America. This grant helped pilot a food box program for Tribal Elders. The ultimate goal is to distribute 900 boxes of Indigenous-sourced traditional meats and seasonal produce from late June through November 2021.
“We’re eager to understand how we can better support Tribal-led agriculture and supply chain initiatives,” says April Yancer, DATCP’s Farm to School and Institution Coordinator and Wisconsin Foods Program Specialist. “There are opportunities here for collaboration among multiple governments and agencies. With strong partnerships, we are well-positioned to develop a more equitable food system development that could be replicated.”