BC Food Systems Network

Prepared by: Dawn MorrisonPrepared for: UN FAO Cultural Diversity, Food Systems and Traditional LivelihoodsNovember, 2014

Name, nation, ancestry

Working Group on Indigenous Food Sovereignty out of which the Indigenous Food Systems Network was born

BC Food Systems Network – Board of Director’s

Research Associate, leading Indigenous engagement –KPU Bioregional Food System Design and Planning Project

Personal healing journey – life’s work intertwined with the research

Realizing myself in a web of extended relationships in both Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities

Ecstatic and transformative

Contemplative traditions and rituals

Indigenizing methodologies

Sacred Seeds of Life Project Bringing balance to adversarial conditions through the feminine Shedding light on the darkness – regenerating our bio-cultural

heritage in the land and food system

Indigenous Peoples – Cultural and Biological Diversity what is known to the setters as BC and Canada

Indigenous Language Groups in Canada

Indigenous Peoples are not new populations…their presence pre-dates the urban centres

While the concept of food sovereignty has only recently been introduced - food sovereignty has been a living reality for thousands of years

Law of the locale

According to the most recent Statistics Canada Census information (2006), nearly 1.2 million people living in Canada today report themselves to be Aboriginal (i.e., First Nations, Métis or Inuit).

Estimates range from 40,000 – 100,000 in Greater Vancouver area

Approximately 56% of all Indigenous peoples have migrated to urban areas across Canada

Vancouver has the third largest Aboriginal population in Canada

High population of Indigenous peoples from communities across BC

High population of Plains (Cree & Nishnawbe) peoples from across Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba

Aboriginal Peoples over-represented in most poverty stricken neighbourhoods in Canada (DTES)

Displacement from Indigenous communities across Canada

Estimate 50 – 60% of all Indigenous Peoples have migrated to urban areas for education, employment and housing

On reserve programs and services are limited in their ability to service off reserve

Link between agriculture and colonial expansion – imposed cultural hiearchy, policy, planning and governance

Complex realities in the 4th World – Indigenous nations within a nation state – uncededterritories

Ensure participation reflects a cross section of current priorities, political issues, situations and strategies

Significant laws and policies – land title and rights

1827 – Hudson’s Bay established post in Langley

Sto’lo refused to trade fir because their life was based on salmon and fishing

1830’s Langley became the first major agricultural centre in British Columbia

1850’s – Gold Rush

1860’s -farming and cattle raising operations began in the western sections of the Valley

By 1877, the valley had been surveyed into six-square-mile townships.

Much clearing, draining and dyking was necessary before the land could be worked.

Breakdown of sophisticated traditional social structures – potlatch governance, tribal economies, intergenerational learning etc…

Displacement from traditional land and food system

High levels of stress and uncertaintyassociated – effects of PTSD

Social issues and declining health (mental, emotional, physical and spiritual)

Comparable to the holocaust

Prior appropriation

Establishment of legal doctrines and property rights

Doctrine of discovery

Terra nullus

Civilization Act

Gradual Enfranchisement Act

Indian Act

With the arrival of the Europeans (Xwelitems or "Hungry People") many of our traditions have been challenged and threatened. Ultimately, our spirituality was declared immoral and illegal, our right to sell and trade salmon was taken away, our children were placed in foreign residential schools and taught to reject their Elders' teachings. We were forbidden to move about freely among our villages. We became registered members of individual Bands governed by protocols and regulations that were not of our own making.“

Excerpt taken from Kwikwetlem First Nations website

Positioning hunting, fishing and gathering in an ag-centric research and development paradigm in the 21st century

Most sustainable adaptation strategies of humanity 2/3 of North American Tribes have adapted hunting and gathering

strategies over 90% of human existence on earth(Cambridge Encyclopedia of Hunting and Gathering)

Adopted mainstream model of agriculture to supplement traditional diets Diversified cultivation and harvesting strategies and techniques on a

landscape and watershed scale Applied over a longer temporal scale Original bioregions defined by language, trade relations, kinship ties, and

watersheds Giving economy -cooperative social structure persists in the present day Wild Salmon – most important food strategy

Fishing is primary Indigenous food harvesting strategy for all Salishan speaking peoples.

Special Designated status within the CHRMS

Entire basin drains one third of the area of the province and is home to 2.4 million people – 63% of British Columbia’s population

Most productive salmon fishery in the world

Used for transportation Support for agriculture

and community life Threats from extractive

industries and agriculture

“Traditional diets, based on a combination of salmon and other fish, shellfish, marine and land mammals, gamebirds and birds’ eggs, and a range of plant foods, from berries and other fruits to green vegetables, root vegetables, and the inner bark of trees, as well as some mushrooms, have nourished and sustained people over generations”.

Nancy J. Turner, Professor, School of Environmental Studies,University of Victoria September 2007Written for the Biodiversity Technical Subcommittee for The Status of Biodiversity in BC

Food species = 100 animal species + 150 plant species

Material or technology species = at least 100

Medicinal species = 300 or more across the different nations and regions of the province.

Thus a total of about 400-500 species (some are used for more than one purpose) are named and utilized or have had specific cultural importance for First Peoples of the province.

What is Indigenous Food Sovereignty?

Sacred

Participatory

Self-determination

Policy

http://www.indigenousfoodsystems.org/content/1st-annual-interior-bc-indigenous-food-sovereignty-conference-final-report

Relationship to BC Food Systems Network

Purpose, goals objectives

Notable projects and activities

Representation and responsibilities

WGIFS operates primarily on a volunteer project to project basis in a decentralized administrative structure with no ongoing expenses. We strive to ensure Indigenous voices are carried from a strong and balanced representation based on geography, culture, and community of focus. We appreciate and build upon traditional hunting, fishing and gathering as the most sustainable adaptation strategies that have persisted in the present day reality of Indigenous peoples living in the 4th world. The WGIFS also invites cross cultural participation of non-Indigenous advocates who support Indigenous self-determination, and our participation in the agri-food system research, action and policy discussions happening within larger society.

Numerous research institutions, community organizations, and regional, provincial and federal health agencies have provided critical input, administrative and technical support, and direction at various times throughout the 8 years duration of the WGIFS. Several regional and international networks and relationships have also emerged including: Vancouver Island Coastal Communities Indigenous Food Network, South African Cultural Exchange (Coastal Learning Communities & Masifundise Development Trust), Peoples Food Policy Project Indigenous Circle (Ch.1 Resetting the Table: A Peoples Food Policy for Canada), and US Food Sovereignty Alliance (Honouree for Food Sovereignty Award).

• bring together key Indigenous knowledge holders (relevant to Grease Trails) and scholars to solicit input and direction in the development of the WGIFS research strategy and protocol .

• outline criteria that will enable the WGIFS to engage in research that strategically aligns with the vision, values and goals of Indigenous food sovereignty.

• outline an ethical process for working across cultures (Indigenous and non-Indigenous) to decolonize methodologies for research that will serve to revitalize Grease Trails (traditional trade routes)

Traditional trade routes

Spanning from Alaska to Arizona

Area of study

Researchers at the Institute for Sustainable Food Systems endeavor to explore and compellingly delineate the food self-reliance, environmental stewardship, social capital and economic potentials of bio-regional food system predicated on; small scale, low-input, human intensive, environmentally sound, community focused agriculture and a full expression of Indigenous food system predilection. The multidisciplinary ISFS team consists of experts in; Sustainability Policy, Planning, & Governance, Resource Economics, Ecological Footprint Analysis, Sustainable Agriculture, and Indigenous Food Systems.

Relationship building

Cross cultural communication and capacity

Minimizing impacts of agri-food system as a whole

Weaving an Indigenous narrative into the project

Benefits and challenges of ag-centric focus

Describe how the Indigenous food system is being expressed – key points of entry

Identify the cultural interface between Indigenous and sustainable agri-food system i.e. points of intersection

Assess the ways the Indigenous food system intra-acts with the bioregional agri-food system –identifying points of complementarity and contention

Highlight the potential that exists within the gaps of food system literature

Terms of Reference

Planned, coordinated and chaired 5 IRAC meetings

Accuracy of interpretation, translation and summarizing input, advice and direction

9 Indigenous Advisors from diverse communities and academic focus

Scope and refine the areas of focus and identify components of Indigenous food systems research that is doable within the limitations of project

Cross cultural communication and building capacity of research team to bring deeper understanding of the ways that project materials can be more responsive to Indigenous paradigms, priorities, principles, and political and cultural sensitivities. Develop a common language on how the Indigenous worldview, paradigm and ways of expressing the relationships can inform sustainability in the agri-food system design.

Review project communications (website, descriptive project briefs, brochures, maps and reports) to ensure terminology, images and materials are culturally responsive.

Ongoing communication with researchers at domain leads meetings, and individual researchers to share culturally appropriate language, and identify points of entry, intersection, complementarity and contention between Indigenous food system and sustainable agri-food system paradigms as they are identified.

Work with project team to inform and engage Indigenous communities in project activities (i.e stakeholder engagement workshops, project advisory committee, IRAC meetings)

Ongoing presence Providing project information and updates - one on one

meetings, participation in relevant community activities and events

Stolo community meeting in Chilliwack First Nations Health Authority – Health Transfer Honouring

Ceremony, North Vancouver Pacific Association of First Nations Women - 13 Matriarchs

Cedar Cape Ceremony & Sacred Seeds of Life Ceremony, Musqueam First Nation

Cheam Elders Vancouver Native Health Society – Tu’wusht Project Registered project with Sto’lo Research and Resource

Management Centre BC Food Systems Network – Working Group on Indigenous

Food Sovereignty: Revitalizing Grease Trails Project

Seabird Island – Excellence in Centre for Diabetes, rich arable lands

Katzie Band – revitalization of Wapato potato harvesting and cultivation

Cheam– resurgence in the area of governance and traditional wild salmon fishery – formal partnership with UVIC – IGOV program

Musqueam Indian Band – community gardens

Seabird Island includes policies in their land use plan advocating for the protection of agricultural land

Seabird Island operates a hazelnut orchard, eco-tourism, forestry, and leases of cultivated land

Integrates traditional food program with Aboriginal Title and Rights

All things are connected

Strong sense of place and identity in relation to the land

Humans are a part of the ecosystems – not separate

Work with and adapt to natural systems rather than try to control or work against

Adaptive management – policy driven by practice

Ag-centric focus too narrow Lack of access and control over decision making matters

impacting land and food systems Imposed decision making structures and processes Contradicting epistemologies i.e. prodcutionist paradign,

concept of time etc… Lack of awareness of impacts of residential schools in

families and communities Lack of funding, time and resources Lack of capacity of research team – cross cultural

understanding Conceptualizing project before Indigenous participation Epistemological differences

Deconstructing the reductionist mindset that has dispossessed us (humans) from the land and food system

Broadening the ecological and temporal scale

Participatory

Non-linear

Precautionary vs. restorationist

Local control

Non – static

Non- exhaustive

Avoiding pan Indian approach

Indigenous peoples are at varying places along the continuum of influences from mainstream society

Indigenizing Research and Relationships

A strategy and institutional framework for reconciling past injustices

Reclaiming Indigenous space within the land and food system

Moving beyond sustainability towards Indigeneity, change, and regenerative food system

“In local knowledge systems, the plant world is not artificially separated between a forest supplying commercial wood and agricultural land supplying food commodities. The forest and the field are in ecological continuum, and activities in the forest contribute to the food needs of the local community, while agriculture itself is modelled on the ecology of the tropical forest. Some forest dwellers gather food directly from the forest, while many communities practise agriculture outside the forest, but depend on the fertility of the forest for the fertility of agricultural land”. Dr. Vandana Shiva in Monocultures of the Mind (1999)

Cultivating Food Systems Symposium BC Food Systems Network & Working Group

on Indigenous Food Sovereignty Vancouver Food Policy Council meeting Civic Governance Forum United Nations Food and Agriculture

Organization – Cultural Diversity, Food Systems and Traditional Livelihoods, International Expert Seminar

University of British Columbia - Critical Issues in Land and Food Systems: First Nations' perspective on history, food, and health.

Indigenous foods are not treated as a commodity

Food is a spiritual relationships not just a “product”

Indigenous hunters, fishers and gatherers do not identify themselves with the neoclassic economic classification of “producers”

Concern of over exploitation of Indigenous foods for global market (case in point – decline of commercial sockeye fisheries).

Infrastructure needs in neighbourhoods where Indigenous peoples are over represented in Vancouver area

Feasting halls and social gathering places in culturally inviting spaces – cultural responsive visual spaces (buildings and native gardens)

Adequate food processing, storage and distribution facilities

Secure land in close proximity as well as within more natural park spaces

Urban forests – putting Indigenous individuals and organizations back in the land and food systems

Applying Indigenous harvesting techniques as a strategy for enhancing biodiversity in the parks

Outline complete and draft #1 in progress

Written description of the ways the Indigenous food system is being expressed. (Date of expected completion January, 2014)

Photos and images

Format and writing styles

Citing oral history, local and traditional knowledge

Creating extensive database/bibliography for reference in present and future Indigenous food systems research.

Making Indigenous peoples visible in food systems literature

Historical, anthropological, agricultural, cultural, food security/sovereignty, health, environment – technical, academic, and policy papers

Oral history – personal communications

Develop a matrix and tool to assess the ways in which the KPU Bio-regional Agri-food System Design intra-acts with the Indigenous food system. I.e. Identify points of complementarity and contention, and the potential that exists within the gaps of knowledge.

Build consortium that will contribute to the generation of a body of knowledge within research institutions across Canada to support the Revitalization of the Grease Trails: Decolonizing Research and Relationships Project being led by the WGIFS.

Develop research strategy and proposal to link the Grease Trails (traditional trade routes) to Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems. Map Indigenous Bio-cultural Heritage Harvesting along the Grease Trails

Facilitate and promote more Indigenous food related trade based on applying Indigenous values and cooperative structures for a giving economy, and making small scale markets work for Indigenous communities

“It is humbling to remember that our species is perhaps been around 600,000 years. The Neolithic revolution which gave us agriculture, at which time we succumbed to the cult of the seed, the poetry of the shaman was displaced by the prose of the priesthood, we created hierarchy, specialization, surplus, is only 10,000 years ago. The modern industrial world as we know is barely 300 years old. Now that shallow history doesn’t suggest [to] me we have all the answers for all the challenges that will confront us in the ensuing millennia”.

http://intercontinentalcry.org/wade-davis-on-cultural-diversity/

Ta’Kaiya recorded her latest song, Earth Revolution in the studio in fall, 2011. The first time she sang it in public was at Occupy in Vancouver, BC in October 2011. Earth Revolution calls on the “Children of the Future,” which Ta’Kaiya has named “Generation Now” to act now to save the earth “I’ll do my part to fix what is broken, give back what we’ve taken…” before it is too late: “..because there won’t be a tomorrow, if we don’t change today.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GP9ZFgNQckg

Ta’kaiya’s bio: http://www.takaiyablaney.com/bio/