A Recipe for Change: Reclamation of Indigenous Food Sovereignty in O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation for Decolonization, Resource Sharing, and Cultural Restoration

Abstract

O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation (OPCN), an Indigenous community in northern Manitoba, Canada, was flooded and forced to relocate from ancestral lands to a nearby settlement under such circumstances. Regaining strength from their inherent cultural values grounded in their relationship with the land, OPCN eventually formed a community-based food program called Ithinto Mechisowin (IMP) (‘food from the land’). This article uses OPCN's concept of resource (wechihituwin) and decolonization (pasekonekewin) to present a nuanced understanding of Indigenous food systems in Canada. We argue that the ways in which IMP inspires reconnection with land, thereby improving access to culturally appropriate healthy food, are steps forward in strengthening Indigenous food sovereignty.

Extracto – La Nación O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree (OPCN por sus siglas en inglés) una comunidad indígena de la región norte de Manitoba, Canadá, fue inundada y forzada a reubicarse fuera de sus tierras ancestrales en un asentamiento cercano, dadas las circunstancias. Retomando fuerza de sus valores culturales inherentes e incorporados a su relación con la tierra, la OPCN eventualmente dio forma a un programa alimentario comunal denominado “Ithinto Mechisowin (IMP) (“alimento de la tierra”). Este artículo usa el concepto OPCN de recurso (el “wechihituwin”) and des-colonización (“pasekonekewin”) para presentar un entendimiento minucioso de los sistemas de alimento indígena del Canadá. Se argumenta que las formas en que IMP inspira una reconexión con la tierra y como resultado mejorando las condiciones de acceso a alimentos saludables apropiados culturalmente, son pasos hacia el fortalecimiento de la soberanía alimentaria indígena.

Keywords:

• Indigenous food sovereignty
• decolonization
• northern Manitoba
• development induced poverty

Acknowledgements

The authors give special thanks to OPCN Elders as well as the Ithinto Mechisowin committee members, OPCN and all community members who stood by us during this effort. The authors thank Bethann G. Merkle (www.commnatural.com) for editorial support. Heartfelt thanks to Steve, Annie, Christina, Saydia and Wahid.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Funding

This research received financially support through Dr. Shirley Thompson's SSHRC Insight Grant Award and the SSHRC partnership grant called ‘Sharing the Feast of Ithinto Mechisowin (Food from the Land) and Grow North: Food-based Community Development at O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation and Northern Manitoba communities’. We also acknowledge funding from SSHRC through the Manitoba Research Alliance grant: Partnering for Change – Community-based Solutions for Aboriginal and Inner-city Poverty.

Notes

1 Under Canadian constitution 1982, Section 35, Aboriginal refers to First Nation (recognized by constitution), Métis (cultural and ethnic identity of individuals who are the result of relationships between Indigenous and Europeans), and Inuit (Indigenous people from northern Canada considered “Indian” in Canadian constitution) people (Asch, 1984). OPCN is composed of both First Nations and Métis individuals who speak both Cree and English. This paper uses the term Indigenous to situate the community in the dialogue of Indigenous food sovereignty.

2 Indigenous resistance against colonial policies of the USA, Canada, and Central and South America to achieve sovereignty and cultural regeneration has been consistent. From the longest walk in early 70s to the most recent Idle No More movement there are many noteworthy examples of political mobilization (Johansen, 2013, 178–179; The Kino-nda-niimi Collective, 2014).

3 Country food refers to locally harvested fish, mammals, plants, birds, and berries; however as a result of community preference wild food will be used in its place throughout this article.

4 Information obtained from OPCN community members through interviews and personal correspondence. Sources are noted following each section of information. Only texts in quotations are directly quoted; all other statements are paraphrased.

Additional information

Asfia Gulrukh Kamal is a Ph.D. Candidate at the Natural Resources Institute, University of Manitoba. She has a Masters in Cultural Anthropology from University of Manitoba and Masters of Social Science from Women's Studies, Dhaka University, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Ms. Kamal has been working on different food sovereignty and community economic development projects in northern Manitoba for the past six years.

Rene Linkalter is the Director of Health of Tommy Thomas Memorial Health Complex and Community Care in O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation. He is the vice chair of community food sovereignty program Ithinto Mechisowin (Food from the Land). He has a Bachelor of Arts degree with a focus on Sociology and Native Studies.

Shirley Thompson is an associate professor at the Natural Resources Institute, University of Manitoba. Dr Thompson has a doctoral degree in Adult Education and Community Development and a Master of Environmental Engineering, both from the University of Toronto. Please visit her website at http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~thompso4/index.html for further information.

Joseph Dipple is a M.A. student in Native Studies at the University of Manitoba working on the implications of natural resource extraction and exploitation on Indigenous communities, particularly the construction of hydroelectric generating stations in northern Manitoba. He has a B.A. from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota.

Ithinto Mechisowin Committee has seventeen community food champions, youth, elders who came together to establish O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation's community-based food sovereignty program, Ithinto Mechisowin (Food from the Land).