Beyond bannock: Revitalizing traditional Indigenous foodways to support Indigenous identity and culture.
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Date
2019-11-27
Authors
Marchione, Giovanna Antonella
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Abstract
Traditional foods (TF) play an important role in cultural identity and access to them promotes good health and wellbeing. In this study a phenomenological research approach was used to examine how Indigenous people living or working in Winnipeg, experience cultural food security.
First Nations participants (n=10) were identified by both a snowball and poster advertisement method through Indigenous education institutions with which the author was associated. The findings of this phenomenological study were that participants who identified as First Nations (n=10) in Winnipeg perceived themselves as culturally food insecure. Urbanization, costs associated with hunting, acquiring and transporting TF and lack of political and sociocultural supports contribute to the diminishing knowledge base around TF, making access and use of them in the city challenging.
This research suggests urban First Nations are food insecure in what they consider to be traditional foods from their cultural territories/regions. This would suggest that formal and land based education by ecozones could increase awareness of what they consider to be their traditional foodways. Summer programming on the land and waters of their traditional territories may be an avenue for reconciliation by ensuring the survival of their cultural foodways, increasing cultural food security and ultimately, food sovereignty even for city dwellers.
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Keywords
Cultural food security, Food security, First Nations, Education, Winnipeg, Traditional Foods