Parasitos: reimagining a northern hydroelectric landscape

Abstract

Northern Indigenous communities in Manitoba suffer from food insecurity as a direct result of Manitoba Hydro development along the Nelson and Churchill River systems, watersheds, and tributaries, which has altered the landscape and eliminated traditional food gathering possibilities. Food insecurity has risen in these communities for decades as Manitoba Hydro continues to construct more hydro-electric generating stations while local Indigenous communities call for compensation and mourn the continued loss of natural environments and traditional locations. Therefore, to ascertain how to promote food security and facilitate future autonomy over the land and food production, I conducted a literature review to understand methods of implementing these changes in northern Indigenous communities. The literature review resulted in a site design near the community of Fox Lake Cree Nation (Makaso Sakahigan) and the Limestone Generating Station, which used perpetual waste heat from the generating station to facilitate soap bubble greenhouses sheltered in an abandoned quarry pit to enhance food security for the community. The site design aimed to facilitate more than food security by promoting intergenerational activities and immersion in the natural environment as additional crucial factors in enhancing food security and sovereignty in Indigenous communities.