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Articles on indigenous food

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Farmers or foragers? Pre-colonial Aboriginal food production was hardly that simple

For a decade, debate has raged over Dark Emu’s account of Aboriginal agriculture. But ancient food production in Australia is more complex than labels like farming or hunter-gathering suggest.
In the face of governmental efforts to dismantle Indigenous agricultural economies, Indigenous communities have made important strides toward food sovereignty. (Shutterstock)

Indigenous food sovereignty requires better and more accurate data collection

A lack of data prevents governments and agri-food organizations from knowing what kinds of supports should be provided to reinvigorate Indigenous agricultural economies.
Smoke and dust as food is prepared for a traditional Māori feast or Hangi, Rotorua New Zealand. Shutterstock

Restrictions on cultural hunting practices are limiting Indigenous people’s access to food during the pandemic

Many Indigenous people in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand are lacking food security due to public health orders preventing them from traditional food sourcing.
A water bottle sits on the table in front of Chief and NDP candidate Rudy Turtle during a visit by NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh on Oct. 5, 2019 on the Grassy Narrows First Nation, where industrial mercury poisoning in its water system has seriously affected the health of the community. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

A sin tax on sugary drinks unfairly targets Indigenous communities instead of improving health

A tax on sugar-sweetened beverages may be intended to improve health, but for Indigenous consumers, such a tax would be unethical, contravene tax law and undermine Indigenous rights.

Australia’s plants and animals have long been used without Indigenous consent. Now Queensland has taken a stand

Our medicine, cosmetics and other everyday products contain compounds taken from nature. But Traditional Owners may not have given permission for the materials or their knowledge to be used.
Zapotec farmers return from their ‘milpa,’ the garden plots that provide much of the communities’ food, in Oaxaca, Mexico. Jeffrey H. Cohen

Indigenous Mexicans turn inward to survive COVID-19, barricading villages and growing their own food

The Zapotec people of southern Mexico have always relied on each other to solve problems when the government can’t, or won’t, help. That’s proving to be a pretty effective pandemic response.
Peruvian ceviche doesn’t just taste good — it can be a force for social change. Enrique Castro-Mendivil/Reuters

5 food trends that are changing Latin America

Pioneering chefs from Bolivia to Brazil are stepping out of the kitchen and into public service. The ‘social gastronomy’ movement uses food to create jobs, prevent violence and boost economies.
Maggie Cywink, of Whitefish River First Nation, holds up a sign behind Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a summit in Ottawa in support of missing and murdered Indigenous women. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Why the Indigenous in New Zealand have fared better than those in Canada

The Indigenous in New Zealand have fared better than First Nations in Canada in terms of self-determination. Why? It’s about a lot more than geography, land mass and language.
People have camped in the long grass since colonisation. From this perspective, bans on the practice are a denial of Indigenous agency, culture and rights to country. Photo: K. Pollard

Contested spaces: the ‘long-grassers’, living private lives in public places

In contrast to perceptions of other homeless people sleeping rough, Darwin’s “long-grassers” are applying a long cultural tradition to deal with the situation in which they find themselves.

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