Indigenous Food Systems: Food is Power

Anti-colonialism refers to the opposition or resistance to colonial rule, including resistance to the spread of (settler) colonialism today and in the future. In the context of food systems, anti-colonialism refers to the resistance or opposition to the many ways in which colonialism manifests in the food system, such as the types of foods offered, the way food is prepared, the prevalence of overconsumption, and the industrialization of agriculture. Colonialism is a current and on-going process of oppression that has been prevalent in the Americas for more than 500 years. Today, and for the past five centuries, there is a growing movement of Indigenous Peoples calling for the return to traditional foodways as a way to resist colonial diets and settler food politics. 

For example, when Europeans came to the Americas, they forcefully introduced new foods into Native American diets. During the forced relocation of Native Americans in the 1850s and 60s, the U.S. government issued non-traditional food rations, such as lard, flour, coffee, sugar, and canned meats. For example, fry bread, emblematic of Indigenous adaptation and resilience, is the result of forced dependence on such processed ingredients. 

As a form of anti-colonial resistance within the food system, Indigenous communities are reclaiming traditional foods, such as corn, beans, squash, berries, greens, wild rice, fruits, nuts, seeds, and game. It has been shown that the resurgence of Native diets positively impacts Native individual and collective health. Read more about this on the Indigenous Food Sovereignty tab.

Decolonization is the repatriation of Indigenous land and life. It requires the recognition that justice cannot exist on stolen land. As an integral part of Indigenous identity, food is intricately tied to place, and therefore land. In this way, the vital ingredients for life come from the land. The forced removal of Native Peoples from their lands, from the 16th Century on, separated Native Peoples from their traditional foodways. In order for the true reconciliation of Native foodways, Native land must be returned to its original stewards. Additionally, aspects of Indigenous food sovereignty, such as seed rematriation and regeneration, are reliant upon reciprocal relationships with the land. As such, the Land Back movement is deeply connected to Indigenous food politics. Read more about this on the Land tab.

"Decolonization is not a metaphor,” by Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang, is an important reading that provides context on the use of the term decolonization and the common ways in which those of settler dissent often misuse the term.