Gete Mnowisnewen: Food Sovereignty for our Community

“Food sovereignty is the right of peoples, communities, and countries to define their own agricultural, labor, fishing, food and land policies, which are ecologically, socially, economically and culturally appropriate to their unique circumstances. It includes the true right to food and to produce food, which means that all people have the right to safe, nutritious and culturally appropriate food and to food-producing resources and the ability to sustain themselves and their societies”

Our traditional foods and food systems are a critical aspects of our community's health, vitality and cultural identity. The Jijak Foundation is actively working to support the Gun Lake Tribe's food sovereignty though a variety of community based cultural programs such as our Tribal Farm, Heirloom Seed Library, Sugarbush and Wild Rice Initiative. These programs have developed around our understanding of the importance of food in traditional Pottawatomi culture and the role of food in the physical health of our community members, the health of our local environment and our overall well being.

What does Food Sovereignty mean for the Gun Lake Tribe?

The right/ability to produce food to feed our own people
To use culturally appropriate methods and values to raise / harvest / gather our food
To embrace a food system which strengthens our tribal community
To perpetuate the values of our elders within our food systems
To sustain, protect and perpetuate our ancestral varieties of crops
To develop and sustain a food system which exists in ecological balance with all our relations
To provide economic opportunity for food producers within our tribal community
For our tribal citizens and their families to have access to fresh and healthy foods
For our foods to be an ever evolving, vibrant expression of our tribal identity, culture, values and spiritual.