Growing Tribal Food Sovereignty Partnerships
There are 22 federally recognized tribes in Arizona, each with their own unique history, culture, relationship to foodways, and right to food sovereignty. In 2020, at the height of COVID, the health and food disparities of many of these nations were amplified in national media. People struggled to receive proper care and access to basic food supplies. This called to many statewide food organizations that reached out to help, but needed more understanding on how to work with and within tribal communities. Partnerships with Native Americans (PWNA) and the Arizona Food Systems Network (AZFSN) responded by launching a brief ‘Tribes 101’ series that gave food partners context to the history of tribes in North America, their evolving connection with foods and the environment, and how that manifests today.
“Food Sovereignty: agency to determine and control your food system according to the community’s values, environment, culture, language, spirituality, and economy. ”
As COVID has continued to challenge our communities, a need to continue to strengthen statewide collaboration on food systems resilience has only been magnified. As part of an ongoing partnership, Local First Arizona rallied with PWNA and AZFSN to recreate and launch a new effort called the Tribal Food Sovereignty biweekly call series in May 2020.
The Tribal Food Sovereignty series kicked off with a presentation from Denisa Livingston whose leadership helped to pass the Navajo Junk Food tax and who continues to advocate on behalf of indigenous people and indigenous food systems on the international level. Denisa was joined by farmer Tyrone Thompson of Chi’ishie Farms in Leupp, AZ, who is on a mission to build 100 hoop houses on the Navajo Nation. To date, Thompson has already built over 30.
The next session showcased a collaboration between NAU, St. Mary’s Food Bank, and Partnerships with Native Americans to map all food bank distribution sites on one central website. Then, the staff at Nalwoodi Denzhone Community shared about their response to COVID in collaboration with United Food Bank to get donated food and produce they grow on site out to the San Carlos Apache community. Next, Chef Maria Parra Cano of Sana Sana Foods shared her work in developing an indigenous food box program, created to ensure indigenous peoples could access culturally-appropriate foods during COVID.
A harvest of pumpkin, squash, and melons at the Nalwoodi Denzhone Community farm on the San Carlos Apache reservation.
The Tribal Food Sovereignty series also featured nutritionist Dawn Manuelito, Chef Nephi Craig, and forager Twila Cassadore to discuss the healing components of indigenous foods. Most recently, Nina Sajovec and Sterling Johnson of Ajo Center for Sustainable Agriculture shared their farmer training program and the new Beginning Farmer funding available through the UA Cooperative Extension. Katosha Nakai, a Native American water attorney, also joined to discuss tribal water rights, drought issues, and what tribal agriculture can expect in regards to water in the near future.
The overall goal of the Tribal Food Sovereignty Series is to provide a space for ongoing conversations that encourage exchange between food partners and tribal food practitioners and enhance networks and collaborations for improved coordination and stronger regional and inclusive food systems. By providing this forum for knowledge exchange, non-tribal partners are invited to take the opportunity to become informed on tribal food issues and get to know tribal food leaders from around the state. These calls also help isolated tribal practitioners build a community by sharing updates and lessons learned, and finding strength in each other’s resilience.
Future topics and speakers are being added constantly! Join us every other Thursday over your lunch hour. Register at www.azfsn.org today! And if you’re curious about the previous calls, you can find all the recordings available on the AZFSN website as well.