White Earth Food Sovereignty Initiative: What Food Sovereignty Looks Like on the Sovereign Nation of White Earth

ere in White Earth, we started our Food Sovereignty Initiative in the fall of 2017 to bring together and organize community-driven efforts that aid in establishing a sustainable and sovereign food system based in traditional methods of planting, gathering, harvest, hunting, and fishing—all protected by tribal policy. We start our food sovereignty work primarily through gatherings with the White Earth community. Once a month, or sometimes once every two months when we are busy planting and gathering, we hold a potluck food sovereignty meeting (see Photo 1). Present are our core partners, such as the White Earth Tribal and Community College (WETCC) Extension Service, with whom we are intertwined in many grants and commitments. Other partners include our White Earth health department, dieticians, nutritionists, SNAP-Ed, 4-H youth agriculture program, directors and managers in education, the agriculture department, natural resource department, commodity foods program, and the Elder Nutrition Program. Other partners include nonprofits, interested community members from White Earth, and others doing similar work coming from our neighboring reservations Leech Lake and Red Lake. These food sovereignty meetings are also healing meetings. We do the best we can to prepare foods that are traditional or at least healthy. This is our time to sit and visit, things that are often lost in our busy technological age. At the meeting held in December 2018, we had some smoked goldeneye from Red Lake Fisheries, shared by David Manuel in Red Lake, canned venison sliders from the WETCC, wild rice and buffalo brats from White H