Open AccessTransnationalism as a Decolonizing Strategy? ‘Trans-Indigenism’ and Native American Food Sovereignty
Author(s) -
Zuzanna Kruk-Buchowska
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
studia anglica posnaniensia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.119
H-Index - 5
eISSN - 2082-5102
pISSN - 0081-6272
DOI - 10.2478/stap-2018-0020
Subject(s) - food sovereignty , indigenous , sovereignty , political science , colonialism , government (linguistics) , sociology , storytelling , political economy , transnationalism , food security , environmental ethics , agriculture , politics , law , geography , ecology , linguistics , philosophy , narrative , archaeology , biology
The aim of this paper is to analyze how Indigenous communities in the United States have been engaging in trans-Indigenous cooperation in their struggle for food sovereignty. I will look at inter-tribal conferences regarding food sovereignty and farming, and specifically at the discourse of the Indigenous Farming Conference held in Maplelag at the White Earth Reservation in northern Minnesota. I will show how it: (1) creates a space for Indigenous knowledge production and validation, using Indigenous methods (e.g., storytelling), without the need to adhere to Western scientific paradigms; (2) recovers pre-colonial maps and routes distorted by the formation of nation states; and (3) fosters novel sites for trans-indigenous cooperation and approaches to law, helping create a common front in the fight with neoliberal agribusiness and government. In my analysis, I will use Chadwick Allen’s (2014) concept of ‘trans-indigenism’ to demonstrate how decolonizing strategies are used by the Native American food sovereignty movement to achieve their goals.