The Power of Knowledge: The Enduring Impacts of Colonialism on Anishinaabe Food Sovereignty

Abstract

Native American foodways are steeped in rich traditional history and complex assimilation repercussions. By encouraging readers to approach learning about Native American foodways with a culturally relative lens, I highlight the intricacies of food sovereignty within native communities. I explore how food sovereignty, traditional foodways, and systematic violence originated and their current impacts on contemporary Native Americans. I established myself as an Ojibwe anthropologist through the analysis of my reservation and used that to launch into an exploration of natives in the Great Lakes region. I discuss several experiences, including powwows, volunteer work, phone calls, and interviews. Based on a series of these anthropological interviews and experiences, I develop an argument that knowledge, accessibility, and ability are all necessary to instigate change and promotion of traditional foodways in Native American communities.