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Graduation Date

2021

Document Type

Professional Paper

Degree

Master of Arts (MA)

Degree Name

Environmental Science and Natural Resource Journalism

School or Department

Journalism

Abstract

Traditional foodways of Indigenous people around the world are being changed by human-caused climate change, environmental policy, and land management. For Indigenous people in interior Alaska and Montana, culture and survival are tied tightly to hunted and gathered food. The average American gets their food from a grocery store and thus is somewhat insulated from the impact of climate change on their diet. But climate change has its hand directly in the pantries, dinner plates, and seasonal practices of Indigenous people. I believe food is a central way people are tied to the earth, and thus creating narratives about impacts to important food systems is a powerful way to tell the stories of environmental issues. This portfolio explores the nutritional, social, and cultural impacts of a shifting climate on these Indigenous people. Environmental management and climate change reinforce colonization. Indigenous people have fought for hundreds of years to retain their cultural practices in the face of cultural genocide driven by settlers and the United States government. Now, that same culture is being threatened by a changing climate caused by colonial, industrial societies like the United States.

Keywords

food sovereignty, Indigenous foods, traditional foods, climate change, food justice

Subject Categories

Food Studies

ADAPTING SUSTENANCE: INDIGENOUS PEOPLE PRESERVE TRADITIONAL FOOD SOURCES

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Food Studies Commons

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