Written by: Siobhan Watters
September 30th is Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The Middlesex-London Food Policy Council (MLFPC) is taking this month to educate ourselves and honour our relations with the Indigenous peoples of Canada. Throughout September, we will communicate and celebrate the efforts of local Indigenous organizations that promote Indigenous sovereignty and healing through food-based initiatives. However, as many Indigenous leaders have said, there is no Reconciliation without Truth. Today, we acknowledge the hard truths of Canada’s colonization of Indigenous peoples, a story that must include food.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was established in 2007 to facilitate reconciliation with survivors and families affected by the Canadian residential school system. The TRC concluded that the forcible removal of more than 150,000 Indigenous children to residential schools, the last of which closed its doors in 1997, was an act of “cultural genocide.” We also know now that, in addition to numerous abuses suffered at these schools, Indigenous children were subjected to nutritional experiments without their consent. These experiments would eventually inform the development of Canada’s Food Guide.
The importance of Indigenous food sovereignty
An important outcome of the TRC’s work was its 2015 final report including 94 Calls to Action, a document that continues to inform reconciliation efforts between Canadians and Indigenous people today. Notably, Calls to Action 13-17 support revitalization of Indigenous culture, but surprisingly, the word “food” is not mentioned at all in the document—although it may be implied in the Calls to Action concerning health. However, non-Indigenous peoples may not appreciate the holistic ways that Indigenous peoples view their relationship to food, around which many ceremonies and social gatherings revolve. Food is medicine and key to intergenerational healing and cultural revitalization.
If we are to truly embrace Reconciliation, we must acknowledge the uncomfortable Truth that present-day, industrially-driven food systems operate in contradiction to the land-based wisdom of Indigenous peoples and play a role in the continuing settler-colonization of Indigenous lands and destruction of Indigenous lifeways. To eliminate or transform a people’s traditional foods is to disrupt their entire lifeway. Access to traditional Indigenous foods is now severely limited, and where it is available, can be very expensive. We look forward to sharing more about the important work being done locally to address Indigenous food sovereignty and healing, by organizations such as the Southwest Ontario Aboriginal Health Access Centre, Wampum Learning Lodge, and Oneida Original Foods.
MLFPC’s commitment to Truth and Reconciliation
With a mission to represent the full range of people participating in the local food system, the MLFPC has a responsibility to recognize Indigenous rights holders as the original stewards of this land. To achieve our goals of developing a “healthier, sustainable, resilient and equitable food system,” we must also open ourselves to the wisdom of Indigenous teachings about the environment, forming right relations with the animals and plants that feed us, and appreciating the cycles of nature upon which our food systems are built. Members of the council have begun this work by learning appropriate steps towards relationship building with Indigenous communities, with thanks to Atlohsa Family Healing Services for their education program and the London Environmental Network for connecting Indigenous Knowledge Holders with local organizations such as ours.
We hope you will join us this month in learning about and supporting the path towards genuine truth and reconciliation!
You should know!
Middlesex-London sits on the traditional territories of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak, and Attawandaron. We are neighbours to Chippewas of the Thames First Nation, Oneida Nation of the Thames, and the Munsee-Delaware Nation. As of 2022, nearly 11,000 people living in the region identified as Indigenous, and the population is growing at a rate consistent with Middlesex-London’s overall population boom.
In addition to the links provided above, here are more resources for you to explore:
- Learn about the Treaty and Reserve system that governs Indigenous land rights in Ontario
- Read the Yellowhead Institute’s report “Indigenous Food Sovereignty in Ontario”
Visit the Indigenous Food Sovereignty Network’s website
