Indigenous food gathering nourishes culture and climate resiliency
Nitanis Desjarlais and her son Chico Seitcham harvesting traditional foods like urchins and seaweed in Nuu-chah-nulth territory on western Vancouver Island. Photo by Melody Charlie @FirstNationPhotographer
By Rochelle Baker
First Nations from across Vancouver Island are gathering this week to celebrate and strengthen traditional food sovereignty and deepen Indigenous communities' response to climate change and other emergencies.
The landmark Island Indigenous Food Gathering near Port Alberni, B.C., involves hundreds of members from the Nuu-chah-nulth, Coast Salish and Kwakwaka'wakw First Nations from both coasts and the length of the island, said organizer Nitanis Desjarlais.
The Indigenous-led event on Thursday and Friday will allow participants to network, strategize and exchange knowledge and stories around traditional foods and practices, said Desjarlais, a member of the Nuu-chah-nulth Food and Nutrition Sovereignty Network.
One objective of the summit is to develop a broader, co-operative and sustainable food sovereignty strategy for First Nations communities in the region, she said.
Conversations about the need to bolster Indigenous food sovereignty began during the COVID-19 pandemic when panic-buying and emptied store shelves were a real concern for smaller, remote communities at the end of the supply chain.
However, the need to strategize and hold the food gathering crystallized after the Cameron Bluff wildfire last summer forced the shutdown of Highway 4 — a key transportation corridor and the only paved road serving Port Alberni, numerous coastal Nuu-chah-nulth nations, communities and the tourist hot spots of Ucluelet and Tofino on western Vancouver Island.
The road closure, which lasted much of the summer, made it difficult for families and small isolated communities to travel to urban centres on eastern Vancouver Island to buy food at lower prices.
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