It’s the holiday season so it’s a great time to talk about food since it’s so central to all the gatherings we attend at this time of year. Unfortunately, so much of the food we eat now is void of real nutritional value and organic fresh foods are expensive and harder to get. The Great Plains has been vastly colonized in order to produce monocropped, GMO, crops of corn, soy, etc., which are then highly processed. This food is what is most accessible in inner-city and reservation food deserts, leading to huge spikes in diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and more in Indigenous communities. However, many Indigenous folks are making huge changes in this realm by reclaiming and relearning how to grow, process, and cook our first foods, which is a huge step towards true food sovereignty. Sikowis was joined by three Indigenous guests for the Food Sovereignty Episode who are all experts in some way in the food industry and who are making great changes in the food sovereignty realm.

Anthony Warrior is Sicangu, Shawnee, and Mvskoke Creek and creates and cooks traditional Native American fare. He also teaches food preparation, healthy cooking, Traditional and contemporary food preservation classes. He is the owner and chef of Warriors’ Palate Catering and Consultation.  More information on Warriors Palate at https://www.facebook.com/WarriorsTasteBud.

Elena Terry is a Ho-Chunk chef and Indigenous food educator. She is the founder and executive chef of Wild Bearies, a local nonprofit aimed at educating the community about Indigenous food and cooking.  She is also a lead mentor for the Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance, and she frequently collaborates with the Intertribal Agriculture Council, Meskwaki Food Sovereignty Initiative, and UW–Madison’s Department of Horticulture.  More information at http://wildbearies.org. 

Dan Cornelius is a member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin. He works as an Outreach Specialist and Deputy Director of the Great Lakes Indigenous Law Center in the UW Law School. He also assists Native Nations and their members with developing Native agriculture and food systems as the Intertribal Agriculture Council Technical Assistance Specialist for Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, and Iowa.   More information at http://indianag.org/midwest.

Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate here