Mapping Indigenous Food Infrastructure

Food systems planning, emerging in the early 2000s, has largely focused on food sectors and agriculture, often overlooking Indigenous food practices and the impacts of previous and ongoing colonialism on food structures.

In "Indigenizing Food System Planning for Food System Resiliency: A Citizen Science Photovoice With Kitselas First Nation" (Journal of the American Planning Association, Vol. 93, No. 3) Tammara Soma, Chelsey G. Armstrong, Cedar Welsh, Samantha Jung, Clifford G. Atleo (Niss Na'yaa/Kam'ayaam/Chachim'multhnii), Belinda Li, and Tamara Shulman demonstrate a novel Indigenous-led approach to food asset mapping, incorporating community practices often excluded in planning processes.

Cultural Significance

Activating millennia-old relationships, fishing at Sip’gawd, The Main Point. Credit: Lynn.

The authors highlight the cultural significance of smokehouses as sites of food processing, relationship-building, and intergenerational knowledge transfer. Core to the Gitselasu (Ts'msyen and Kitselas First Nation) traditions, smokehouses and salmon preservation are vital for sustenance and preserving hunting and fishing culture.

Colonialism alienates people from their lands for the purpose of exploiting the resources, which affects Indigenous people's access to traditional foods and places.

How can planners mapping today's food systems acknowledge Indigenous practices and knowledge? Recognizing the harmful legacies of colonialism is key to creating equitable systems that honor the land and its history. Planners must engage with Indigenous communities to build sustainable and just food systems.

Through a citizen science—led photovoice food assessment involving six Gitselasu participants, the authors showcase Indigenous food systems and practices across seasons. They explore the current landscape and the cultural significance of these food systems.

The study reframes planning concepts, such as infrastructure, to include rivers, forests, and smokehouses. The authors also establish a bridge for planners to incorporate Indigenous communities and practices when planning for resilient food futures.

Reuniting Culture and Place

One citizen scientist reflected on how logging, oil, and gas development affect animal migratory patterns of crucial species like moose. A moose bone is pictured here. She made clear how industrial resource extraction harms her community's hopes for the future of food access in a community not reliant on grocery stores. Photo credit: Desi.

The authors used practice theory to explore interactions among themes: material (physical places, infrastructure), meaning (values, worldview), competence (skills, knowledge), and aspiration (goals, concerns).

These elements collectively shape the foundations of many Indigenous food systems. Photos and narratives from Indigenous citizen scientists highlight the significance of intergenerational knowledge and cultural identity. For example, the average Gitselasu household relies on moose and salmon for up to 80 percent of its annual protein. This tradition has practical and educational value that hunters hope to pass on to future generations.

The authors show how a photovoice process led by Indigenous peoples can uncover cultural and ecological food assets that planners might overlook. By centering community voices, a more inclusive approach can improve food systems planning and policymaking.

The authors urge planners to recognize their role in supporting land-based practices and the interconnected relationships between diverse food assets that shape Indigenous food security and food sovereignty.

Top image: Activating millennia-old relationships, fishing at Sip'gawd, The Main Point. Credit: Lynn.