Food sovereignty, Diné ontologies: spiritual and political ecology as tools for self-determination

Abstract

This article focuses on the different actors involved in the food sovereignty movement in the Navajo Nation. By first looking at the historical roots of colonization and western dominance over Indigenous lands and their food systems, I try to give some perspective on the actual movement to end colonization and capitalism. Both are seen as linked and are considered obstacles for the self-determination of the Navajos and Indigenous Peoples in general. The different actors involved (farmers, grassroots activists, intellectuals and academics) put forth food sovereignty as a key tool for decolonization. This might include a structural change in their political and economical lives, with interpersonal conflicts and frictions with the tribal government and the federal one. The tensions between the extractive economy, environmentalists and food sovereignty are present in the Navajo nation and impact their communities and the quality of their lives.