Indigenous Food Sovereignty in the United States: Restoring Cultural Knowledge, Protecting Environments, and Regaining Health ed. by Devon A. Mihesuah and Elizabeth Hoover

Abstract

Reviewed by: Indigenous Food Sovereignty in the United States: Restoring Cultural Knowledge, Protecting Environments, and Regaining Health ed. by Devon A. Mihesuah and Elizabeth Hoover Letitia M. McCune Indigenous Food Sovereignty in the United States: Restoring Cultural Knowledge, Protecting Environments, and Regaining Health. Edited by Devon A. Mihesuah and Elizabeth Hoover. Foreword by Winona LaDuke. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2019. ix + 355 pp. Illustrations, tables, index. $20.97, paper. It was with great pleasure that I accepted the offer to review this book. I have heard Devon Mihesuah speak inspiringly at conferences, know of the acclaimed books written and university affiliations of both editors Mihesuah and Hoover, and of course Winona LaDuke is a world-renowned advocate of Indigenous rights and environmental action. LaDuke's foreword is spot on, calling the chapters in the book a good balance of history and policy coupled with the hands-on approaches going on in Indigenous communities. These stories of resilience and approaches to food sovereignty are easy to read but as jam-packed with information as a textbook. Definitions of Indigenous food sovereignty and the encompassing mix of issues are addressed in the introduction, followed by personal narratives of advocates that have led to such incredible work as the Hualapai Ethnobotany Youth Project, Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance, Slow Food Turtle Island Associations, I-Collective, American Indian Health and Diet Project, Food Sovereignty is Tribal Sovereignty (FSiTS), Traditional Foods Protocols of the Muckleshoot Kitchen, Decolonizing Diet Project (DDP), Tribal Alliance for Pollinators (TAP), North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NATIFS), Climate Change Strategic Plan of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, and Yazzie the Chef. Food sovereignty is defined as a growing movement and a process with interconnected tribal projects as illustrated by Hoover's compilation of interviews from community-based farming and garden projects. For those interested in seed rights (as I am), groups protecting heritage seeds are highlighted as well as the importance of recognizing seeds as living relatives. White's chapter focuses on rematriculation of seeds and the work of the Indigenous SeedKeepers Network (ISKN) including a Seed Sovereignty Assessment toolkit, while Gwin's chapter focuses on the founding and operational issues of the Cherokee Nation SeedBank & Native Plant Site. The chapter on Hopi traditional agriculture, by Wall and Masayesva, illustrates the importance of corn, not just as seeds but as an integral part of the culture, the central bond. Additional agriculture chapters include one on the Indigenous wild plant management practices in California and another on Indigenous classifications of soils and insights into companion and cover crops. For those specifically interested in the Great Plains, Mihesuah has a chapter that covers the history of Oklahoma, and with the many tribal nations relocated there, the complex issues surrounding healthy and Indigenous foods. She also has a chapter on the Comanche's traditional hunter foodways in conjunction with the decline of health associated with colonization. No matter the location described, each chapter has profound insights in the fight for Indigenous food sovereignty and traditional food systems. Sustainability and community accountability is illustrated in traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) in Hawaii, nutritional colonialism in Alaska, using Indigenous ingredients against addiction in Arizona (White Mountain Apache), approaches to Indigenous climate justice in Turtle Island/North America, as well as effective examples of working through tribal challenges in wellness programs (Diné). I cannot recommend this book highly enough or give it justice in a short review. All the chapters are excellent reading for everyone interested in these topics. [End Page 223] Letitia M. McCune Consultant in Plant Sciences and Nutrition BotanyDoc LLC Copyright © 2021 Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln