colourful basket logo

I promise to engage respectfully and intentionally with the knowledge shared within this website; honouring the lands, waters, foods, and laws of the First Peoples who have been in relationship with these territories since time immemorial.

Plege is required to access the resources and content on this site. If you do not wish to take the pledge, canceling will redirect you to a non-indigenous resources page.

First Peoples Food Wellness

Resource Hub

Biopiracy: Abolish Corporate Hijacking of Indigenous Medicinal Entities

In this paper, we present an overview of typical cases of global biopiracy, bioprospecting via introduction of cost-effective deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) fingerprinting and international protocol with Private-Public-People Partnership concept as excellent forms of utilization of natural resources. We propose certain perspectives as scientists towards abolishing biopiracy and also to foster the fair utilization of natural resources; since the economy of most developing countries is agriculture based, the gross domestic product of the developing countries could be increased by enhanced bioprospecting via introduction of cost-effective DNA fingerprinting technologies and thus not being a pray of corporate hijacking.“Biopiracy is biological theft; illegal collection of indigenous plants by corporations who patent them for their own use” (Vandana Shiva).

More About This Resource Biopiracy: Abolish Corporate Hijacking of Indigenous Medicinal Entities

Indigenous Food Sovereignty Case Study

This case study examines issues related to indigenous food sovereignty– including the colonialization and transformation of traditional regional food systems, land rights and access, and pathways to decolonizing research and relationships.

More About This Resource Indigenous Food Sovereignty Case Study

A Fish-Focused Menu: An Interdisciplinary Reconstruction of Ancestral Tsleil-Waututh Diets

The study of past subsistence offers archeologists a lens through which we can understand relationships between people and their homelands. səl̓ilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) is a Coast Salish Nation whose traditional and unceded territory centers on səl̓ilwət (Tsleil-Wat, Burrard Inlet, British Columbia, Canada).

More About This Resource A Fish-Focused Menu: An Interdisciplinary Reconstruction of Ancestral Tsleil-Waututh Diets

Unsettling the record: modelling the devastating cumulative effects of selected environmental stressors and loss of human life caused by colonization in Burrard Inlet, Canada

In this paper we present a collaborative, transdisciplinary research project that explores the cumulative ecological and human impacts of colonization on the səl̓ilwət (Tsleil-Wat, Burrard Inlet) ecosystem in what is now known as British Columbia, Canada.

More About This Resource Unsettling the record: modelling the devastating cumulative effects of selected environmental stressors and loss of human life caused by colonization in Burrard Inlet, Canada

Pathways to the revitalization of Indigenous food systems: Decolonizing diets through Indigenous-focused food guides

This paper critiques the 2019 Canadian Food Guide for its Westernized approach, arguing that it overlooks Indigenous food systems and food security needs. It proposes the development of Indigenous-led food guides, using Fisher River Cree Nation as a case study to support community-based resurgence and decolonization of nutrition guidelines.

More About This Resource Pathways to the revitalization of Indigenous food systems: Decolonizing diets through Indigenous-focused food guides

The λ’aayaʕas Project: Revitalizing Traditional Nuu-chah-nulth Root Gardens in Ahousaht, British Columbia

This thesis documents the λ’aayaʕas Project, a community-led initiative restoring Nuu-chah-nulth traditional root gardening and cultural practices to strengthen ecological and cultural resilience through experiential learning.

More About This Resource The λ’aayaʕas Project: Revitalizing Traditional Nuu-chah-nulth Root Gardens in Ahousaht, British Columbia

“To Feed all the People”: Lucille Clifton’s Fall Feasts for the Gitga’at Community of Hartley Bay, British Columbia

This article highlights the lasting influence of Lucille Clifton, Eagle Matriarch of the Gitga’at Nation, whose deep knowledge of traditional foods, community leadership, and annual feasts helped preserve Gitga’at cultural identity and resilience, ensuring that her teachings remain vital amid global change.

More About This Resource “To Feed all the People”: Lucille Clifton’s Fall Feasts for the Gitga’at Community of Hartley Bay, British Columbia

The Traditional Foods of Puget Sound Project

Through this community-based research project, the research team worked with scores of tribal service providers and cooks to address this research question: How do we utilize research about traditional foods of Puget Sound Indians to create a healthier diet and lifestyle for Indian people today?

More About This Resource The Traditional Foods of Puget Sound Project

Toward Decolonizing Food Literacy Education: Co-creating a Curriculum at Lack Klan School with Gitxaała Nation

This thesis, founded in Indigenous theory and the principles of food sovereignty, explores how the Gitxaała community garden and the summer reading program at Lach Klan School can be leveraged to provide a platform for learning - or, ‘food literacy’ - as a pathway through which to support Indigenous knowledge traditions and contribute to achieving the tandem goals of food security, food sovereignty, and ultimately the concept of diduuls, or the ‘good life’ (relationship building to land, well-being, culture, community).

More About This Resource Toward Decolonizing Food Literacy Education: Co-creating a Curriculum at Lack Klan School with Gitxaała Nation

Implementation of the Learning Circle: Local Food to School Initiative in the Island Communities of Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, Canada—a Descriptive Case Study

Learning Circle: Local School to Food initiative brought together interested community members of Haida Gwaii to plan and implement activities aimed at enhancing access to local, healthy, and traditional foods for school communities.

More About This Resource Implementation of the Learning Circle: Local Food to School Initiative in the Island Communities of Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, Canada—a Descriptive Case Study

Gugwilx'ya'ansk and goats: Indigenous perspectives on governance, stewardship and relationality in mountain goat(mati) hunting in Gitga'at territory

This paper describes this multifaceted connection between people and place by analysing a legal and pedagogical philosophy called gugwilx'ya'ansk amongst the Ts'msyen (Tsimshian) people of the northwest coast of North America.

More About This Resource Gugwilx'ya'ansk and goats: Indigenous perspectives on governance, stewardship and relationality in mountain goat(mati) hunting in Gitga'at territory

Ktunaxa Nation: Community Report 2015

This community report summarizes two studies: the Ktunaxa Diet Study and the Qukin ʔamakʔis Ktunaxa Interests and Use Study. These two studies have contributed to several technical reports and environmental assessments.

More About This Resource Ktunaxa Nation: Community Report 2015