At Civil Eats, Indigenous foodways has long been a core area of our coverage. For more than a decade, we’ve reported on foraging and subsistence hunting, food sovereignty, the landback movement, and much more, working with Native reporters and fellows to shine a light on overlooked stories of resilience, strength, and solutions.

With this series, we feature the voices of Indigenous food leaders who are reaffirming the value of Native foodways and celebrating their resurgence after centuries of suppression and near-erasure.

Our goal is to share ancestral ecological wisdom, a knowledge of how to live in balance with the earth at a time when such understanding is urgently needed and in short supply. Through these voices, we hope to shed light on the diversity and richness of Native food systems in this country, each formed by deep connection to a particular place over thousands of years.

This series will share stories of caring for the land, stewarding ecosystems, and responding to challenges that tribes continue to face. Along the way, it will showcase concepts that have guided Indigenous ecology for millennia—including reciprocity and relationships with the natural world. And about belonging to the web of life rather than seeking to control it.

We’ll hear directly from Native individuals as the rightful holders of knowledge, tradition, and ecological wisdom as part of their living culture. We acknowledge Indigenous people as the original keepers of this land, with the insight and agency to heal it, and this platform is theirs.

“Traditional food practices often embody sustainable principles—such as community well-being, biodiversity, and respect for natural resources—that offer valuable lessons for addressing the global challenges we face as a planet,” writes Lakota chef Sean Sherman in his recent cookbook Turtle Island: Foods and Traditions of the Indigenous Peoples of North America.

Our hope is that, story by story, we will deepen our understanding, drawing us toward a food system that could once again be sustainable.

The post Living and Eating in Kinship With the Land appeared first on Civil Eats.

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