Conference 2021 Panel Recap - "Indigenous Territorialities and Food System Governance: Disruptions and Reclamations"

William Ignace (aka Wolverine) - a key figure in the 1995 Gustafsen Lake standoff, and land defender.

The panel on Indigenous Territorialities and Food System Governance: Disruptions and Reclamations spoke to both the injustices of Canadian food law and policy, as well as movements of resistance and change. Weaving together personal stories with broader contexts of history, law, and policy, Darcy Lindberg, Alan Hanna, Rebeca Macias Gimenez, and Hannah Askew spoke to the ways in which food law has shaped relationships between peoples, land, and other species. 

Beginning with an analysis of s.35 of the Constitution Agreement (1982), recognizing the “inherent right of self-government as an existing Aboriginal right”, Alan Hanna asks why the British Columbia government acts on the assumption that they have the authority to govern hunting and fishing throughout the province (including the hunting and fishing practices of Indigenous communities), as well as the sole authority to manage BC lands and animals. Does this assumption not contradict the s.35 rights; rights that also affirm Indigenous laws of sovereignty and land management that have been in place since time immemorial? Although jurisprudence has held that the assumption of governmental control over Indigenous hunting and fishing practices is not constitutional, the assumption that the BC government has the sole authority to manage BC lands and animals remains largely untested in court. 

Hannah Askew offered personal stories of the impact of this assumption. By comparing her ancestor’s right to settle on BC land by means of the displacement of Indigenous communities, Hannah demonstrates how the assumption that Indigenous nations do not have the right to control their land has worked to marginalize Indigenous communities from their ancestral lands, relationships with animals, access to water, and food sovereignty. For example, Darcy Lindberg spoke of how settler-Canadian policies have devastated buffalo populations in the prairies, and Rebeca Macias Gimenez spoke of how policies for resource extraction around the Xingu River Basin in Brazil have led to food insecurity for Indigenous communities who formerly relied on the river’s freshwater seafood. Alan Hanna asks us, if s.35 of the CA (1982) affirms the right to self-government, why is the right to govern land and food systems not affirmed in practice? And how might Indigenous groups exercise food sovereignty without the ability to manage their own resources? Darcy Lindberg offers ideas on how Indigenous legal concepts, such as Ohcinêwin – the Plains Cree legal principle that obligates people against transgressions against non-human beings and things – are sources of law and he offers the possibility that they could begin to hold the Canadian state accountable to s.35 rights.

Both international and Canadian movements of resistance and change were shared by speakers throughout the panel. Hannah Askew spoke fondly about conversations she’d had in her 20s with William Ignace, known as Wolverine (pictured above). Wolverine was a key figure in the 1995 Gustafsen Lake standoff, acting as a land defender defending an unceded area where sun dances were performed. He was a victim of a large show of force during the standoff, and ultimately ended up serving 5 years in jail for his role in the standoff. He later became a farmer, continuing to advocate for Indigenous sovereignty and rights. For example, he considered starting a class action against the government because water access and irrigation permits were often denied to Indigenous farmers. This in turn caused Indigenous farmers to make far less in profits than if they were given similar or equivalent water rights to those of white farmers in the area. Ultimately he did not out of a fear of retribution, but he fought for change his entire life. 

Rebeca Macias Gimenez shared stories about the Xikrin people, who have been actively trying to reclaim authority over their territory and food systems in Brazil. In 2019, the Xikrin people held an assembly and decided to declare war on the loggers and ranchers who illegally occupied their land and set fire to sections of the forest in their territory. Armed with weapons, they travelled to the borders of their territory and did a sweep through their territory, ejecting these invaders and confiscating chainsaws, other tools and weapons. The Xikrin people have been reclaiming their food systems through several means. One example is strengthening the sustainable cycle of the cassava root, an integral food in their culture, through permaculture and flour production for the community to consume and for commercialization. Another is by way of the adoption of community-based monitoring of the Bacajá River to ensure water quantity and quality essential for their fishing practices. 

The last speaker, Darcy Lindberg summed up the entire panel well in his last slide, finishing up with three key points. First, food remains braided with ceremonial, social, cultural and territorial practices. Second, the gift of one brings obligations to all. And finally, access to lands and waters are integral to reclamation of unmediated food relationships.