Meet Our Speakers - Darcy Lindberg
Name: Darcy Lindberg
Title: Assistant Professor at University of Alberta, Faculty of Law
Education: PhD in Law
Q: Tell us a bit about your work: what do you do/research/teach/practice? And how does it relate to or involve the governance of food or food systems?
My work is in indigenous legal orders and this centers around Plains Cree legal thought to then make connections to Canadian law and other Indigenous nations, including the Metis and Blackfoot peoples. My focus has been on our relationship with the environment. I really focus on how Plains Cree people have a relationship with the ecological environment, particularly how it works with food sourcing. We have a kinship relationship with our food sources and this brings up interesting questions such as shared reciprocity amongst food resources and water, legal obligations with food, and how we are talking about it.
Q: What is an ongoing and/or emerging food law and policy issue that you have come across through your work that you feel is important and/or urgent and why? What is at stake?
One thing that is really important and positive is intersocietal working by Indigenous nations on food security. Here on the prairies, there is a resurgence of re-centering buffalo and reclamation of the historical use of buffalo, and thinking of them ceremonially and territorially. This work is not to create a food source for food security reasons, it is about interconnectedness that if the buffalo are thriving, our people are also thriving. We have a buffalo treaty of different Indigenous nations in Canada and the US that are working on a long-term plan to help buffalo thrive on the prairies. There are also NGO groups who are on board as well and the federal government is engaged.”
Q: Can you give us a hint of something you will talk about at the conference?
I will talk about the Buffalo treaty and make those links. The topic of the panel is food sovereignty on territories. I will be sharing stories about reclamations on indigenous territories and food systems and colonial interruptions of Indigenous foodscapes. I will also go into a link between food security from a colonial perspective and tying it into the reclamation of the buffalo.
Q: How does being Plains Cree influence your work regarding disruptions and reclamations of Indigenous territories and food systems?
I’ve never hunted buffalo, but my connection to buffalo is through our stories and cultural practices. We can’t rely on buffalo as a food resource unfortunately, but they are a part of our culture and stories. There is a story of the buffalo going into a lake because we mismanaged them, but there is a prophecy that they will return. This is deeply tied to my practice in Indigenous law.
Q: Can you elaborate on how plant-based food relates to Indigenous territorial food systems?
If I think about how to categorize Plains Cree law to our food sources, our relationship to buffalo is not going to be the same to saskatoon berries as there are different historical references. We have a lot of governance regarding everything human and nature. There are still obligations on how we approach our gardens and our saskatoon berries. This is often concealed because Indigenous law is focused on hunting, but we have old laws relating to plant-based foods. Our cultural practices allow us to fast and deprive us of food and water to fully understand the relationship of food and water. This also teaches us about refraining from the intense consumption of food and understanding the balance of understanding our place in this world. How do we as communities have the ability to survive but still allowing for regenerative growth and ethical relationships with their food?