Yesterday my mom, a friend and I attended the 3rd Annual Nimiipuu Food Summit in Lapawai, ID. It was an awesome event, with many moving and informative presentations. There were many more tables than last year, including ours, which was a combined table for Bluebird Forest Garden and the Snake River Seed Cooperative. The seed coop donated native Idaho seeds to give out to the tribal members. In addition I gave information about the coop’s community seed donation program to community garden organizers for two of North Idaho’s native tribes. We contributed a tree moss and bolete mushroom soup and wild harvested service berries, and sampled amaranth, smoked morels, smoked elk, elderberry jelly, humus and other good food from the tables. I was very encouraged to see how it has grown since last year, how the Nimiipuu created a community garden last year, and it was wonderful to see the school-aged children let out of class to attend and hear their elders speak about the importance of an intimate connection with the land, the water, and the foods that sustain their identity as tribal people.
The 3rd Annual Food Summit hosted by HIPT (Helping Indigenous People Thrive)
An overview by A. Hughes, Orofino, Idaho
The annual Food Summit on the Nez Perce land brings together gatherers, fisherwomen and men, gardeners, hunters, a few scientists, and other non-junk-food food junkies. I attended the Food Summit last year also. Both times I’ve been inspired and strengthened by the optimism, determination, and deep emotional sharing and connection that the Nimiipuu people have around protecting and honoring their natural food sources. Many emotions come up for me as I hear the people’s stories of their parents going to jail for protesting the violation of salmon fishing treaties, or hear about ranchers prohibiting them from gathering roots and herbs on lands now fenced off and considered private property. To see the caring and determination of these people after generations of being displaced from most of their land is amazing and galvanizing for me.
It was very encouraging to see how the Food Summit grew from last year to this year. The attendance had doubled, and included children who were let out of school to come hear their elders speak about the importance of connecting with the land, water, and natural ways of finding food. “Water is Life” is one of the sayings that they teach their children. The number of booths had also doubled, and I was really pleased and proud to represent the Snake River Seed Cooperative at my table, and also my wild foraging activities here at Bluebird Forest Garden. The seed coop had sent along a generous amount of several native seeds to give to attendees — blue prairie camas, and mountain hollyhock, which were well received by the tribal people. Thank you, SRSC! All that is asked of the hosts of the booths is to bring a healthy dish of food to share. I brought a king bolete mushroom soup with tree moss and garlic, rose hips, and canned service berries.
The main topics of discussion were the importance of tribal employees having the freedom to gather wild food at the appropriate times, even if that time is during the work week, gardening native plants for medicinal tinctures, preserving the salmon runs and treaty fishing rights, and the negative effects of climate change on the salmon, the creeks, harvesting times and availability of wild berries, etc. The Nimiipuu is the first tribe to have a subcommittee on climate change. After the presentations, we divided into focus groups where we all had a chance to share what was on our hearts about these topics. One of the focus groups was for the (new last year!) Nimiipuu community garden. I gave them, as well as Becky, the coordinator of the Cour’de’Alene Tribe garden, information about the community seed donation program of Snake River Seed Cooperative. So our seeds are going to help these tribes grow their community gardens!
The Nimiipuu tribe is also starting a seed bank. I talked to Amanda, the leader of that effort, about where I sourced the seed stock of the native plants that I grow for the SRSC. I’ll be in contact with her in the future as I find more native plant seeds to share with the seed bank.
I’ve gardened for most of my life, and grown a significant portion of my food for quite a few years now. Attending the Food Summits has been a catalyst for me to get serious about wild foods, learning which weeds and mushrooms are edible, and hunting. But more important to me is the emotional soul-connection to the land, water and food, and the connection between generations around food that is expressed in such a deep, heartfelt way at these meetings. Food and the land and water are to be celebrated, revered and cherished. The most moving part of the meeting came when a tribal elder described going with a group to a traditional gathering spot in the Wallowa Mountains. The roots they found were small. “They had missed us, those long years when we did not harvest. They had grown small. The land needs us. It remembers us when we go back to harvest, and it is glad to see us.” I’m remembering her words as best as I can, and again, they bring tears to my eyes. I’m inspired to “go back” and rejoice with the land.