Local Indigenous Vegan Eating (LIVE)

The healthiest way for humans to eat is local and Indigenous. Indigenous plants and animals have adapted to local environments over thousands of years, and are the most well suited to conditions found there. The deepest roots of human relations with local Indigenous plants and animals are found in the history and cultural traditions of local Indigenous peoples. While Indigenous animals have always played a central role in Indigenous food traditions, LIVE is focused on the potential of Indigenous plants to help meet the food needs of humans while providing much needed relief to our animal relations. 

We would model our solution after the work we did with the Decolonizing Diet Project (DDP). We would work with local community members to help them identify Indigenous foods available in their region, how to best access them, and how to process, store, and use them in their daily food interactions. We would draw on individuals who participated in the Decolonizing Diet Project and others who are knowledgeable and experienced in the area of Indigenous foods to help us with outreach and education. We produced a DDP Cookbook and I wrote a chapter for a book that explains the DDP in detail. The references are: 

Reinhardt, M., Lancaster, L., Lindala, A, and Moses, T. (2016). Decolonizing Diet Project Cookbook. Featuring Indigenous food recipes from the Great Lakes Region. Marquette, MI: Northern Michigan University, Center for Native American Studies.

Reinhardt, M. (2015). “Spirit food: A multidimensional overview of the Decolonizing Diet Project”. Indigenous Innovation: Universalities and Peculiarities, eds., E. Sumida Huaman and B. Sriraman. Rotterdam: Sense.

What would be different with this solution, however, is that we would focus on how to eat a plant based diet prioritizing local and Indigenous plants.  

Our solution is focused on local communities. This includes both Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. We do, however, recognize that Indigenous peoples have a different relationship with local Indigenous foods than non-Indigenous peoples. As such, we prioritize the needs of local Indigenous peoples to revitalize their relationships with local Indigenous plant relatives. Many Indigenous peoples currently lack education about local Indigenous foods, as well as lacking access. While the Indigenous food sovereignty movement has grown considerably in the past 10+ years, there is still a dearth of research and education available about this subject. The intersection of veganism and local Indigenous foods is an area that received very little attention in this movement, and as such there are even less materials available. We will help local community members identify local Indigenous food plants, and learn how to grow, harvest, process, store, and cook with them, as well as help them document their experiences so that this knowledge can be shared with others. 

The Decolonizing Diet Project focused on Indigenous communities in the Great Lakes Region. LIVE will draw on the DDP as a model to engage Indigenous communities in the Great Lakes Region and beyond. Unlike the DDP which focused on all Indigenous foods, LIVE will be focused on plant based foods only. Indigenous peoples and vegans therefore are the populations that we are most focused on. 

I am Anishinaabe Ojibway, a citizen of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. I am grounded in my traditional cultural. I am a learner of my Native language. My wife, Tina Moses, is also Anishinaabe Ojibway. We are culture bearers for our families. We are also well traveled and have visited other Indigenous communities across Turtle Island. We do not discount our academic and professional accomplishments which have been centered on decolonizing and revitalizing Indigenous communities. I have served as an advisor for multiple community based Indigenous foods initiatives, and am currently serving as a member of my Tribe's food sovereignty committee. Tina is an excellent organizer and has experience with coordinating food sovereignty efforts through her experience as the secretary of the Center for Native American Studies at NMU as well as business manager for Reinhardt & Associates.    

We have a well researched idea, but need help connecting with the appropriate organizations and individuals who can help us organize and mobilize around the idea. Our experience with technology is limited, and we have only limited financial resources available. 

I am a citizen of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. I serve on our tribal food sovereignty committee. I teach Native American Studies at Northern Michigan University. One course I teach is called NAS 230 Decolonizing with Indigenous Foods. I was the primary investigator for the Decolonizing Diet Project. 

Our solution is based on our original research. We have first hand knowledge about our solution as I was the primary investigator and also a research participant in the project we are modeling LIVE after. Unlike many other initiatives that focus on Indigenous foods, our focus will be on plant based local Indigenous foods. 

We hope to draw on the energy of the Indigenous foods movement to educate local community members about how they can utilize local Indigenous plants to meet their nutritional needs. 

Indicators would include the number of community members we engage with, and the self-reported percentage of their diet that is local, Indigenous, and plant based.   

We draw on the outcomes of the original research that we conducted at Northern Michigan University called the Decolonizing Diet Project (DDP). Biological outcomes included statistically significant weight loss, girth, as well as decreases in blood glucose levels, blood pressure, and cholesterol. On a socio-cultural level, we saw the development of community connections around Indigenous foods including cooking together, foraging, gardening, hunting, fishing, etc. We witnessed a breakdown in gendered expectations regarding food. We saw local businesses transform their practice to begin offering Indigenous foods in their stores and even labeling them as DDP eligible. We saw research participants use their treaty rights and other rights to access Indigenous foods, as well as figure out ways to address legal/political barriers in accessing these foods. We utilize a medicine wheel logic model in our approach which integrates traditional Anishinaabe symbols and teachings about relations as we identify, plan, implement and reflect on the project in its subsequent iterations and generations. We use a concentric circle model in our approach with an understanding that Indigeneity occurs at different levels. We also use a kincentric circle model with an understanding that different communities relate to each other and the world around them in ways that be be common or uncommon. We utilize a grounded or dirty theory approach, as we fully immerse ourselves as researchers in what we are studying. Literally getting our hands dirty as we engage the subject matter. We use Indigenous stand point theory and chaos theory as lenses from which to view our place in the universe. This Turtle Island place based identity lens allows us to draw on our traditional knowledges as we navigate our way through and around complex situations surrounding food relations. We share our ancestors visions as we interrogate colonial constructs that have been used to disenfranchise our communities. We draw on Indigenous philosophies and values as we think about how our actions today honor the sacrifices and gifts of our ancestors, and how our own may impact future generations. 

We take a broad approach to the idea of technology paying close attention to how technology has been used in a good way or bad way in the history of local Indigenous communities. We hope to help local communities revitalize their traditional knowledge about plants using the methods and technologies that they prefer. This may include helping them build databases of their edible local Indigenous plants that help them correctly identify and utilize them to meet their nutritional needs. This may include web based information and interactions as well as off-line technologies. We also want to help people access food harvesting, processing, cooking and storing technologies that they may have limited or no access to currently.  

Reinhardt & Associates is a sole proprietorship. I work as a professor at Northern Michigan University where we conducted the original research on the Decolonizing Diet Project. I plan to retire at the end of the next school year, but will maintain a professor emeritus status with the University. LIVE will be ran through Reinhardt & Associates. 

We hope to engage local Indigenous communities as a priority, but we also recognize that these communities are made up of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples, governments, organizations, and ideas. As such, we will meet the communities where they are at geographically and metaphorically. I am a mixed ancestry Anishinaabe Ojibway man, and a citizen of the federally recognized Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. I am a professor of Native American studies and have worked as a research associate with the Interwest Equity Assistance Center, and as a vice president of research and diversity with Educational Options, Inc. (an online education company). I have served as a member of our Diversity Council at NMU, and currently serve as a panel member for the National Indian Education Study. I am also the current president of the Michigan Indian Education Council. Our cultural teachings focus on maintaining balance and harmony in nature. As such, it is incumbent upon us to emulate that in our work regarding staffing, materials, outreach, etc.  

R&A is a for profit sole proprietorship. We generally engage in contract work that is part-time and temporary. We hire sub-contactors to assist with work that I cannot handle on my own. We also sell products like t-shirts, books, and posters. We also manage a tribal progressive rock band called Waawiyeyaa. The band hopes to produce an album soon, but for the time being does live performances. We hope to begin providing local Indigenous plant based foods as part of what we offer. Currently we operate that aspect of our business under the Michigan Cottage laws. We are hoping to partner with SOLVE to engage local Indigenous communities in generative/regenerative activities. While the initial interactions between LIVE and local communities may be supported by internal or external funding sources, the goal is to provide them with the experiential knowledge so they can begin to engage with local Indigenous food plants on their own. If they choose to do it as a for profit or not-for-profit will be entirely up to them. 

We hope to grow our business into an LLC soon. We are also considering developing a not-for-profit organization that may be better suited for some of the work we are hoping to do. As a for profit business we struggle with the idea of capitalism. In many ways, it seems counter to our Anishinaabe cultural values. We balance it out by making sure we give away as much as we sell. We discount or give away our services and products for those who cannot afford our normal fees.  

It really depends on how you define success. We have been able to cover our costs and still provide services and products for people who can use them. We have a small bank account that has approximately $1500 in it. So, we are definitely not making bank on our business ventures so far, but we hope to do more business and expand as I retire from my full-time job at NMU and shift my focus to our business. I am currently providing consultative services for a few organizations through R&A that will amount to approximately $30,000 this year in supplemental income for us. Our product sales last year were about $2300 including cottage law sales.