RECONNECTING TO ANCESTRAL FOODS

Food is one of our most sacred gifts from the great creator. We are here today because we come from strong, resilient, connected and intelligent people who had a spiritual and practical relationship to real food. Some of the most powerful ceremonies had to do with giving thanks to the plants, animals, and elements that brought sustenance to the people. Our creation stories even tell us about how we came to eat the foods we do today.

Since time immemorial food was revered as sacred because our survival depended on it. In pre-colonial times it was at the center of our cultures. Food connected families, bands and villages from afar. Food harvesting and processing was a family effort, everyone had a role. When people had healthful harvests they considered themselves wealthy.

Colonization has decentralized food from our cultures through the dispossession of ancestral lands. Food is one of the most powerful determiners of health and many of the health disparities we’re facing in native country are a result of diet and lifestyle factors that have been imposed on us in the colonial process. Granted there are many other factors that play a role in the degradation of health, but the food is a powerful one.

There are many different factors that make up what food, it’s spiritual, cultural, social, political, economic and environmental. In today’s world food has become a very complex subject since there are conflicting scientific studies about food. There are conflicting ideologies about how we should eat. These ideas are mostly circulating within the discourse of mainstream health and nutrition. However, for us Indigenous people, we have a very unique relationship to ancestral foods therefor the movement to reclaim our collective health is largely dependent on reconnecting to our ancestral foods.

Indigenous eating is a mindset, a way of life and a philosophy.

Ancestral eating is not a diet, it’s a way of life. Diets are a one size fits all approach that disregards bio-individuality. Instead, we encourage people to do the necessary work and learn what foods are right for their personal health. Rather than thinking of diets, see food as something to have a healthy relationship with. Developing our own personal hybridized way of eating based on our specific health needs is vital and empowering in our efforts to attain vitality and promote disease prevention.

The languages of our Indigenous Nations eloquently express what food is to each of us. Every nation has a unique relationship to the foods in their region and has the sovereign right to define food in their own terms. This requires a shift in the thought process in regards to diet vs a personalized relationship to food.

Food impact on Spiritual, physical, mental and emotional states

Many Indigenous nations recognized that the human being is made up of 4 interconnected quadrants know as Spiritual, Mental, Physical and Emotional. These quadrants are inextricably connected and influence one another as they shift through different states. In some nations, these quadrants are associated with colors and the cardinal directions that represent different teachings and understandings of our natural and spiritual world.

The influence that food has on these quadrants has long been understood by our ancestors. In many cultures, food and medicine were the same and as seasons changed certain foods were eaten to ensure strong immunity during the fall and winter seasons. The body has a profound ability to heal itself if provided the necessary components - real, nutrient-dense food.

The gut-brain axis

Evidence-based medicine characterizes the gut-brain axis as a bidirectional connection between the central nervous system (brain) and the enteric nervous system (gut). Through a series of complex pathways are links between the gut and cognitive and emotional centers of the brain. By understanding the intersection of ancestral knowledge and western medicine, we can begin to create hybridized treatment models to treat and reverse ilness and promote healthy living and disease prevention in Indigenous communities.

References:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4367209/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0166223613000088

https://www.nature.com/articles/mp201650?foxtrotcallback=true

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