Indigenous Food Sovereignty Editorial Circle (IFSEC)

                                       Chippewa White Earth Nation members harvest manoomin (wild rice).  Photo credit: Duncan Hilchey

IFSEC Draft Mission Statement (as of Fall 2023)

Members of the Indigenous Food Sovereignty Editorial Circle (IFSEC) recognize the many struggles Indigenous Peoples face, and have faced, and are committed to working towards sovereignty in every domain including food. The IFSEC was created to empower Indigenous people in the food systems applied research sphere. Several fundamental values guide the activities of this circle including:

  • food system work on Indigenous topics must be community-based and community-led;
  • the continuance of life1 is foundational to an Indigenous approach to food systems development;
  • community-driven methodologies and Indigenous data sovereignty;
  • the conservation and restoration of Indigenous territories maintain the wellspring of knowledge and sustenance that allows for our survivance;
  • seeds and other non-human persons must be treated with respect and given due consideration;
  • the honoring of generational knowledge and resiliency of Indigenous food knowledge and practices;
  • the maintenance and stewardship of land which includes the values, ceremonies, languages, and practices that underlie our food systems;
  • ancestors and future ancestors are of key importance in making decisions related to the food system.

The IFSEC enacts these values as we celebrate and raise up Indigenous knowledge systems, languages, and people in academic publishing.

1 “Life” refers to all living things, including but not limited to humans. We also include other aspects of the natural world that Western thought refers to as “non-living” such as rocks, rivers, and entire ecosystems.

 

CURRENT MEMBERS

Dr. Keith Williams (Chair): Assistant Professor, Athabasca University, Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies

Dr. A-Dae Romero-Briones: Director of Programs – Native Agriculture and Food Systems, First Nations Development Institute

Dr. Lois Stevens: Assistant Professor, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Faculty of Education

Dr. Joseph Brewer: Associate Professor, University of Kansas, Environmental Studies Program

Dr. Michael Kotutwa Johnson: Program Officer for the Native American Agricultural Fund

Dr. Mapuana Antonio: Assistant Professor, University of Hawaii-Manoa, Specialization Head of the Native Hawaiian and Indigenous Health Program

Dr. Tabitha Robin Martens: Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia, Faculty of Land and Food Systems