Tag Archives: Traditional Indigenous Diets

Indigenous Nations

Food security and community memories are the key ingredients of a new Tla’amin cookbook

IndigiNews, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Denise Smith cherishes her childhood memories of her parents harvesting and preparing traditional ɬaʔəmen (Tla’amin) foods — from hunting deer in the forest, to fishing for perch on their territories, and for cod in the ocean.

Though her mother passed away when she was young, Smith remembers her “being that person that was always doing something with food.”

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Food

Food insecurity in Canadian households hits record high of 25.5%, says report

By Nora O’Malley, Ha-Shilth-Sa, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Vancouver Island, BC – Food insecurity has reached a record high of 25.5 per cent in Canadian households, according to the latest Canadian Food Sentiment Index report published by the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University.

Another recent report from Island Health shows one in five Vancouver Island residents were concerned about food security. 

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Food, Health, Indigenous Nations

First-ever Food is Medicine health fair coming to Port Alberni Nov. 2

By Nora O’Malley, Ha-Shilth-Sa, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Connecting families to traditional foods and traditional healers is a central focus of the inaugural Food is Medicine Diabetes Gathering on Nov. 2 at the Echo Centre in Port Alberni from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

This free, drop-in event is for people living with diabetes, their family members, supports and anyone who is interested in overall wellness. A healthy lunch will be served, and no pre-registration is required.

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Food, Indigenous languages, Indigenous Nations History

What did the Tsleil-Waututh people eat 500 years ago?

Editor’s note: At one time in their remote prehistory, all the Salish peoples are believed to have spoken a single proto-Salish language. There are now 23 Salishan languages. The Northern Coast Salish nations (Homalco, Klahoose, K’omoks and Tla’amin) speak Ayajuthem (Éy7á7juuthem), while the Tsleil-Waututh and other Coast Salish Nations from Lower Mainland speak Halkomelen (hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓).

By Mina Kerr-Lazenby, North Shore News, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Crafted from a food source that was abundant, varied and rich in nutrition, the diet that the səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation) had prior to the arrival of settlers was worlds away from what it is now.

New research between the Tsleil-Waututh Nation and the University of British Columbia uses archeological records and Indigenous oral histories to piece together what was on the menu between 1000 CE and European contact in approximately 1792 CE.

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Food Security, Indigenous Nations

Indigenous food gathering nourishes culture and climate resiliency

Editor’s Note: Some First Nations members from within our listening area may have been among the hundreds of participants, ‘from both coasts and the length of the island,’ who took part in the Island Indigenous Food Gathering. The Homalco, Klahoose, K’omoks and Tla’amin are all Northern Coast Salish Nations. The We Wai Kai and Wei Wai Kum are Kwakwaka’wakw First Nations.

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

First Nations from across Vancouver Island celebrated and strengthened traditional food sovereignty in a bid to deepen Indigenous communities’ response to climate change and other emergencies.

The recent Island Indigenous Food Gathering near Port Alberni, B.C. , involved hundreds of members from the Nuu-chah-nulth, Coast Salish and Kwakwaka’wakw First Nations from both coasts and the length of the island, said organizer Nitanis Desjarlais.

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