Reflections from the 2020 Growing Season
In many Onkwehonwe, Indigenous, communities food security is a huge barrier which has become more evident through the COVID-19 pandemic. ROSP is being developed to help address and advocate for food security in Six Nations by revitalizing the methods, practices, knowledge, and storage in both modern ways of living & pre-contact methods in using food sustainability as the foundation. Many of the food produced in Summer of 2020 was given free to community members, volunteers, and the corn was donated to the longhouse community. ROSP will continue to be driven for and by the community.
The Indigenous youth and non-Indigenous youth voiced their experiences of regaining connection to the land and learning about the complexities of Indigenous identities and histories. Participants/Volunteers and community members visited throughout the season from all walks of life & experiences. From Residential School Survivors, political leaders, elementary/university students, families, and friends. Many deep conversations & discussions were experienced between youth and older generations. Gardening & canning provided opportunities to learn & ask questions about the interpersonal importance of food, land, treaties, traditional knowledge, and among many other important topics.
We were featured by CBC. Read it Here!
We were featured by CBC. Read it Here!
The successes in year 1 was evidently shown when receiving the feedback from parents, elders, and community members via social media and in-person. Many of the parents expressed how excited they were in learning about ROSP and looked forward to 2021. Parents expressed how the program impacted their children at home and discussed the positive impacts to their mental health. The youth expressed the positivity of being outdoors and loved helping the community.
In year one, delivering the Revitalizing Our Sustenance Project to the community of Six Nations was a struggle due to the impact of COVID-19. In the first year, the project had a focus on assessing community and youth needs, understanding feasibility & engaging in community consultation. The challenges during the first year was that our social and community outreach lacked in notifying youth and parents about upcoming events, volunteer opportunities, and youth registration for workshops. Secondly, the high cost of program materials needed in the first year was self-funded or donated in-kind. In year two, our focus is to improve our social media presence & outreach, engagement with youth, access to community, and program promotion.
The long term goal is focusing on the farming infrastructure of the project by installing an irrigation system, dehydration buildings for plants/food, and as well as a greenhouse. We are actively applying for further grants to expand our capacity & fundraising to help with project costs. Since we are in the early stages of developing Revitalizing Our Sustenance, any monetary support and capacity building opportunities are invited.
Revitalizing our Sustenance Project
Located in Six Nations of the Grand River Territory
revitalizingoursustenance@gmail.com
Located in Six Nations of the Grand River Territory
revitalizingoursustenance@gmail.com