This course examines the effort to reclaim, or decolonize our diet. We will experiment with the following topics: historical colonization of traditions and foods; modern “traditional” foods such as fry bread, and the 3 “white sisters,” white flour, salt and processed sugar; original traditional foods in Indigenous communities, including cultivated and wild plants and medicines, wild game and fish, traditional seeds and seed keeping.

Students will learn about traditional agriculture, seed saving, and traditional foods and medicines and knowledge holders in various communities throughout Turtle Island. They will create tools for passing on the knowledge to the next seven generations. In this course we will also create materials to train and develop food banks, including “Koda’s Closet” run by the Four Bridges Traveling Permaculture Institute to provide more healthy alternatives to the historic commodity foods typically distributed to those in need.

Lorraine Kahneratokwas Gray (Mohawk) has a diverse background, beginning with a Masters in Project Management. She has been working to protect traditional seeds and foods for the last 20 years. She co-founded Kanenhi:io Ionkwaienthonhakie (We Are Planting Good Seeds), in the Mohawk Community of Akwesasne, in New York. Gray is now living in New Mexico and is the co-founder and Executive Director of the Four Bridges Traveling Permaculture Institute (https://www.4bridges.org/), working with youth and elders to protect and revive traditions in agriculture and sustainable living in South American and throughout Turtle Island.

Cost: $150. IAIA employees, alumni, and Seniors 65+ will pay $120. Current IAIA undergraduate and graduate students will pay $60. This 18-hour course is eligible for 1.8 Continuing Education Units (CEU's).

THIS CLASS IS DESIGNED FOR ADULTS. CHILDREN ARE NOT ELIGIBLE TO ENROLL OR PARTICIPATE AS STUDENTS.