The Power of Food: The Ojibwe Food Sovereignty Movement A movement towards regaining and restoring Indigenous lifeways through food in Minnesota

This thesis is concerned with the significant cultural, physical, and emotional losses of the Ojibwe people and their current efforts to use food as a means of regaining their sovereignty and self-sufficiency. In Ojibwe communities across the state of Minnesota, many active players are dedicated to preserving and sustaining Ojibwe food traditions in order to recover the cultural practices and norms that were lost, or forgotten, during the time of colonization. This ethnographic research study was conducted to observe and participate in the community-based projects of food. I achieved this through conducting in-depth interviews with key players, attending meetings, volunteering at non-profit organizations, and participating in all things food related within these communities; from planting and weeding, to harvesting and eating. Using low-level theoretical frames and community based examples, I will answer the following questions: Why is food such an effective communicator in Ojibwe communities? How is it being used to communicate the goals of the Ojibwe people? I answer these questions using a series of theoretical ideas, including agency, notions of time, resistance, place and space, and finally, participation. I stray a bit from the formal structure expected in a master s thesis because I feel that a more fluid story-like approach is more conducive to my topic and the nature of Native culture. That being said, the structure is as follows. I begin with the historical losses of the Native peoples of the United States, and end with their empowered visions for the future. I examine their efforts through a historical lens, exploring notions of connectedness, sacredness, and relatedness, before examining the projects of agency, from small scale cooking classes, to legal efforts to regain land and rights. All of these are dedicated to preserving and sustaining Ojibwe ways of life. While terms like, regaining, returning, and revitalizing are essential to communicating the significance of the cultural past, it became clear that the communities in question are moving into new paradigms of political process, participatory forms of government, and culturally appropriate means of food production, education, and economic self-sufficiency. They take into account their past losses and cultural heritage while incorporating new ideas and players into their present. All of this is done with the hopes of a positive self-sufficient future in mind. This thesis is my attempt to