Food for Indigenous thought: Eva L. Barr, ‘Speaking of Food: Indigenous Language Reclamation Through Fruits of the Earth’, Ethnic Studies Pedagogies, 3, 1, 2025, pp. 207-224 | settler colonial studies blog

Food for Indigenous thought: Eva L. Barr, ‘Speaking of Food: Indigenous Language Reclamation Through Fruits of the Earth’, Ethnic Studies Pedagogies, 3, 1, 2025, pp. 207-224

17Jul25

Abstract: Within Indigenous struggles for “collective continuance” (Whyte, 2018) in the face of settler colonial hegemony, three powerful forms of resurgence are Indigenous Land-based (or simply Land) education models; language reclamation initiatives; and food systems organizing for food sovereignty. In the interest of contributing to Indigenous resurgence generally and the literature of decolonization in agricultural education more specifically, this paper investigates sites where these three forms of resistance converge, sites where Indigenous ways of knowing are engaged through language and food systems work with young people on the land. Reviewing literature documenting projects on Turtle Island and taking a first look at food systems and language projects in Minnesota, the author proposes that gardens, even with the tension of their colonial traces, may be nurturing sites for collective continuance. Gardens may present learning spaces for language revitalization and Indigenous food security in the present to secure Indigenous food sovereignty for the future.

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