Indigenous Food Systems Network

Published on Feb 11, 2014

Decolonizing the Mind: Healing Through Neurodecolonization and Mindfulness -

Author, educator, medical social worker and citizen of the Arikara (Sahnish) and Hidatsa Nations in North Dakota, Michael Yellow Bird, MSW, Ph.D. works with indigenous communities, teaching about healing the trauma of colonialism. On January 24, 2014 he spoke about his experiences at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon, sharing his ideas about how to do go about doing this through techniques of mindfulness, thought and behavior which he refers to as neurodecolonization.

Aldo Leopold’s land ethic is often compared to the ethics of many North AmericanIndigenous communities, like Tribes and First Nations. At the heart of Leopold’s land ethic arethe ideas that humans should consider themselves as “plain citizens” of the biotic community and that “a thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the bioticcommunity.”
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Members of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, joined by prominent environmental advocates, went out to Burrard Inlet today to participate in a prayer ceremony for the earth and protest against oil sands development, as well pipeline expansions and tanker traffic along the coast. Participants rowed their boats near the terminal of American pipeline giant Kinder Morgan, which intends to triple the capacity of the existing Trans Mountain pipeline and potentially quadruple oil tanker traffic around Burrard Inlet.

The Haida recognize that nature and culture are intrinsically connected, and that the protection of the natural and cultural values on Haida Gwaii is essential to sustaining their culture. The Haida have always had Guardian Watchmen who protected the land and sea from harm. Guardians and Watchmen now work in fisheries, forestry, heritage and parks programs to support the Council of Haida Nations’ priority to protect the Aboriginal rights and title of Haida people.

The Winnipeg Free Press has an article regarding the Supreme Court decision to deny an appeal to overturn a fishing rights ruling. The original ruling affirmed the right to fish and sell fish, by a First Nations fishing cooperative of 52 fishers, in Manitoba.

If the article disappears, I have a pdf version I can send you.

Wild rice is a traditional food that has virtually disappeared from the diets of Ontarian First Nations peoples and the waterways where it once flourished in the "rice bowl" of Turtle Island.

File: 

The following file is a 1684 KB pdf document you many need to download Adobe Reader to open the file.

Vol 12 The Name of the Grain.pdf

Canada’s state and corporate wealth is largely based on subsidies gained from the theft of Indigenous lands and resources. Conquest in Canada was designed to ensure forced displacement of Indigenous peoples from their territories, the destruction of autonomy and self-determination in Indigenous self-governance and the assimilation of Indigenous peoples’ cultures and traditions.

Who is dependent on Whom? Arthur Manuel Letter November 14, 2011

Related File: 

The following file is a 15 KB pdf document you many need to download Adobe Reader to open the file.

Who is dependent on whom? Art Manuel Letter Nov 14.11.pdf

Hi Flora
PicI am writing you today to ask that you send off a quick letter before November 7th to the federal government about a trout-filled lake on BC's Chilcotin Plateau west of Williams Lake. If the feds take the action we are asking them to take, they will be saving the lake and whole lot of time and money as well.
The lake I am talking about is Fish Lake. If that name sounds familiar it should.

Our program to advocate for indigenous peoples affected by multilateral development banks is a cornerstone of the work at the Indian Law Resource Center. This project began in the late 1970s when the Center represented the Yanomami people of Brazil. The Yanomami lived a peaceful and self-sufficient life, with no ties to the global economy, until Brazil received money from the World Bank to build a road through their territory. The road unleashed chaos within the Yanomami communities. Road workers brought malaria and many Yanomami died because they had no resistance to the disease.