For the Blackfeet Nation, food sovereignty is about more than knowing where food comes from. Organizers say it is also about reclaiming traditional knowledge, reconnecting with the land and ensuring those practices continue to be passed down to future generations.
The Blackfeet Nation gathered in Browning to harvest buffalo, honor tradition and feed their community. Here's what food sovereignty looks like:
Those ideas were on display Thursday during the second annual FAST Blackfeet Food Sovereignty Event, where community members gathered for a buffalo harvest and a series of workshops focused on traditional foods, cultural practices and education.
The day began with an elder singing and praying for the hunt and harvest. According to FAST Blackfeet Co-Director Danielle Antelope, following Blackfeet protocol is an important part of the process.
“One of those things is making sure that we start with a ceremony that blesses the hunter and the rifle, and then everybody that's in attendance prays for a successful buffalo, and you get to pray that the buffalo that chooses itself and gives itself to you,” Antelope said.
According to Blackfeet cultural tradition shared at the event, the buffalo, or iinni, hears those prayers and separates itself from the herd, giving itself to the people, or Niitsitapi.
When hunters went out Thursday, two young bulls were standing apart from the rest of the herd and watching the group. Antelope said they interpreted that moment as a sign to take a young bull.
“For me, that was a real big message they wanted us to take a young bull,” Antelope explained. “And so we got a beautiful, strong young bull and was able to come out and do the harvest piece of it with our community.”
After the buffalo was brought back, the harvest became a community effort. Participants learned how the different parts of the animal are harvested and how they have traditionally been used.
Traditional Buffalo Harvester Termain Edmo said teaching those skills is an important part of preserving Blackfeet culture while also giving community members practical knowledge.
“Everyone needs to learn how to sustain themselves,” Edmo said. “You see the cost of living. You see the cost of meat prices. And so when we're doing things like that, we're teaching them skill on how to sustain their own family.”
Much of the meat from the harvest will go to FAST Blackfeet's food pantry, which provides food to people in the community.
Edmo said the pantry has helped her own family, making volunteering for the harvest particularly meaningful.
“I never hesitate to jump in when asked because I know it's going for a good cause. And I'm not only feeding my family, but I'm feeding my entire community.”
FAST Blackfeet partnered with organizations including the Blackfeet Climate Adaptation Agriculture sector for the event, bringing together community members to share knowledge that organizers say is not always found in traditional academic settings.
“Everybody who participated in the hunt piece of it, in the ceremony, piece of it in the harvest were meant to be here, and we're meant to learn something,” Antellope said.
The buffalo harvest was only the beginning of the second annual event. Organizers also planned community workshops throughout the day, followed by a ground blessing Friday for new land that will eventually house a community Food Resource Center.
For Antelope, seeing more people participate each year is a sign of the importance of creating opportunities for the community to reconnect with these traditions.
“It's a really good feeling to see more and more people every year,” she said.
