Returning to the Root
For generations, the narrative of the Canadian Prairies has been celebrated through a single, foundational lens: the arrival of the hardy pioneer, the breaking of the ancient sod, and the building of tight-knit agricultural communities across Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. As descendants of Scandinavian immigrants, many of our families found their footing in Western Canada through federal initiatives like the Dominion Lands Act of 1872, which partitioned nearly 80 million hectares of land into 160-acre homestead grids to draw mass European migration. This policy offered our ancestors a vital lifeline—a way to escape economic hardship, crop failures, and starvation in northern Europe, and to construct a prosperous future in a new world.
Indigenous Trade Networks on the Prairies
The Canadian prairies encompasses many Indigenous Nations, each with distinct histories, territories, and systems of trade. For thousands of years, these Nations maintained exchange networks shaped by geography, season, and relationship. What follows is not a comprehensive account of those systems, nor does it attempt to speak for any single Nation or community.
The Rise of Indigenous Superfoods
Canada’s food history is rooted in ingredients that grew, swam, or roamed freely across this land. Long before refined wheat and industrial farming arrived, Indigenous communities sustained themselves with nutrient-rich staples harvested in tune with seasonal cycles. These were the original examples of sustainable cooking and ancestral cooking methods — systems where food, ecology, and community were inseparable.
The Fish That Built Canada
Fish is not just a food source in Canada—it is integral to the cultural, spiritual, and economic identity of many communities. Indigenous Peoples across the country have relied on fish for millennia, developing complex techniques to fish, preserve, and honour the creatures of the water. From the coastlines of the Pacific to the inland lakes of the Prairies, fish has sustained communities, shaped economies, and maintained deep spiritual connections to the land.
Reviving Indigenous Food Sovereignty
Bringing back Indigenous food systems helps everyone, especially Indigenous communities gain food security and build culture and community.