scholarly journals “The Recovery of the People Is Tied to the Recovery of Food”: Food Sovereignty and Winona LaDuke’s Last Standing Woman

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-139
Author(s):  
Cristina Stanciu

Abstract This essay turns to LaDuke’s literature and activism to explore ways in which contemporary Native American writers center their work around issues of food sovereignty, environmental protection, and economic self-determination as essential platforms for community regeneration, renewal, and survival. I argue that Last Standing Woman (1997), Anishinaabe writer Winona LaDuke’s first novel, dramatizes many of these concerns at the heart of her activist and political work. Central to the novel Last Standing Woman is the significance of wild rice for the White Earth Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) people of Minnesota. In Last Standing Woman, wild rice is not only a traditional and sustainable crop but also one that can ensure the livelihood of the community. At the heart of a feminist and activist novel like Last Standing Woman – as well as Winona LaDuke’s activist work, more broadly – is a twofold challenge, which resonates across much Native American writing: on the one hand, the challenge to preserve (existing resources, cultural practices, etc.); on the other, to recover the losses Native communities have suffered historically through colonization and its many consequences, such as the enormous loss of land suffered by the White Earth community. The turn to literature provides Winona LaDuke with a powerful site of political engagement, where she foregrounds issues of gender, tribal politics, and the environment at the same time as she tells a powerful story about Anishinaabe continued resilience.

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-128
Author(s):  
Zuzanna Kruk-Buchowska

The paper looks at the role of traditional foodways and related cultural practices in Oneida’s contemporary food sovereignty efforts, and the various understandings of the continuity of food and agricultural traditions in the community. The tribe’s Tsyunhehkw^’s (joon-hen-kwa) farm, whose name loosely translates into “life sustenance” in English, serves important cultural, economic and educational purposes. It grows Oneida white flint corn, which is considered sacred by the tribe and is used for ceremonial purposes, it grows the tobacco used for ceremonies and runs a traditional Three Sisters Garden. The Three Sisters – corn, beans and squash, are an important part of the Oneida creation story, as well as the vision of Handsome Lake – a Seneca prophet from the turn of the 19th century, who played an significant role in the revival of traditional religion among the People of the Longhouse.[1] They inform the work done at Tsyunhehkw^ to provide healthful food for the Oneida community. [1]The Oneida form part of the Iroquois Confederacy (as called by the French), referred to as the League of Five Nations by the English, or the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, as they call themselves. Haudenosaunee translates into the People of the Longhouse. The Confederacy, which was founded by the prophet known as Peacemaker with the help of Hiawatha, is made up of the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas. It was intended as a way to unite the nations and create a peaceful means of decision making. The exact date of the joining of the nations is unknown and it is one of the first and longest lasting participatory democracies in the world (“About the Haudenosaunee Confederacy” 2019).


2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 71-91
Author(s):  
Amelia V. Katanski

Anishinaabe manoomin (wild rice) narratives maintain core aspects of Anishinaabe identity and epistemology, constituting Anishinaabe gikendaasowin (knowledge). Ranging from aadizokaanag to more contemporary dibaajimowinan, these narratives describe the close historical, spiritual, ecological, and material relationships between Anishinaabe communities and manoomin and demonstrate the importance to Anishinaabe self-determination of maintaining such connection. Manoomin feeds the people, and stories by Jim Northrup, Heid Erdrich, Linda LaGarde Grover, Gerald Vizenor, and Winona LaDuke, among others, propagate manoomin gikendaasowin, which supports Anishinaabe food sovereignty activism that seeks to protect and maintain manoomin and provide the nourishment that helps Anishinaabe communities to thrive.


2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gail De Vos

Jordan-Fenton, Christy and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton. Illus. Liz Amini-Holmes. A Stranger at Home: A True Story. Toronto: Annick Press, 2011. Print. This straightforward and powerful sequel to Fatty Legs begins with Margaret’s return after her two year travail in residential school. Her eager anticipation quickly turns to bewilderment when she no longer feels part of her family or culture due to the changes she has been forced to undergo: English is now her first language of communication, her stomach cannot accept the once familiar foods, she is anxious about the possible damnation of her family members because of the lack of prayers in the family home. Margaret’s memories, thoughts and experiences, captured by her daughter-in-law, are presented in an accessible and believable manner. Margaret’s father is the one stable anchor on her return to a home that has become almost as foreign to her as was the school she just left. Besides the changes in family dynamics, Margaret is also presented with concrete examples of fears of the unknown and unfamiliar in the wider community with the presence of the trapper the people call the Du-bil-ak (the devil). Margaret points out that his skin colour is similar to that of Lena Horne, her father’s favourite singer, but this does not lessen her fear of the man either. Margaret’s major solace during this difficult year of transformation and searching for her identity is reading and rereading. As she regains her sense of herself through her reading concrete experiences with the dog team and her family, she develops the strength she needs to fulfil her father’s wishes to return to the detested school with her younger sisters. Accompanied by colourful and expressive illustrations as well as relevant photographs, the setting and people of home are vivid and present for the reader. The footnotes supply readers with explanations of Inuit terms and cultural practices. A brief account of the practice of residential schools follows the narrative. Highly recommended: 4 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Gail de Vos Gail de Vos, an adjunct instructor, teaches courses on Canadian children's literature, Young Adult Literature and Comic Books and Graphic Novels at the School of Library and Information Studies for the University of Alberta and is the author of nine books on storytelling and folklore. She is a professional storyteller and has taught the storytelling course at SLIS for over two decades.


2013 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 777-800 ◽  
Author(s):  
GABRIELLA TREGLIA

From the 1880s until the early 1930s the US federal government adopted a formal policy of intolerance towards Native American cultures and religions, stemming primarily from the belief that traditional religio-cultural practices – especially dances – distracted Native Americans from crop-tending and stock-rearing, and also constituted “outmoded” reminders of a “savage” past seen as incompatible with the responsibilities of US citizenship. Some cultural practices were banned outright, while others were actively discouraged or denigrated as “oldtime.” Yet Native American cultural expression did not die – in large part because Native communities employed varied methods to resist the bans. This article examines the ways in which pro-dancing communities utilized the language of US citizenship and made appeals to the Constitution, private property rights and US patriotism in their bid to ensure the survival of their dances and ceremonies. It also examines support for the dance bans by Native individuals, and the increasingly complex and evolving cultural identities in reservation communities in the early twentieth century.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (9) ◽  
pp. 5
Author(s):  
Poonam Chourey

The research expounded the turmoil, uproar, anguish, pain, and agony faced by native Indians and Native Americans in the South Dakota region.  To explain the grief, pain and lamentation, this research studies the works of Elizabeth Cook-Lyn.  She laments for the people who died and also survived in the Wounded Knee Massacre.  The people at that time went through huge exploitation and tolerated the cruelty of American Federal government. This research brings out the unchangeable scenario of the Native Americans and Native Indians.  Mr. Padmanaban shed light on the works of Elizabeth Cook-Lynn who was activist.  Mr. Padmanaban is very influenced with Elizabeth Cook-Lynn’s thoughts and works. She hails from Sioux Community, a Native American.  She was an outstanding and exceptional scholar.  She experienced the agony and pain faced by the native people.  The researcher, Mr. Padmanaban is concerned the sufferings, agony, pain faced by the South Dakota people at that time.  The researcher also is acknowledging the Indian freedom fighters who got India independence after over 200 years of sufferings.  The foreign nationals entered our country with the sole purpose of business.  Slowly and steadily the took over the reign of the country and ruled us for years, made all of us suffer a lot.


IJOHMN ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (6) ◽  
pp. 31-43
Author(s):  
V. Padmanaban

This work is a study on the works of Elizabeth Cook-Lynn who is proficient scholar and hails from South Dakotas and Sioux nations and their turmoil, anguish and lamentation to retrieve their lands and preserve their culture and race. Many a aboriginals were killed in the post colonization. Elizabeth Cook-Lynn grieves and her lamentation for the people of Dakotas yields sympathy towards the survived at Wounded Knee massacre and the great exploitation of the livelihood of the indigenous people and the cruelty of American Federal government. Treaty conserved indigenous lands had been lost due to the title of Sioux Nation and many Dakotas and Dakotas had been forced off from their homelands due to the anti-Indian legislation, poverty and federal Indian – white American policy. The whites had no more regard for or perceiving the native’s peoples’ culture and political status as considered by Jefferson’s epoch. And to collect bones and Indian words, delayed justice all these issues tempt her to write. The authors accuses that America was in ignorance and racism and imperialism which was prevalent in the westward movement. The natives want to recall their struggles, and their futures filled with uncertainty by the reality and losses by the white and Indian life in America which had undergone deliberate diminishment by the American government sparks the writer to back for the indigenous peoples. This multifaceted study links American study with Native American studies. This research brings to highlight the unchangeable scenario of the Native American who is in the bonds of as American further this research scrutinizes Elizabeth’s diplomacy and legalized decolonization theory which reflects in her literature career and her works but defies to her own doctrines.


Trictrac ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petru Adrian Danciu

Starting from the cry of the seraphim in Isaiahʹ s prophecy, this article aims to follow the rhythm of the sacred harmony, transcending the symbols of the angelic world and of the divine names, to get to the face to face meeting between man and God, just as the seraphim, reflecting their existence, stand face to face. The finality of the sacred harmony is that, during the search for God inside the human being, He reveals Himself, which is the reason for the affirmation of “I Am that I Am.” Through its hypnotic cyclicality, the profane temporality has its own musicality. Its purpose is to incubate the unsuspected potencies of the beings “caught” in the material world. Due to the fact that it belongs to the aeonic time, the divine music will exceed in harmony the mechanical musicality of profane time, dilating and temporarily cancelling it. Isaiah is witness to such revelation offering access to the heavenly concert. He is witness to divine harmonies produced by two divine singers, whose musical history is presented in our article. The seraphim accompanied the chosen people after their exodus from Egypt. The cultic use of the trumpet is related to the characteristics and behaviour of the seraphim. The seraphic music does not belong to the Creator, but its lyrics speak about the presence of the Creator in two realities, a spiritual and a material one. Only the transcendence of the divine names that are sung/cried affirms a unique reality: God. The chant-cry is a divine invocation with a double aim. On the one hand, the angels and the people affirm God’s presence and call His name and, on the other, the Creator affirms His presence through the angels or in man, the one who is His image and His likeness. The divine music does not only create, it is also a means of communion, implementing the relation of man to God and, thus, God’s connection with man. It is a relation in which both filiation and paternity disappear inside the harmony of the mutual recognition produced by music, a reality much older than Adam’s language.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 43-57
Author(s):  
See Seng Tan

Abstract: The longstanding effort to develop a people-based regionalism in Southeast Asia has been shaped by an inherent tension between the liberal inclination to privilege the individual and the community under formation, on the one hand, and the realist insistence on the primacy of the state, on the other. This article explores the conditions and constraints affecting ASEAN’s progress in remaking Southeast Asia into a people-focused and caring community in three areas: disaster management, development, and democratization (understood here as human rights). Arguably, the persistent gap in Southeast Asia between aspiration and expectation is determined less by political ideology than by the pragmatic responses of ASEAN member states to the forces of nationalism and protectionism, as well as their respective sense of local and regional responsibility.Resumen: El esfuerzo histórico para desarrollar un regionalismo basado en las personas del sudeste de Asia ha estado marcado por una tensión fundamental entre la inclinación liberal de privilegiar el individuo y la comunidad y la insistencia realista sobre la primacía del estado. Este artículo explora las condiciones y limitaciones que afectan el progreso de la ASEAN en la reestructuración de Asia sudoriental en una comunidad centrada en el cuidado de las personas en: gestión de desastres, desarrollo y democratización (i.e., derechos humanos). La brecha persistente en el sudeste asiático entre la aspiración y la expectativa está determinada por las respuestas pragmáticas de los miembros de la ASEAN sometidos a las fuerzas del nacionalismo y proteccionismo, así como su respectivo sentido de responsabilidad local y regional.Résumé: L’effort historique pour développer un régionalisme fondé sur les peuples en Asie du Sud-Est a été marqué par une tension fondamentale entre l’inclination libérale qui privilégie, d’une part, l’individu et la communauté et, d’autre part, l’insistance réaliste sur la primauté de l’État. Cet article explore les conditions et les contraintes qui nuisent aux progrès de l’ANASE dans le cadre d’une refonte de l’Asie du Sud-Est en une communauté centrée et attentive aux peuples dans trois domaines : la gestion des désastres, le développement et la démocratisation (en référence aux droits humains). Le fossé persistant en Asie du Sud-Est entre les aspirations et les attentes est vraisemblablement moins déterminé par l’idéologie politique que par les réponses pragmatiques des États membres de l’ANASE soumis aux forces du nationalisme et du protectionnisme ainsi que par leur sens respectif de la responsabilité locale et régionale.


Author(s):  
David Rondel

This chapter distinguishes between “vertical” and “horizontal” egalitarianism. The vertical and horizontal metaphors differentiate primarily between two types of relationship in which equality is said to play an important role—the “vertical” relationship between state and citizen, on the one hand, and the “horizontal” relationship between or among the people of a society, on the other. But the distinction may be used in a wider way to track several issues around which egalitarian theories tend to diverge: about what a commitment to equality ultimately means; about to whom or what egalitarian principles are meant to apply; about how equality is achieved and what its achievement looks like, and about how theorizing on equality is properly or most promisingly undertaken.


Author(s):  
Matthew H. Kramer
Keyword(s):  

Most critiques of edificatory perfectionism concentrate on the detrimental effects that will be undergone by the people whose lives the edificatory perfectionists are seeking to improve. Chapter 6 shifts the focus to the officials who formulate and implement the policies that produce such effects. On the one hand, Rawlsians and other contractualists quite rightly demur at the disrespect that is shown by edificatory perfectionists toward the putative beneficiaries of the measures which the perfectionists advocate. On the other hand, the contractualists largely neglect to take account of the ways in which the edificatory-perfectionist measures degrade the whole system of governance wherein they occur. Chapter 6 highlights that degradingness as it draws attention to the quidnunc mentality that is evinced by the officials who adopt and administer the laws for which the edificatory perfectionists have called.


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