Hello! My name is Elizabeth Hoover- I’m a gardener, beadworker, fancyshawl dancer, an Assistant Professor of American Studies and Ethnic Studies at Brown University, and a member of the Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance (NAFSA), and the Slow Food Turtle Island association. This project was initially motivated  through working with the  Mohawk farming and gardening organization Kanenhi:io Ionkwaienthon:hakie (We Are Planting Good Seeds), a collective of farmers, educators, food activists and youth working to educate and motivate the community of Akwesasne to grow good food.  During the summer of 2014, I embarked on a road trip to visit as many Native American farming/gardening/food sovereignty projects as I could get to in a 3 month span. The hope was to learn more about what motivates people to become part of these gardening projects, what’s working, what some of the challenges are that people are facing, and how each community defines food sovereignty.  Since that initial road trip has ended, I have continued continue conducting interviews and visiting gardens, Native food conferences, and Native chef events when I am able, so if you would like to be included in this project, please drop me a note!

During the summer of 2014, I was joined by Angelo Baca, who collected photos and video footage along the way, and plans to someday create a documentary film about Native food movements.

Angelo Baca, Native American filmmaker, Navajo and Hopi, works on educational films, fiction and non-fiction. A graduate of the Native Voices Documentary Master’s Program at the University of Washington in the Department of Communications and American Indian Studies, he has done numerous documentaries and collaborative works with other filmmakers, both indigenous and non-indigenous. His first interactions with Food Sovereignty was with Pacific Northwest Coastal tribes who introduced him to a rich variety of culturally, spiritually, and nutritionally amazing foods with traditional foods specialists and teachers. For more about Angelo’s work, click here for his Vimeo site link or YouTube channel for blog videos.