Abstract
The historical use of food as a means of social control has led to stark health inequities in Native communities throughout the USA, and many federal structures and policies meant to support Native well-being and self-determination serve rather as tools of ongoing colonization and marginalization. Addressing these inequities and supporting Indigenous communities in the fulfillment of their right to adequate, culturally acceptable food calls for our critical consideration of how and when a rights-based approach to social work might be effective and ethically sound. Given Indigenous peoples’ disproportionate vulnerability at the intersection of environmental justice and food justice, Native leadership regarding these issues must be elevated in local, national, and global conversations about climate change and human rights fulfillment.
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Acknowledgments
Deep thanks to Kathryn Libal, Ph.D., for guidance, editing, and mentorship throughout this work; to Kate Elias, MSW, for editing support; to the Intertribal Agriculture Council, the Mashantucket Pequot and Narragansett tribal nations, and the many presenters and attendees of the 2018 Intertribal Food Sovereignty Summit, for allowing me to listen and learn; and to the residents of the Rosebud Reservation, for welcoming me many years ago, for feeding me, and for graciously sharing with me a sense of the power of food in your community.
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Smith Ahern, E. Resistance and Renewal: How Native Food Sovereignty Movements Should Guide Human Rights and Social Work. J. Hum. Rights Soc. Work 5, 236–245 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41134-020-00122-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41134-020-00122-4