Food Sovereignty

Multiple tribes have started to re-learn how to traditionally harvest camas flowers. The bulbs of these deep purple flowers were once a staple of indigenous diets in the Pacific Northwest.

A Tacoma park where blueberries can be picked for free during the summer is about to add a year-round food forest for gleaning after receiving a state urban forestry grant.

Members of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe harvested about 200 coho salmon from their home river in October – fewer than expected, but it marked a milestone for river restoration and a new subsistence fishery.

Founded during the height of the 2020 protests against police brutality, community members say the Black Lives Memorial garden in Cal Anderson Park serves not only them but others in the community, such as the unhoused. Seattle Parks and Recreation say they need the space back.

For tribes throughout the nation, protecting access to culturally important foods is a top priority. The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation say their first foods policy drives most of their land management decisions.

yəhaw̓ Indigenous Creatives Collective received a $100,000 grant from the city of Seattle for food sovereignty work. The group is slowly uncovering and restoring an untamed acre and a half in South Seattle, to create space for growing food and self-determination.