Land, Language, and Food Literacy: Co-Creating a Curriculum at Lach Klan School with Gitxaała Nation

Food is and has always been more than a source of physical nourishment for Gitxaała Nation; it is a way of life, a source of pride, and integral to community wellness. Like First Nations across Canada, Gitxaała continues to experience the lasting effects of colonization, impeding community access to traditional territories and relationships supporting hunting, gathering, fishing, cultivation, and trading of Indigenous foods. The profound dietary shift as a result of colonization has contributed to disproportionately high rates of food insecurity, diet-related health issues, and barriers to the transmission of cultural knowledge around Gitxaała foods. Food sovereignty has emerged as a movement and framework for Indigenous peoples in Canada that emphasizes strengthening traditional food practices, food sharing, and trading networks in order to support community health and well-being. For Indigenous peoples of Canada, food sovereignty is also about the right to feeding and teaching children about foodways rooted in community knowledge, stories, memories, and wisdoms. This research explores how the Gitxaała community garden and the summer reading program at Lach Klan School can be leveraged as a platform for learning—or “food literacy”—toward achieving the broader goals of food security and food sovereignty. Through hands-on learning activities that integrate local, Indigenous language and knowledge, this research suggests that food literacy activities have the potential to contribute to the goals of food sovereignty in Lach Klan by better equipping students to define, demand, and make decisions that shape what their food system looks like now and into the future.