Consisting of a Community Bison
Harvest that took place in Secwepemcúl’ecw Territory and our Community Dinner
Celebration took place in Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Territories,
this project aimed to create a dialogue in a culturally safe environment about
traditional Indigenous knowledge regarding cultural foods. In creating a
Culinary Sanctuary where we consulted with Indigenous communities and Elders in
a trauma informed approach, this projects primary goals were to dismantle colonial
narratives surrounding food preparation and promote culturally appropriate
practices for urban Indigenous peoples. To achieve this, we have documented
traditional knowledge through various mediums such as video, photography, and
written materials. In a finale completion with a film screening at Strathcona
Park featuring documentation of a bison ceremony and followed by a round-table
discussion to foster dialogue and understanding, the event will close with a
community feast.
The Bison Harvest and Community
Dinner Celebration project was not only completed but also helped to build
capacity for the next harvest season. With this project, we were able to
celebrate and honor the harvest according to indigenous protocols. We brought
the wider community together, shared the bison, and exchanged our harvest
experiences.
Testimonial from Sarah Common:
“I was invited to attend the Bison Harvest with Ancestral Food Ways, having attended the weekly garden sessions during the spring, and the winter solstice ceremony previously, building my connection to the program and relationships with the people and growing my understanding of the food ways. The thoughtfulness of the AFW community, the generosity of presence and of shared learnings, and of time and shared food; the inclusion of myself – as a person of white settler ancestry – and of being welcomed in to listen, participate, witness, work alongside and connect with the Bison in this way was transformational for me. I felt the opportunity to bring myself to the ceremony and harvest: my own ancestry and skills were welcomed and asked for, protocol was shared with me, and I was welcomed to learn ancestral skills and stories of this land – on which I am always a guest. My ancestors were directly involved in benefitting from the attempted eradication of the Bison, for control of land and resources, as part of Colonial policy of domination. To be in the presence of these beings, to participate in the harvest, all of my senses engaged in the process, including my spirit, was life changing. An opportunity to come into a relationship of healing and respect with these beings, to begin to return to them in some ways that which I am complicit in through my ancestry.
Ancestral FoodWays are holding relationships and creating pathways that are shifting a food system from one of transaction, extraction, fast paced consumption, disconnection and waste, to one of relationship, ceremony, honoring, community care, healing and respect for the whole beings involved – the land, the people of the land, the plants, the bison and more. I witness this in the weekly garden sessions AFW hosts, in the seasonal ceremonies, and in the Bison Harvest Celebration and beyond. The impact of the Bison being brought to the community after harvest, including the story, the food, the cultural connectivity and access that has emerged, supported and uplifted by this work, is profound.”
Memories, sensory and lasting:
Making eye contact with the Bison outside the abattoir, feeling their breath and bodies close to us, their calm and strength;
Processing the stomachs and intestines of the Bison, washing them to prepare for redistribution in community, understanding the textures and smells, the deep and rich beauty of it all;
Listening to the sounds of the work alongside the children who attended, who we took turns spending time with between working with the Bison;
The hides laying in the sun by the creek;
Stories shared about the Bison horns by Secwépemc hosts;
Sharing the story of the experience as we share the food and medicine of the Bison we returned with to community;
Understanding some of the complexity of what it takes to create this window into the food system to reclaim this food way – the depth of relationships being held by Ancestral FoodWays.
“My role as participating artist was to provide film documentation of the bison ceremony on Secwépemc territory (July 2023) and edit a short documentary film using the material. I also documented the Sundance fundraiser at Strathcona Field House after the ceremony. These experiences offered me a rich opportunity to build important relationships with Ancestral
FoodWays, and to build relations with the extended Strathcona community, while also developing my craft as a documentarian. Filming was highly educational and unique, from bearing witness to a ceremony inside a slaughterhouse and the hard work of processing each bison, to learning from Skullham (Secwépemc relation) about historic and present Secwépemc world-views and relationships to bison. Being on the land with the group, sharing meals together, was a wonderful experience. The Ancestral FoodWyas team were always gracious in providing meals and making sure everyone was taken care of. It really feels humbling and like an honor to be involved in the sharing of important traditional food knowledge among these folks who are walking the walk.”
– Conor Provenzano (artist, filmmaker)
