Tensions in Fostering ‘local food’ in the Northwest Territories: Contending with Settler Colonialism in Northern Research

• Main Author: Stollmeyer, Molly Sarah
• Format: Thesis
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: Northwest Territories
• Online Access: https://curve.carleton.ca/f5baebed-a7a3-4402-8f40-575d9eb623f8; https://doi.org/10.22215/etd/2021-14545; https://ocul-crl.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01OCUL_CRL/j2o5om/alma991022898914605153

Most food systems challenges in the Northwest Territories, including extractivism, climate change, and restrictive policies, are bound to processes of settler colonialism. Researchers working in northern contexts typically recognize the disruptive role colonialism had in shaping foodways, but often fail to contend with the ongoing realities of colonial forces and the role research has in upholding them. This thesis is situated in tensions I encountered in two research engagements working to support "local" food systems in the NWT. My aspirations to develop these engagements into a community-based research project brought me to the realization that settler colonialism had been insufficiently attended to. This thesis is the result of a reflexive analysis of my engagements as a southern-based settler researcher working in the North. It argues that southern-based researchers must attend to the ways our research reinforces harmful colonial narratives about the North and actively work to disrupt colonial continuities.