Harvest Programs in First Nations of Subarctic Canada: The Benefits Go Beyond Addressing Food Security and Environmental Sustainability Issues
By breaking down barriers that impacted the ability of subarctic First Nations people to harvest waterfowl, the Sharing-the-Harvest program provided a safe, nutritious, and culturally appropriate food (i.e., geese) to James Bay Cree communities while also helping to protect the environment by harves...
Published in: | International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1807/102733 https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17218113 |
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ftunivtoronto:oai:tspace.library.utoronto.ca:1807/102733 2023-05-15T16:16:03+02:00 Harvest Programs in First Nations of Subarctic Canada: The Benefits Go Beyond Addressing Food Security and Environmental Sustainability Issues Tsuji, Leonard J. S. Tsuji, Stephen R. J. Zuk, Aleksandra M. Davey, Roger Liberda, Eric N. 2020-11-03 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/1807/102733 https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17218113 unknown International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17 (21): 8113 (2020) http://hdl.handle.net/1807/102733 https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17218113 2020 ftunivtoronto https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17218113 2021-04-02T15:21:48Z By breaking down barriers that impacted the ability of subarctic First Nations people to harvest waterfowl, the Sharing-the-Harvest program provided a safe, nutritious, and culturally appropriate food (i.e., geese) to James Bay Cree communities while also helping to protect the environment by harvesting overabundant geese. However, the impacts extend beyond those described above. Thus, the objectives of the present paper are twofold: to document the food sharing networks of the Sharing-the-Harvest program; and to examine the benefits associated with the harvest program beyond food security and environmental sustainability issues, as revealed through semi-directed interviews. In the regional initiative, harvested geese were shared with all James Bay communities; sharing is an important part of Cree culture. Where detailed information was collected, the goose-sharing network reached 76% of the homes in one of the communities. Likewise, in the local initiative, the goose-sharing network had a 76% coverage rate of the homes in the community. Although decreasing food insecurity was an important focus of the harvest-sharing programs, there were other benefits, from an Indigenous perspective, of being on the land, as identified by the Cree harvesters through semi-directed interviews (e.g., the transmission of Indigenous knowledge, the strengthening of social networks, and the feeling of wellness while out on-the-land). Thus, by participating in the on-the-land harvest programs, the Cree gained benefits beyond those solely related to strengthening food security and contributing in part to environmental sustainability. The Sharing-the-Harvest protocol has the potential to be adapted and employed by other Indigenous (or marginalized) groups worldwide, to help improve health and wellness, while, also protecting the environment from overabundant and/or invasive species. Other/Unknown Material First Nations Subarctic James Bay University of Toronto: Research Repository T-Space Canada International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17 21 8113 |
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University of Toronto: Research Repository T-Space |
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ftunivtoronto |
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description |
By breaking down barriers that impacted the ability of subarctic First Nations people to harvest waterfowl, the Sharing-the-Harvest program provided a safe, nutritious, and culturally appropriate food (i.e., geese) to James Bay Cree communities while also helping to protect the environment by harvesting overabundant geese. However, the impacts extend beyond those described above. Thus, the objectives of the present paper are twofold: to document the food sharing networks of the Sharing-the-Harvest program; and to examine the benefits associated with the harvest program beyond food security and environmental sustainability issues, as revealed through semi-directed interviews. In the regional initiative, harvested geese were shared with all James Bay communities; sharing is an important part of Cree culture. Where detailed information was collected, the goose-sharing network reached 76% of the homes in one of the communities. Likewise, in the local initiative, the goose-sharing network had a 76% coverage rate of the homes in the community. Although decreasing food insecurity was an important focus of the harvest-sharing programs, there were other benefits, from an Indigenous perspective, of being on the land, as identified by the Cree harvesters through semi-directed interviews (e.g., the transmission of Indigenous knowledge, the strengthening of social networks, and the feeling of wellness while out on-the-land). Thus, by participating in the on-the-land harvest programs, the Cree gained benefits beyond those solely related to strengthening food security and contributing in part to environmental sustainability. The Sharing-the-Harvest protocol has the potential to be adapted and employed by other Indigenous (or marginalized) groups worldwide, to help improve health and wellness, while, also protecting the environment from overabundant and/or invasive species. |
author |
Tsuji, Leonard J. S. Tsuji, Stephen R. J. Zuk, Aleksandra M. Davey, Roger Liberda, Eric N. |
spellingShingle |
Tsuji, Leonard J. S. Tsuji, Stephen R. J. Zuk, Aleksandra M. Davey, Roger Liberda, Eric N. Harvest Programs in First Nations of Subarctic Canada: The Benefits Go Beyond Addressing Food Security and Environmental Sustainability Issues |
author_facet |
Tsuji, Leonard J. S. Tsuji, Stephen R. J. Zuk, Aleksandra M. Davey, Roger Liberda, Eric N. |
author_sort |
Tsuji, Leonard J. S. |
title |
Harvest Programs in First Nations of Subarctic Canada: The Benefits Go Beyond Addressing Food Security and Environmental Sustainability Issues |
title_short |
Harvest Programs in First Nations of Subarctic Canada: The Benefits Go Beyond Addressing Food Security and Environmental Sustainability Issues |
title_full |
Harvest Programs in First Nations of Subarctic Canada: The Benefits Go Beyond Addressing Food Security and Environmental Sustainability Issues |
title_fullStr |
Harvest Programs in First Nations of Subarctic Canada: The Benefits Go Beyond Addressing Food Security and Environmental Sustainability Issues |
title_full_unstemmed |
Harvest Programs in First Nations of Subarctic Canada: The Benefits Go Beyond Addressing Food Security and Environmental Sustainability Issues |
title_sort |
harvest programs in first nations of subarctic canada: the benefits go beyond addressing food security and environmental sustainability issues |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/1807/102733 https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17218113 |
geographic |
Canada |
geographic_facet |
Canada |
genre |
First Nations Subarctic James Bay |
genre_facet |
First Nations Subarctic James Bay |
op_relation |
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17 (21): 8113 (2020) http://hdl.handle.net/1807/102733 https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17218113 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17218113 |
container_title |
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |
container_volume |
17 |
container_issue |
21 |
container_start_page |
8113 |
_version_ |
1766001917478043648 |