The Jijak Foundation, a non-profit Native American educational organization of the Gun Lake Tribe in Hopkins Township, announced it will be host for the 2016 Great Lakes Intertribal Food Summit April 21-24 in conjunction with the Intertribal Agriculture Council (IAC).
This event will bring more than 200 harvesters, farmers, food product producers, and indigenous chefs together for a series of presentations and workshops on growing, harvesting and cooking a variety of natural and healthy foods.
The summit will highlight traditional and contemporary Native American foods and culinary arts. Meals featuring traditional and native produced ingredients prepared by a dozen leading Native American chefs from across the nation and Mexico will be prepared and served. The chefs will also hold small hands-on, indoor and outdoor workshops on traditional cooking knowledge and food preparation. A Native foods market showcasing producers, products and indigenous arts will be featured throughout the event.
The event begins Thursday, April 21, with presentations and speakers on sustainability, food security, production practices, traditional harvest and meal preparation. There will be several opportunities to work directly with top native chefs and connect to native harvesters and producers.
Workshops will feature seed banks and seed saving, maple sugaring, soil conservation, small scale farming, foraging, wild rice harvesting, butchering a bison and more.
The event Saturday will include small group workshops, demonstrations and food tasting stations dubbed an “Intertribal Foods Festival” with interactive activities for all ages.
The summit is open to everyone, and it will offer many opportunities to learn, explore and collaborate on issues of food sovereignty in Indian Country. Last year’s summit, held in Oneida, Wisconsin, focused on tribal food production, marketing and access.
The cost to attend the full summit is $100, or $10 per adult to attend the Intertribal Foods Festival on Saturday, April 23. Children under 16 may attend free of charge.
In additional to regular workshops the summit will feature a “Native Youth in Food and Agriculture” educational section. The Great Lakes Regional Summit brings Native youth together for a one-of-a-kind learning experience focused on issues they will face as the next generation of food and agricultural leaders in the Great Lakes Region. Youth will focus on engaging with elders and tradition bearers to learn cultural skills and practices such as reconnecting with the land through gathering wild foods and outdoor cooking activities.
This program is open to both enrolled tribal youth and descendants. For more information on the Youth portion, contact Kelsey Ducheneaux at kducheneaux@outlook.com or call 605-850-4079.
For more information and to register visit Jijak Foundation media contact Kevin Finney (616) 644-3822 kevin.finney@glt-nsn.gov