Oneida Nation

Oneida youth participate in the Annual Husking Bee, a community event where sacred white corn is harvested and dried using traditional methods. (Photo: Oneida Nation)

"Food sovereignty, to us, is being self-sustaining so that we can continue [on for] seven generations."

         Jesse Padron, Food Service Director, Oneida Nation School System

Confronted with catastrophic rates of diabetes and obesity among its peopel, the Oneida Nation created the Oneida Community Intergrated Food Systems (OCIFS) initiative to coordinate its efforts to restore its land and waters for food production, enabling it to sustainable provide local, healthy foods to its people. Investing in a full-time OCIFS coordinator tasked with maximizing the impact of existing reosurces and synergixing Oneida's long-range food-based initiatives, the Nation has greatly expanded its ability to reclaim its sovereignty over the food systems upon which it relies, improving the health of its members in the process.

CONNECT: 
Ø  William Ver Voort, Coordinator, Oneida Community Integrated Food Systems, Oneida Nation, 920-819-1933, wvervoor@oneidanation.org 

To learn more about the Oneida Nation’s food sovereignty approach, click on the case study and related resources below.

Note: Development of this case study was supported by a grant from the Native American Agriculture Fast Track Fund. Fast Track funding was part of the settlement of the Keepseagle v. Vilsack national class action lawsuit, which also led to the creation of the Native American Agriculture Fund (NAAF), the largest philanthropic entity supporting Native American farmers and ranchers through grants that focus on business assistance, technical support, and agricultural education, and advocacy.

Food Sovereignty: ONEIDA NATION 

NCAI CASE STUDY: ONEIDA NATION
Joanie Buckley: The Oneida Nation's Community Integrated Food Systems (presentation video)
Joanie Buckley: Oneida's Community Integrated Food Systems Initiative (video interview)
Tehassi Hill: Oneida's Community Integrated Food Systems Initiative (video interview)
Elizabeth Hoover: Tsyunhehkw^, Oneida Nation, Wisconsin
First Nations Development Institute: 2014 Native Food Sovereignty Summit (video)
Fox 11 News: Farm-to-school model in Oneida brings local foods to students
Green Bay Press Gazette: 'We farm knowledge': Education is at the heart of Oneida Nation's food cultivation
Nature's Pathways: Oneida Nation's Tsyunhehkwa provides sustenance, sustainability
PBS: Around the Farm Table: Oneida Agriculture (video)
Rachel M. Vesley: Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin: Food Sovereignty, Safe Water, and Tribal Law
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service: From Bison, to Wild Rice: Oneida Nation and Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Promote Tribal Food in Wisconsin
U.S. Department of Interior: Habitat Restoration Helps Preserve Culture and Tradition in Wisconsin
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service: Bringing back Lake Oneida
Wisconsin Life: Oneida Farm Preserves Native Foodways
Zuzanna Buchowksa: Food Sovereignty Practices at the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin Tsyunhehkw^ Farm: The Three Sisters, Ceremony and Community