Braiding knowledge is an everyday action for the “The Braiding Food Systems (BFS)” project team and partners. The project aims to collaborate with First Nations communities, co-develop and re-localize seed systems in Northern Ontario for supporting food access and control – food security and food sovereignty. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to go from theory or concepts and words to “hands-on” or applied research – embedding research activities in community development. Together, the team and partners bring alternative ‘verbs’ to the traditional way of conducting research by connecting, listening, collaborating, reflecting, re-imagining and learning from First Nations communities to support and strengthen sustainable food systems.

In the first year of the project, the UoG team has been dedicated on building trusting relationships with the communities, co-collecting baseline data to understand the communities and their vision of the future in relation to food security (food acquisition, provision and diversity and , building the community profiles, establishing the community gardens, and developing communication and knowledge mobilization materials to strengthen the capacity of team members and community members. The association and relationship of these elements have enabled the project to carry out the activities and produce the deliverables expected. However, t’s the everyday strategies and activities within each main action that evidence the commitment of the research team to ensure that collaboration with First Nations is a reality.

Nothing would have been possible without the community’s willingness to accept and allowing us to work together.  Thank you for depositing your trust on us.  The Braiding Food Systems (BFS) project is a collaboration between Red Rock Indian Band, Netmizaaggamig Nishnaabeg and Biinjitiwaabik Zaaging Anishinaabek. The BFS project is funded by Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness (OMAFA) and the Ontario Agri-Food Innovation Alliance.

Building trust, time and alternative ways of doing research

When the project started, one of the main challenges was, “Who are we working with?”  When the project started, reality evidenced the need to build and rebuild trusting relationships. The project needed to establish relationships where everybody’s experience was acknowledged; there was common ground for dialogue, and a set of practices that allowed doing research, including Indigenous knowledge, approaches, and principles.

This engagement and relationship building process required the team to travel and meet with several actors from different sectors (e.g., education, health, community services, agriculture, and Indigenous chefs) in various places. Although this process took more time than anticipated, it increased the project’s awareness, tools, and knowledge of the communities and brought new partners and friends to collaborate. Most importantly, we keep building trust with respect and admiration. In addition to the new tools, the project strengthens the research protocol to broaden the ethical considerations, roles and responsibilities. Moreover, the project considers as a core element for our work, Indigenous research’s guiding principles an extended and indigenous-advised approach of OCAP Principles (Ownership, Control, Access, and Possession) for data collection, analysis and maintenance, and the seven grandfather teachings (humility, bravery, honesty, wisdom, truth, respect, and love).

For the project, the engagement process is the cornerstone of the activities. Trusting relationships enable research, knowledge mobilization, and communication components, and they are the most critical assets of the project.  Today, the project works with three communities: Rocky Bay, Pic Mobert, and Red Rock. It has at least a group of 20 community champions and advisors and six community garden stewards chosen by the communities to support implementing the activities in the field.

However, this process has led to new questions and challenges like how to ensure the communities are engaged and motivated to participate in the next two more years of the project, or how to navigate and work with different skills and capacities in the communities. The team is constantly reflecting on these kinds of questions and dialoguing with First Nations to better tackle the challenges, demonstrating the project’s team commitment to ensuring community engagement and participation.

Collecting data and community gardens

One of the main goals for the project in year one was to collaboratively collect the baseline data to understand the communities and local contexts to inform and design project activities. All the research activities were co-designed and informed by the First Nations; their ideas and feedback helped the project to ensure all the tools used were context-appropriate and relevant for the participant, including language and words used in each communication and research piece.

An example of this way of working was the survey implemented from January to March 2024. The survey was based on three sources: the Canadian Household Food Security Survey Module (HFSSM) the First Nations Regional Health Survey (2008-2010), and the Food Sovereignty Assessment Tool (FSAT). However, the tool was adapted with the help and insights of the communities, so the questions were appropriate for the local context and the realities of each First Nations. Moreover, the results and outcomes were validated and discussed with the communities to enrich the dialogue and reduce any potential bias. The survey reveals “that while Indigenous food security is often ensured through market sources, the significance of food derived directly from the land serves as a crucial safety net with profound cultural and social importance, facilitating and rejuvenating knowledge sharing opportunities between older and younger generations” (Cherry, 2024).  The methodology and results of the survey are the heart of one of the projects’ student theses, which can be consulted here.

In addition, as part of the research activities the project conducted data collection through several focus group discussions to explore how climate has changed and main events that may have had in the communities historically. Understanding climate patterns (i.e., precipitation, humidity, temperature, natural disasters in the past years) and finding events that might have disrupted traditional seed systems was essential for supporting local food and seed systems. Also, the team conducted a Visioning exercise​ to understand community members vision of the future in relation to food availability, supply and diversity as well cultural appropriate food. Finally, we conducted a Participatory Seed Selection workshop to capture the hopes and expectations of the communities fully and ensure that the community makes decisions about the seeds they wanted to cultivate and gardens they aimed to install for the community’s well-being. The focus groups discussed with the participants the food they eat, food sources, and the food systems they dream of.  The information collected in these workshops depicts the intersections of the different parts of the food system and how they affect, influence, or exacerbate current food access and food sovereignty in the communities.  

The information collected and the soil analysis helped in the design and construction of 3 community gardens. For two weeks people from the project, garden stewards and community members gathered to build, plant and arrange the gardens. The gardens are evidence of the Learning-in-action framework of the project; Also, the team developed a toolkit to sowing seed in the north.  The team designed the toolkit to support First Nations and Indigenous communities in the growth and production of locally adapted, Indigenous, and heirloom seed varieties. The toolkit provides basic information for: Individuals new to sowing seeds and producing seedlings Individuals looking to strengthen their knowledge of some basic concepts.

And next

Braiding knowledge has made the research team, First Nations, and OMAFA use new ‘verbs’ in research. Building, recovering, and acknowledging seed systems in Indigenous communities requires finding alternative work and collaboration methods. It is an invitation to see beyond the present and bring lessons from the past as well as the legacy of generations to build the desired future. With the lessons of year one, the project expects to start working with schools in the communities to establish intergenerational dialogues around food and seed systems and strengthen capacities regarding gardens. Also, the project expects to conduct the seedling process in the communities and keep learning from the seed varieties.