Unpopular opinion but even if indigenous communities had 100% access to other food sources, they should still be able to continue with their traditional and sustainable hunting practices.
Indigenous people shouldn’t be expected to abandon their cultures’ traditions just because outsiders have decided that those traditions are “wrong” or that there’s better options.
Canada used to charge indigenous families following traditional diets with “child neglect” and adopt out their children to white families across Canada/US/UK or assume custody and force the kids to residential schools. hence the term “sixties scoop.” forcing a change of diet is inherently colonial & a tactic of genocide.
So one thing I didn’t see in the notes on this (which are trash btw, tread carefully) is that Native American/First Nations people are predisposed to diabetes at a much high rate than other demographics.
Now, my personal experience is only with Plains Indian groups who had a diet composed highly of meat, most of which came from Buffalo which are much leaner than beef but nevertheless all groups had low carb diets. Low carb= low sugar
Not a lot of research has gone into the reason more than half of NA/FN people get diabetes but it probably has something to do with the sudden change to a very high carb diet where staple foods are old canned goods and deep fried flour. (Fry bread is amazing and feels filling but it has pretty much no nutritional value). The moral here is that the sudden forced change in diet was not just a way to destroy culture but an extension of the genocide which is on going.
^^^
A lot of my family is diabetic and those who aren’t have very high risks of it. It’s no coincidence that diabetes is rampant in Native communities, particularly tribes that traditionally depended on hunting, fishing, and gathering. The diets that are forced on Native peoples are not natural for anyone, and definitely not for us.
Hi I did my undergrad thesis on this! This high rates of diabetes is linked to our bodies not being able to process dairy and gluten the way Europeans can. They did a study in 1992 where they had a South West Tribe eat a traditional diet for 5 years I think and their diabetes rates dropped something like 80% in the tribe. I will have to look back and find links to prove my studies. The common link in all the studies is that when we rely on government subsidies which compromised heavily of dairy and wheat. I recommend the Book Decolonize Your Diet. The writer is a Queer Indigenous Person who does an amazing job of explaining all this.
It’s really great to have confirmation for this and I would love to see the studies that you used for your thesis! And thank you for the book rec!
Bad Sugar is a Documentary that ALL Natives need to watch
https://www.unnaturalcauses.org/episode_descriptions.php?page=4
This documentary shows the Pima Indianians water crisis and how diabetes increased when the whites took the water (tw for mention of suicide and substance abuse ie generational trauma)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pXzbTHhZGQ
This again is about the Pima Indians BUT its applicable to all Native people
https://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/17/9/1067.short
Dietary Change and Traditional Food Systems of Indigenous Peoples (paid)
https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.nu.16.070196.002221?journalCode=nutr
Specific Patterns of Food Consumption and Preparation Are Associated with Diabetes and Obesity in a Native Canadian Community (warning fatphobia)
https://academic.oup.com/jn/article/128/3/541/4728841
Why Are Indians More Prone to Diabetes?
http://repository.ias.ac.in/80198/1/80198.pdf
Traditions and Diabetes Prevention: A Healthy Path for Native Americans
https://spectrum.diabetesjournals.org/content/23/4/272
State of the Science: A Cultural View of Native Americans and Diabetes Prevention
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2905172/
these are only HALF my sources but you get the idea =) Let me know if you have any questions. =)
Here’s a free source for the Dietary Change &Trad. Food Systems PDF
Yooo good looking out! Thank you kindly!
This is so cool! Thank you both for the links and information!
yournewapartment
