INTEGRATING CULTURE: CULTURAL ASSETS
Language, culture, environment, and extended family are a few of many cultural assets valued by Menominee people. These assets do not exist in a vacuum and instead are interconnected. One cannot exist without the others. These assets are an integral part of Indigenous food sovereignty work and this is how they thrive on the Menominee Indian Reservation.
Language
Menominee language is full of teachings and when thoughtfully included in Indigenous food sovereignty work, it can present a new world view for learners and awaken knowledge that has always existed. Wherever possible, Menominee language is integrated into the work. Since food is a part of everyone’s daily lives, language vocabulary building around food, utensils, and food actions (eating, cooking, stirring, drinking) is a great starting point for first-time language learnings. Following is an example of how food and Indigenous languages can change how the world is viewed.
It is important to acknowledge the wild strawberry and all the gifts this beautiful plant shares with this world.
Without the language, we have “wild strawberries.”
As we learn our Indigenous language, we learn that “strawberries” become At ǣ hemenan .
As our understanding of language evolves, At ǣ hemen becomes “heart berry.” If you look at strawberries, they are shaped like our hearts.
Soon, we learn about the seasons, nēpenowew — or it is summer and when things grow.
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