I am interested in my topic because it is important to me and brings me peace and happiness. Since I was young, I have memories of picking chokecherries and wild plums, making jelly, and foraging for plants like oshá and Indian tea. Throughout my life, I have foraged with my family and learned to cook traditional dishes. I enjoy learning about new plants or foods we forage, and I enjoy learning about the different traditional dishes we eat and how to make them. My love for foraging and desire to learn more inspired me to make this my senior honors project to share and preserve this knowledge for future generations.

In the article “Sharing One Skin” by Jeanette Armstrong, Jeanette talks about identity, community, and responsibility. She explains identity as her community believes it to be the physical self, the emotional self, the thinking-intellectual self, and the spiritual self. The physical self represents our interactions with the world through our bodies and the environment. The emotional self is how we connect to the land and all things through our hearts. The thinking intellectual self is “the spark that ignites” and drives our motivation. The spiritual self is the part of the individual being and a part of the larger self that all things are a part of. In addition, she speaks about how “community… is feeling the warm security of familiar people like a blanket wrapped around you, keeping out the frost” (Pg. 469). She also addresses how modernization has driven us further apart, yet our culture brings us closer together. The purpose of Jeanette’s article is to emphasize our responsibility to grow our community and preserve our unique culture.

Memories and stories are connected to our land, as described by B. Toastie in the article “How place names impact the way we see landscape.” Toastie demonstrates this by defining place identity as the “dimensions of self that define the individual’s identity in relation to the physical environment” through “conscious and unconscious ideas, feelings, values, goals, preferences, skills, and behavioral tendencies relevant to a specific environment,” Toastie shows us how our memories, thoughts, and feelings connect us to the land. Even though “convoluted stratification of inaccurate histories and dubious Indigenous stories reflects the many layers of colonization: dispossession, removal, abuse, environmental and cultural degradation, followed by feeble attempts at restitution” (Pg. 7). By sharing the stories we know about our land, we preserve our memory, the sacred names of the landscape, and this history behind landscapes. 

In the article 'And Then I Went to School' by Joe Suina, Suina talks about how his life changed as he went to school. Before school, Suina was content and proud of identifying as Native American. He loved and embraced his culture, but that all changed. As he started to go to school, he had been encouraged to give up the identity he loved. He also realized that he could not measure up to the standards of white men. To maintain our way of life, we must "compete with the white man on his terms for survival. To do that [we have] to give up part of [our lives]" (Pg. 5). Though we have to fight to preserve our way of life, it is essential that we stay true to ourselves. Overall, Suina's article emphasized the tough choices we make in life and how different values should not dictate who we are and what we do.

Linda Burzok, in the article "Foodways of the Reservations," discusses the eating habits and practices of the people in reservations. Reservations first began with the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which led to the destruction of "the traditions of working the land, gathering wild plants, hunting and fishing" and a variety of agricultural practices (Pg. 2). This article emphasizes the drastic and dramatic changes in Native Americans lives. Which inevitably affected various areas of their lives, such as their health, culture, and traditions. Relocation made it so the people couldn't practice their traditions and beliefs. Now reliant on commodities, the government effectively shunned traditional food practices. 

In the article "Herbalism," Julianne Cordero discusses herbal medicine in Native communities. In particular, she discusses the connection herbalists share with the land and the plants. Herbalists are familiar with the land and plants around us and know how to use them. Herbalists have used plants for medicine, diet, and the management of chronic diseases. "Hundreds of plant species are used specifically for medicine, many more if one includes traditional foods consumed as a part of a healthy diet" (Pg. 3). Herbalism has played a crucial part in our traditions and diet, but very few acknowledge that practices of using plants and herbs for medicine have been used for thousands of years by Native peoples. The knowledge shared with others by Native peoples is often stolen and taken credit for as a personal "discovery." These discoveries should give credit to the native peoples that shared this knowledge.

The article "Foodways of the Plains," written by Lucy Long, discusses the foodways of previous Native Americans living on the plains. Generally, the tribes and people that lived on the plains for their food through foraging, hunting, and cultivating plants like beans, squash, corn (otherwise known as the three sisters), and even tomatoes. However, with the establishment of reservations, traditional foodways were lost as the people were away from their ancestral homeland. In addition, the lands that plains Natives were moved to were often barren and had poor soil quality. The people couldn't cultivate food on the land, so the people relied on the government for commodities instead. The loss of their traditional practices and knowledge of their traditional foodways was inevitable as they no longer had access to their ancestral homelands and, after all, as "they learned European Americans' foodways ... [the native peoples] own food cultures were systematically dismantled" (Pg. 2).

Rachel Ajmera, in her article "6 Benefits of Bitter Melon and Its Extract," discusses how bitter melon is good for us. Bitter melon has similarities to other gourds, such as zucchini, squash, pumpkin, and cucumber. She then lists the nutritional facts of bitter melon. Bitter melon is high in vitamin C, vitamin A, and fiber. Moving on, she addresses that the melon can also help manage blood sugar, which means it could also help with diabetes, yet she acknowledges the importance of more research being necessary. Another chronic disease the melon can help with is cancer. Researchers found that the melon has some cancer-fighting properties. The melon helps with blood sugar, cancer-fighting properties, and cholesterol, supporting heart health by lowering cholesterol levels. The last benefits Ajmera lists are increased fiber intake and versatility in food. She acknowledges that some communities, such as native Americans, have used the bitter melon as traditional medicine long before but stresses the importance of more research being necessary.

The article by Tracy Dingman addresses issues in public health and the initiative that some native women have taken to improve the lifestyles of their communities by returning to traditional diets. She talks about the movie documentary "Return" and the book "Cooking with Tall Women," she chose to discuss these two subjects as they both address a return to traditional diets and food sovereignty. Through the efforts of these various people, they have brought attention to the dying knowledge and traditions of native peoples. The documentary "Return" talks about the efforts of six women who practice food sovereignty and have even conducted volunteer experiments living solely on traditional foods. These experiments demonstrated drastic positive effects as many volunteers lost weight and felt connected to their culture. In addition, the book "Cooking with Tall Women" has helped people reconnect to their culture by discussing gathering, growing, and preparing traditional foods and defining food sovereignty as a global movement, not just a practice.

In Patricia West-Barker's article, she talks about the efforts of Native American chef Loretta Barrett Oden as she tries to reintroduce traditional foods into modern dishes. Chef Oden talks about her disappointment with foods in grocery stores that include foods and plants from Europe, Mexico, and Asia but none from Native America. Oden also mentions that those concerned with health issues such as obesity, heart disease, and diabetes should consider turning to foods indigenous to the "new world." These foods are lean game or fish and the three sisters' corn, beans, and squash. In addition to her efforts, Oden visited tribes to see their efforts to incorporate traditional foods into their diets. In Santa Ana Pueblo, she saw how the people had a community mill to grind blue corn and sell this product online. Her goal has been to reintroduce foods and plants from native America in her dishes.

Andrei Mihail discusses the disconnection we are experiencing with foraging in his article, "Foraging in the Modern World: Rediscovering an Ancient Practice. In addition, he addresses the different diagnoses people have assigned to our modern behavior, such as "plant blindness" where we have become so disconnected with nature that we can't recognize the abundance of food and nutrients that nature provides us, otherwise known as "plant awareness disparity." We have evolved from our ancient foraging and hunting ancestors into "passive consumers, disconnected from the natural environment and the processes that sustain us" (Pgh. 4). On top of Andrei discussing our disconnection, he also encourages our reconnection and lists many health benefits of foraging. He claims that foraging provides us with necessary physical activity, mental benefits of time outside in nature, improved self-esteem, and various other benefits.

The article written by Chelsea Graham gives a general overview of foraging. She discusses a brief history, modern resurgence, foraging safely, and sustainability. Though we have lost our roots to our hunter-gatherer lifestyles, many cultures still forage, such as the Hadza people in Tanzania. Due to social media, foraging has grown more popular, moving from small communities to urban cities. But the dangers of this popularity can bring more harm than good to people and the environment. Overharvesting can take away food for the local animals and insects. Last but not least, Chelsea addresses the importance of avoiding over-harvesting. She emphasizes the importance of taking only as much as you need, leaving some for others, and giving the plants a chance to redevelop and reestablish themselves in the local ecosystem.

Helen Brose addresses the importance of sustainable foraging in her article, "Let it Grow! A guide to ethical and sustainable foraging." She first talks about foraging growing popularity. Even though foraging has regained popularity through social media, many people are ignoring or simply unaware of their impact on the environment. When we go out to forage, we take plants important to the local ecosystem, so when we forage, we need to be aware of the plants and how much we take. Even if certain plants are abundant in certain areas, the plants may be at risk of extinction. The author even recalls a time when "a chef who took their team up to the Appalachians and cleared whole areas, thus decimating the plants there" (Pg. 2). The world around us has existed longer than we have lived on it, so we have to treat it carefully.