Announcing: A Gathering Basket

As Indigenous people, we should be at the forefront and we should be heard.

Our people have been here for millennia, and yet we are continuously misrepresented and under-represented in every form of media. Our foods and knowledge of them have changed the world’s food landscape. 

 73% of the world’s food originates from what is now known as the Americas. These foods come with rich histories that are not given space or acknowledgement in mainstream education, media, and society at large. We must shift from a white supremacist controlled, corporatized, and genocidal narrative sold as truth to one that is told BY us FOR us.

Rooted in the cultivation of Indigenous food sovereignty and elevating and preserving Indigenous Narratives, I-Collective is developing ‘A Gathering Basket’, a virtual and interactive cookbook, community  journal, and webinar series to assist in strengthening the connection of our people to their food. Indigenous food sovereignty is critical because many health issues are tied to colonialism and the exploitation of resources, land and people. Food is our most intimate connection to ourselves, our ancestors, our communities, and most importantly, our future generations.

Over the course of this year, and through 2022, we will be launching our online cookbook project, which will feature webinars, community stories, live cooking demos, and of course - recipes! 

But what is a recipe? Is it ingredients, measurements, oven temperature, and science? Or is it place, time, culture, and cosmology that define it? These, as well as environmental, social, and racial structures, are some of the questions and topics we will be confronting as we explore both the historical and current context of Indigenous Foodways and look to bridging the pre-colonial with our modern world.

Developing the Cookbook goes beyond simply cooking. It is about reconnecting to who we are, our relationships to land, the cosmos, community and kinship networks, elevating and preserving Indigenous voices, and building power for the future generations.

We want folks to be able to cook alongside us in the comfort of their home, and hope to inspire our communities to reconnect to their traditional foods and engage in long standing relationships and responsibilities with our plant, animal, and water relatives. 

We need your support to fully fund this endeavor. With your help, we can  ensure adequate compensation for our Indigenous Knowledge holders who would like to contribute content, participate in webinars, and further develop this community based project.

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Our goal is to raise an additional $20,000 to fully fund this project for the year.

There are many ways you can contribute to this project. To inquire about sponsorship or advertising opportunities please email us at icollectiveinc@gmail.com.  You can donate directly or become a monthly supporter through Paypal, by simply using your phone’s camera to scan the QR Code. 

Your contributions to this project will ensure that the work we do goes directly back into the community to benefit everyone.