Douglas County just made Kansas history, launching the state’s first Indigenous-led food systems plan, according to organizers. It’s aimed at strengthening, celebrating and restoring the Native food traditions that have shaped this community for generations.
The Indigenous Food Systems Study and Action Plan, developed by Indigenous leaders and knowledge-holders, will guide local policymakers in identifying gaps in access, preservation, and cultural support for Native foodways.
The plan has been in development since 2023, after local Indigenous farmers approached the Douglas County Food Policy Council and pointed out the lack of representation and resources in the county’s food system planning.
Once the DCFPC secured grant funding from the Kansas Health Foundation earlier this year, the work could officially begin. The council started assembling a team alongside its partners, the Haskell Indian Nations University’s USDA Extension Office and the University of Kansas’ Office of Sovereign Partnerships and Indigenous Initiatives.
Don’t miss a beat … Click here to sign up for our email newsletters
Click here to learn more about our newsletters first
“The county has a food systems plan that was adopted almost 10 years ago,” said Connie Fiorella Fitzpatrick, food systems specialist for Douglas County and liaison to the DCFPC. “Although it has a lot of equitable policy recommendations, it didn’t have much on Indigenous food systems, if any. That’s a missing gap.”
A food systems plan for, and by, Indigenous communities
To close that gap, IFSSAP is led by a diverse team of Indigenous scholars, organizers, and activists. Team members include:
• Mackie Moore (Cherokee Nation), president of Haskell Indian Nations University
• Christina Haswood (Navajo/Diné), former Kansas state representative
• Brett Ramey (Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska), conservationist and Native culture bearer
• Alex Kimball Williams (Aleut), environmental activist
• Robert Hicks Jr. (Pyramid Lake Paiute), former leader of the Indigenous Community Center
• Angelina Rojas (Oglala Lakota, Crow Creek Sioux), environmental science student at Haskell
• Star Her Many Horses (Oglala Lakota, Cheyenne, Taos Pueblo, Meskwaki, Ojibwe), Haskell student and DCFPC food systems intern
• Lori Hasselman (Shawnee Tribe and Delaware Tribe of Indians), director of KU’s OSPII
• Alex Red Corn (Osage Nation), director and associate professor of KU’s Indigenous Studies Program and associate vice chancellor for sovereign partnerships and Indigenous initiatives
Connecting community through food, ceremony and story
The launch event kicked off with introductions, as attendees stood in a circle outside the Douglas County Fairgrounds Dreher building. The group shared stories, songs and prayers before splitting off to do different activities.
The event included stations where people could help process squash, shell Native varieties of white corn, or go for a plant walk, where a volunteer guided people through the garden and encouraged each person to share their unique experiences and relationships to each plant.
A group of chefs prepared traditional foods, including chicken and corn soup, blue corn sweetbread with blueberry, and blue corn mush with fresh fruit. The kitchen was buzzing with people such as Jason Champagne, owner of Native Chef LLC, and one of the IFSSAP team member’s grandmothers.
As people ate, the IFSSAP team facilitated conversations about the deeper purpose of the project: how Indigenous food systems preserve cultural identity, how traditional foods are sourced across long distances and what community members can collectively do to support local growers, cooks and knowledge-holders.
“In the blue mush that I made today, the cornmeal came from the reservation in Arizona. It’s important to think about how each of us get our traditional cultural ingredients, and how we can support local farmers and food entrepreneurs who bring these things to the table,” Haswood said. “This project is a great opportunity to not only provide food for our community, but also to have good conversations, and have a reason to get together and celebrate and share stories and food.”
Fitzpatrick agrees that one of the priorities is ensuring Native communities have local access to culturally significant foods.
“When I was doing work on culture-specific grocers — Asian markets or African markets — we asked, ‘Where’s the Indigenous market?’” she said. “I’m from Peru, and I need my foods to sustain my culture. I have children, and I need to pass my culture to them. So where can we get these foods?”
When the DCFPC applied for grant funding, they pitched an Indigenous grocery store as phase two of the project. Although the grant doesn’t secure funding for this part of the project yet, Fitzpatrick is hoping that will come in the future.
The project is as much about visibility and belonging as it is about food.
The IFSSAP team worked with Native artist JayCee Beyale on the initiative’s logo, which holds deep significance in its details. The design works in imagery of corn, which is sacred and used for ceremonies; the colors of the medicine wheel; a star, which would guide crop tending; four rivers, representing the waterways around Douglas County; a braided sweetgrass, symbolizing protection; and brown and tan hues, signifying healthy soil and crops.
Her Many Horses said the project gives Indigenous people in Lawrence and Douglas County space to reconnect with the practices, knowledge and foods that have long defined their communities.
“There’s a lot that can be done: workshops, community activities, bringing people together,” said Her Many Horses. “And I think that’s really our goal, to support the large Native community that’s here in Lawrence.”
If local news matters to you, please help us keep doing this work.
Don’t miss a beat — get the latest news from the Times delivered to your inbox:
Click here to learn more about our newsletters first
Jordan Winter (she/her), a contributor to The Lawrence Times since August 2021, is a 2019 KU grad with degrees in journalism and political science.
Check out her work at jrdnwntr.com. See more of her work for the Times here.
Molly Adams (she/her), photo editor, has worked with The Lawrence Times since May 2022. She can be reached at molly@lawrencekstimes.com.
Check out more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
Latest Lawrence news:
August Rudisell/Lawrence Times
Molly Adams / Lawrence Times
