The community food bundle is a collection of photos and items that represent the meaning of access to food for l’nu’k communities. It is being created by community members from the 13 Mi’kmaw communities in Nova Scotia.
The purpose of the bundle is to help teach and share what access to food means to l’nu’k communities.
Community members can add to the community food bundle by creating their own personal bundle. A personal bundle should include items and photos that represent past, present and future access to food to an individual, their family, their community, or the Mi’kmaw Nation. Community members will have an opportunity to bring the items and photos to a bundle making workshop in each community.
At the workshop, participants will make their own bundle from the photos and item they collected and will help make a community food bundle by gifting photos or items to a community bundle. This will involve a sharing circle, and support with making bundles using cloth and the 4 sacred medicines.
Community members who would like to contribute photos to the community food bundle must provide consent for their photos to be used by the Union of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq (UNSM). Sharing photos in the community bundle is optional.
This project is led by Chelsey Purdy through the UNSM. Chelsey is a member of Acadia First Nation, a dietitian, and works with the UNSM on food related projects with the 13 First Nation communities in Nova Scotia.
Tracy Marshall our Project Coordinator. Tracey is the Community Food Coordinator at UNSM and a member of Potlotek First Nation.
In addition we also have Kara Paul (Director of health at UNSM and member of Eskasoni First Nation), Muin Ji'j Bernard (Bertram Bernard Jr, Special Projects Coordinator, Capacity Development department UNSM, and Member of Eskasoni First Nation), and Dr. Tabitha Robin (Cree and Metis woman, and assistant professor in the department of land and food systems at the University of British Colombia) helping with the project.
Any members of the 13 Mi'kmaw Communities in Nova Scotia can participate in the project.
Participating in the project may be emotionally distressing. This is because some conversations or photos may bring up painful memories or expose participants to the distressing photos of others. For example, topics such as residential school experiences could be discussed. In addition, if you decide to share your photos in the community food bundle, they will be made available online and accessible to millions of users. This means they will be visible to the local community and beyond. You may choose to include photos without your name, however there is still the possibility that they will be known. For example if you have taken a photo of yourself or something recognizable, someone may know the photo was taken by you. You have the choice to share your photos with the community in the community bundle, or to keep your photos private only for use by you. If you decide to share your photos, there is also the risk that they get used without your permission online. For example, this can include through screenshotting of photos on the website. You may experience some similar risks when you choose to post a photo on social media (dependant on individual privacy settings).
This project will help create a community food bundle that tells the story of food access in each community. The photos in the bundle will be used to teach Mi'kmaw communities and non-Mi'kmaw communities about the meaning of access to food to Mi'kmaw. It will also support revitalizing use of knowledge bundles.
If you decide to share your photos in the community food bundle, they will be made available on the UNSM website or the Mi'kmawey Debert Cultural Center website, with a learning guide. The learning guide will encourage community members, teacher, and community groups to view the photos, learn about Mi'kmaw food systems, and the impacts of colonization on Mi'kmaw food systems. The photos may also be displayed by individual communities to showcase the meaning of access to food. For example, photos could be displayed at the school in your community, or at the health center. Your child’s photos may help different groups understand what access to food means according to Mi'kmaq.
You can decide to remove photos from the project at any time. To have photos removed from the bundle you should reach out to cpurdy@unsm.or or the UNSM, to have them removed. Once a photo has been posted online however, it may have been replicated or made available beyond the project. For example, through "screen shotting" of a webpage. While the UNSM will attempt to prevent this, they cannot guarantee that photos will not get used beyond the project by users of the webpage.*
If you have questions or concerns, you can contact Chelsey Purdy at cpurdy@unsm.org. If you would like this information in Mi’kmaq or to discuss the project further, please send us an email.
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