Project 448707

Our research begins from a statement made by a Tlicho Elder, reflecting on the incursion of southern-owned retail into northern community life: "the stores changed everything for us in the north". The ambivalence expressed by northern community members with regard to southern-owned retail is as old as colonialism itself. The ways in which corporations affect the daily lives of Indigenous people reach beyond market food and into domains as important to cultural identity as traditional harvest and food sharing. It is imperative that these processes are understood by local knowledge-makers working within their local contexts. The proposed research examines the role played by northern retail and re-supply in advancing the food security and food sovereignty of Indigenous peoples in Canada. By examining northern retail at multiple scales, our study examines how current policy and business environments constrain self-determination in the area of community retail and re-supply. These environments affect both market food access and traditional harvest activities since the bulk of material supports for harvest and agriculture must be purchased through existing southern-owned retail and wholesale channels. The situation is worsened by climate instability hindering reliable surface (land and sea) and air transportation. Our goal is to provide regional governments and federal policymakers with relevant, timely assessment of the conditions necessary to support northern community-controlled stores and other creative forms of community re-supply. Working across four northern regions of Canada that represent a diverse range of contexts, we will develop, implement and evaluate models for federal and local supports that increase the autonomy and control of northern communities over the retail and re-supply aspects of their food systems.