Indigenous Food Systems Heal the Socio-Ecological Wounds of Colonialism: A Discussion Using Two Case Studies

Indigenous food systems can offer decolonial solutions to the interconnected health, environmental and social justice crises of the 21st Century. Through examining case studies of the Mayan Foodways in Mesoamerica and the Apache Food Systems in the United States, this research highlights how these food systems can heal the socio-ecological wounds of colonisation and resultant coloniality. Grounded in post- and de-colonial thought, this research reveals how specific practices of Indigenous education, vocational training, and cosmological healing can resist colonial legacies of extraction, dispossession, and erasure. Hence, this analysis positions these practices as critical sites of decolonisation and further examines how Indigenous food sovereignty programs challenge neoliberal food systems and foster ecological resilience amid climate change. Additionally, it exposes the disproportionate harm colonial food structures have inflicted on Indigenous women and youth. By centering connectivity and self-representation in food governance, this research underscores the importance of non-anthropocentric worldviews and Indigenous cosmovisions in building sustainable futures. As the 21st Century grapples with its most unprecedented crises, the need for Indigenous representation in policymaking and research is more urgent than ever.