Starting a Conversation with Kelly Panchyshyn: Can Food Foraging Offer Avenues for Advancing Community Cohesion?
Authors:
Kelly Panchyshyn
Date:
2021
ISBN: 978-1-988804-34-7
Abstract:
The practice of harvesting wild plants and fungi is an integral part of the health, culture and economy of Whitehorse, Yukon. In a 2017 municipal survey of residents, almost 60% of respondents indicated securing a portion of their food from foraged sources (City of Whitehorse 6) . Yet, strategies for the protection of wild harvest are seldom addressed in local food and land planning. Drawing on the methods of community-based research, my project examines the impact of omitting harvest from planning and what it would mean to chart a new course. In partnership with Kwanlin Dün First Nation, I asked: how the regions ongoing legacy of colonization has shaped its resident’s relationship to the practice of wild harvest and to each other, and; what tensions and opportunities exist within the convergence and divergence of Indigenous and non-Indigenous foodways? Our research reveals that decision to exclude harvest not only harms northern and Indigenous food security but exasperates conflicts around wild resources and spaces rooted in colonial and patriarchal power dynamics. However, it also demonstrated that wild harvest supports have the potential to advance community cohesion. With this, we set out to explore food solutions that better account for the region’s unique geographical, political, historical and cultural landscapes. My presentation will dive into these findings, with the aim of ‘starting a conversation’ around what it means to confront injustice and promote well-being through food and land planning.
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Kelly Pachyshyn was born and raised in Whitehorse, Yukon, on the Traditional Territory of the Ta’an Kwäch’än Council and the Kwanlin Dün First Nation. In the spring of 2017, she received a Bachelor of Arts in Cultural Studies, from the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan Campus. Following graduation, Kelly returned to the North, determined to dive deeper into the challenges there. After working for the Executive Council Office of the Yukon government, she successfully applied for the Jane Glassco Northern Fellowship. As a Fellow, Kelly researched the delicate ties between food security and regional identity. Her desire to advance social movements across the North, led her to pursue a Master’s in Community Engagement, Social Change and Equity at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan Campus. Building on her research with the Fellowship, Kelly aims to explore how the Indigenous and Non-Indigenous governments of Whitehorse can work together to develop food solutions that account for the region’s unique geographical, political and cultural landscapes. Kelly recently received a SSHRC grant to carry out this work.
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Harvesting, Indigenous, foraging, food, community, community-based research, sustainability, food insecurity
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