About

The People’s Food Sovereignty Program (PFSP) is an Indigenous-led, fiscally sponsored, grassroots organization, that has been in existence since 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. PFSP was created by utilizing the education the co-founders received at Salish Kootenai College on the Flathead Reservation in Tribal Historical Preservation and Tribal Administration and Governance. To serve as our guiding document, we created a food sovereignty implementation plan for tribal governments. This was done specifically for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) of the Flathead Reservation but can also be customized for other tribal entities. 

 

PFSP works in all levels of food sovereignty from advocating policy at the State and Federal level to the ground level work needed to implement and carry out projects and programs to serve tribal households and community members. Our initial projects include lobbyist work at the 2020-21 Montana State Legislative Session, advocacy of a food sovereignty implementation plan to the CSKT tribal government, and collaborations with the U.S. Fish and Game, National Bison Range, and CSKT to distribute culled elk, deer and bison meat to tribal households on the reservation. This summer we collaborated with local community members and organizations and were granted funding to distribute 85 gardening beds with soil, fertilizers, tools, and starter plants and seeds to tribal households across the reservation. 

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PFSP is focused on working to change the current food system that has been forced upon the tribal community and transition to a Native-owned food system that encompasses traditional ecological knowledge and values in a contemporary world. We rely on the support of organizations and community members who value PFSP’s attempt at localizing our food sources and the positive effects it will provide to the health, economy, and overall wellness of the tribe and greater community.  

  

Our leadership, vision, and mission statement focus on the opportunity to build our tribal sovereignty from the ground up. We can utilize our self-determination by creating a food system that resembles the community we serve. Through this system, we can provide strength and sustainability in exchange for the current fragile system we are dependent on today. With all those who go hungry, we can work to decrease food insecurity while restoring our traditional relationships with food, the land, and our culture in the effort to ensure the longevity of tribal people is preserved.

 

By donating to the People’s Food Sovereignty Program, you can help us expand the organization and our capacity. We will work to implement further projects and programs that contribute to the well-being of the Flathead Reservation and the greater tribal nations of Turtle Island.