Native People Rush to Feed the People: Food Sovereignty in Uncertain Times

Native People Rush to Feed the People: Food Sovereignty in Uncertain Times

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, Nov. 7, 2025

The Blackfeet Nation brought in a load of produce from the Yakama Nation, and Fort Peck announced buffalo distribution. Gila River is giving tribal members $1,000 in hardship funds. Ho-Chunk in Wisconsin are distributing $1,000 to adults, and $400 to minors, as the government shut-down continues.

Blackfeet Tribal Council Member Mike Comes At Night brought in a load of produce from the Yakama Nation in Washington State for the Blackfeet Nation in Montana.

“We made it home safely from the Yakama Nation with a generous load of produce for the Blackfeet People. I am honored, as a Councilman, to serve our people. I’ve traveled hundreds of miles to help bring food home, and at the end of the day, I know I am doing my job.mI also want to thank all the farmers who helped us with this food — may the Creator bless them and their families," Comes at Night said.

Fort Peck's Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes are distributing buffalo meat, and gathering groceries, after declaring a state of emergency in Montana. In Idaho, Shoshone-Bannock distributed boxes of potatoes and buffalo meat on Thursday.

In California, the Yurok Tribal Council approved $300 food assistance cards for Yurok because of the disruptions in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program SNAP, and CalFresh benefits, due to the federal government shutdown.

“Our goal is to help our most vulnerable citizens get through this challenging time,” said Yurok Chairman Joseph L. James, who said the tribe is working to mitigate the hardships on families from the federal shutdown.

In Tahlequah, Oklahoma, the Cherokee Nation announced a $6.5 million response package. This includes cash payments of up to $185 per individual Cherokee Nation citizens on SNAP. It also includes over $1.25 million to support food banks and other non-profit food programs.

The Cherokee Nation's expanded emergency declaration includes tribal members who are currently on SNAP living anywhere in the United States. The Cherokee Nation has over 470,000 citizens living in all fifty states.

Cherokee Chief Chuck Hoskin, Jr. said the Cherokee's network of 27 “at-large” organizations located in urban areas could access grants of $5,000 to address local food shortages.

The Gila River Indian Community, south of Phoenix in Arizona, is distributing $1,000 hardship payments to all adult tribal members, regardless of whether or not they are SNAP recipients.

Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis said, “We want to make sure that, as a sovereign nation, we take care of our members during this unprecedented shutdown."

“I hope that this payment brings some peace of mind during this time of uncertainty at the federal level.”

Food and Sovereignty Series at Censored News

Blackfeet, Lakota, Chippewa and Kickapoo Feed the People During Government Shutdown

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News

The Blackfeet Nation in Montana is preparing to feed the people during the government shutdown by distributing buffalo meat and organizing an elk hunt.

In Rapid City, South Dakota, Lakota are organizing mutual aid. In North Dakota, the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Nation is keeping all its food programs going, with hot meals and bagged lunches, and making sure children, elderly and college students don't go hungry.

On the west coast, Indigenous restaurant owner Crystal Wahpepah, Kickapoo, is serving up free bison tacos for young ones and elders in Oakland, California.
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/10/blackfeet-and-lakota-prepare-to-feed.html

Kris Barney 'Remembering the Great Diné Foodways'

By Kris Barney, Dine', Censored News

My grandma used to make mutton and goat jerky, dry steamed corn, preserve corn for long-term storage, dry apricots and peaches, dry cantaloupe melons, dry herbs and bulbs collected in the springtime; wild parsley, greens like wáá, mariposa lily, wild onions, dry out strips of winter pumpkin/squash and used all kinds of food preservation techniques.
There were no stores, no dependency on outside help.
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/10/kris-barney-remembering-great-dine.html

Fish War: Puyallup Ramona Bennett Remembers, Censored News

"They had to fish, they had to feed their families." Ramona Bennett remembers how tribal salmon fishermen were attacked by law enforcement and vigilantes who smashed their canoes. They were treated like thieves. They were just harvesting salmon, a right guaranteed in the treaties.
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/11/fish-war-listen-to-ramona-bennett.html

Gwich'in Caribou, Source of Food and Sacred Way of Life, Threatened by Oil and Gas Development

By Gwich'in Steering Committee

There is so much at stake – our culture, the caribou, this land.
The Gwich’in have lived in relationship with the Porcupine Caribou herd for thousands of years. We rely on the caribou not only as our primary food source, they are also the very foundation of our culture, our way of life, and who we are as Gwich’in.
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/11/gwichin-caribou-source-of-food-and.html