Team Six Nations Impact Report
Report
National Cohorts
Community Well-Being
Indigenous Foodways
Ogyǫhsraniyǫ́hsdǫh: Growing Partnerships for Food Sovereignty and Sustainability in Six Nations
The Ogyǫhsraniyǫ́hsdǫh Project emerged from a clear message from the Six Nations community: a desire to reconnect with and access original Haudenosaunee foods. The Six Nations Department of Well-Being operates with a wholistic model that recognizes the full health of community members, clients, and program participants. Food is central to health and healing. Their work aimed to reclaim food sovereignty, strengthen community well-being, and shift programs and services to reflect Haudenosaunee values and teachings. Team Six Nations’ aspirations spanned the full food system, from production to consumption, and from policy to sustainability.
“Our partnerships and relationships expanded significantly, strengthening connections with growers and food knowledge keepers, laying the groundwork for a food producers’ collective. These relationships extended into our department, where leadership and front-line staff often face disconnect when curating and facilitating programming and services based on community interests/needs. The dynamic of this project allowed us to collaborate in a way where leadership and front-line staff worked together towards a common goal. This collaboration is reminiscent of the ways that the Three Sisters grow and support each other in the garden; in our case, ensuring everyone feels supported in the development and facilitation of this project and its goals.”
Ǫgyǫhsraniyǫ́hsdǫh Project Leads
Meet the Team
Six Nations Department of Well-Being is a department of Six Nations of the Grand River Elected Council. As a department, they offer health care, programs and services to community members across the lifespan. Their mission is to create a safe environment to guide, support, and care for community members on their wellness journey. Together, the Department values preserving the unique identity of the Six Nations Community through their commitment to Sga:t Dewadagyenawa’se (Cooperation/Working Together), Ga’nigo̱híyo (Good Mind), Ęsad’esha:sdǫh (Strength), Dędwadadrihwanǫhkwa:k (Respect), and Gędaǫhsra’ (Compassion).
McMaster University’s Indigenous Health Learning Lodge (IHLL) works alongside the Faculty of Health Sciences towards creating a learning environment that is culturally safe – to work with humility to enable sustainable systems change and to advance the work around concepts of truth, reconciliation, and anti-colonization with all aspects of Indigenous health and well-being.