My Research Goals

This poem below is my reflection on feasting and food as a way of finding home when I felt that I had no home. I came to understand what it means to be Native through the food that I eat and the way that I connect with that food, no matter where I am. And I came to feel healthy and Native when I was surrounded by others who felt the same and who care about what we eat and love the Waters and Land that our food comes from, as relatives. I wrote this poem when I first experienced feasting together with my colleagues in Montana, and I dreamed of being able to have that same feeling of community in Alaska.

What I eat impacts me, the food my ancestors ate is stored in my genes like memory. When I eat, it impacts the next seven generations and it impacts the lands and waters I am on now. It is my responsibility to show respect and reverence for those foods.

This poem represents my ‘research mentality',’ which just means it reflects my hopes and dreams and goals :)

Feast Peoples, Every Feast a Home 

There is nothing like missing the home you do not have 

But sometimes I feel the sea wind on my face 

And I miss the chance to live on the land 

What does it mean to have a sense of place? 

It is not something you can have and to hold 

Your family, your people, not a piece of a space 

 

No better reminder than that which we eat 

Our foods are not things we are meant to keep 

But rather to gather, prepare and to share 

To honor those past, those of sea, land, and air 

 

Every feast is a home,  

every bite a lesson 

Every story shared 

Is filled with intention 

Let us honor the blessing 

 

Remember to always live with the prayer 

That you are blessed with the ʻohana of every feast that you’ve shared 

This is our culture, our honor, our strengths, and our love. 

To feel at home through our food, no matter how far we’ve gone 

 

Every feast is a home  

Every gathering born 

From a need to remember  

Those come before 

 

Thank you to our ancestors  

To our homes of the past 

May we return once again  

In a way that will last 

 

Thank you to the creatures 

Who show us such love  

Who return every year  

Despite what we’ve done 

 

Thank you to our mother the land 

Despite what we’ve done she continues to stand 

 

May we find a home 

As we continue to heal  

From these hurts and these pains  

And these backhanded deals 

 

Every feast is a home  

Let us all be feast people 

If you are interested in the trajectory of my research at Montana State University or my work at KANA, please reach out me. Here is an example of how something like the poem above can be integrated into an Academic research class. I submitted this poem as part of a research paper- a literature review on food security vs food sovereignty - for a research methods graduate class.