Recovering Our Ancestral Foodways: Indigenous Traditions as a Recipe for Living Well
My first book, Recovering Our Ancestral Foodways: Indigenous Traditions as a Recipe for Living Well (2024), is the first relational ethnography of Māori and Quechua peoples’ philosophies of well-being, traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and contributions to sustainable food systems. Based on over ten years of fieldwork in Peru and Aotearoa New Zealand, Recovering Our Ancestral Foodways explores how Quechua and Māori peoples describe, define, and enact well‑being through the lens of foodways. By analyzing how these two Indigenous communities operationalize knowledge to promote sustainable food systems, physical and spiritual well‑being, and community health, Recovering Our Ancestral Foodways puts forth a powerful philosophy of food sovereignty called the Chakana/Māhutonga offering a foundation for understanding the practices and policies needed to transform the global food system to nourish the world and preserve the Earth. One of the key features of this book is the development of an original research methodology—the Khipu Model—which I developed to serve as a vital resource for future research on Indigenous ways of knowing. Recovering Our Ancestral Foodways, is a celebration of the lore of Quechua and Māori and of the world’s Indigenous peoples in safeguarding food systems, innovation, practices, and, ultimately, the well-being of humankind.