“During termination, we didn’t have the legal authority to harvest in our traditional areas, but we didn’t know that,” Grand Ronde Chairwoman Cheryle Kennedy said. “When I was growing up, we didn’t buy foods from the store. We fished for salmon and trout. We harvested huckleberries, wild asparagus, wild celery, wild strawberries and camas. Western Oregon was rich with resources.”

Kennedy and others believe a return to traditional food knowledge is key to restoring physical Indigenous health and ensuring the survival of a cultural lifeway. 

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