Honoring Native Heritage Month 2025: Peltier, Gladstone, and Food Sovereignty

 

Honoring Native Heritage Month 2025

Peltier, Gladstone, and Food Sovereignty

The First Nations of this land were here long before America called itself a country. And yet, we were never treated as the heart of the nation we helped shape.

Before colonization, tribal nations had disagreements, but they still respected each others right to exist. No one tried to erase entire nations. That idea came later, brought by outsiders who did not understand this land.

America’s constitution was heavily influenced by the Haudenosaunee, the People of the Longhouse. Their Great Law of Peace was a living democracy long before the United States wrote anything down. And still, their contributions are often overlooked.

This month, during Native American Heritage Month, I want to celebrate how far we’ve come.

One major milestone: the release of Leonard Peltier. After decades in prison, his freedom was more than political. It was healing. It reminded us of the power of persistence, justice, and community.

Our strength is not only in politics. It is in culture, in food, and in the arts.

Before colonization, Indigenous food systems were complete. Healthy. Connected to the land. Colonizers tried to erase them, but our food never disappeared. It waited. And today, Native chefs are reclaiming it. Leaders like Sean Sherman, the Sioux Chef, are opening doors for many others bringing Indigenous food into mainstream consciousness, with friends I know personally like Crystal Wahpepah, Nephi Craig, Alexa Numkena Anderson, and of course Sean himself.

Freddie J. Bitsoie, a Navajo chef and author who served as Executive Chef at the Mitsitam Native Foods Café at the National Museum of the American Indian, recognized my food when I had the honor of doing a Chef’s Table at the Smithsonian in Washington DC in 2018. A moment I will never forget.

It is not just in the kitchen that Native voices are rising. My friend Lily Gladstone made history as the first Native American nominated for a Best Actress Oscar and the first Indigenous person to win a Golden Globe for Best Actress. Her work proves that Native people are thriving in every space we enter.

Political victories, cultural resurgence, and historic achievements in the arts feels like more than survival in 2025. It feels like a homecoming.

We are still here. We have always been here.

And every win reminds us we never stopped being who we are.

Honorable mention:

"Alaska Native Tlingit tribal member Kate Nelson is an award-winning independent journalist based in

Minneapolis who focuses on amplifying important Indigenous change makers and issues."

©Ramon Shiloh/2025-'26