Established Sustainable Food Systems Before First Contact (Pre-1500)

For thousands of years, the Indigenous Nations of what we now call the Americas lived free on the land. Hundreds of nations and cultures permeated the landscape from coast to coast- from the far northern lands to the tip of the southern lands. This land was astonishing in its abundance, with the earliest written accounts marveling at such sights as “pigeons, which were so numerous that you might see millions in a flock...and as they pass by, in great measure, obstruct the light of the day.” But despite contemporary dominant narratives, the land was far from an untamed wilderness. Fish, fowl, animals, and the land were consciously managed through fire to clear land, habitat maintenance in hunting and fishing areas, complex irrigation systems, skilled farming, and an intricate network of roads for trade and exchange. There was no private ownership of land as we know it. Rather, land was viewed as the source of all life and an entity to be in active relationship with, guided by ethics including moderation, reciprocity, restraint, celebration and gratitude.^5-7