EWU alumna Melodi Wynne, \u201907, a citizen of the Spokane Tribe who has become a leader in the movement to restore \u201cfood sovereignty\u201d to the Native peoples of the Upper Columbia Plateau.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":425,"featured_media":1195,"menu_order":0,"template":"page-templates\/superstory.php","class_list":["post-1193","stories","type-stories","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","stories_categories-alumni-profiles","stories_tags-prairie-restoration-project","stories_tags-spring-summer-2022"],"acf":{"subheading":"Restoring prairie can heal the land, and the people it once sustained.","blocks":[{"acf_fc_layout":"hero","hero_size":"","background_pattern":"","background_type":"image","background":{"ID":1194,"id":1194,"title":"sm_TribalFoodSovereignty-074-1","filename":"sm_TribalFoodSovereignty-074-1.jpg","filesize":200693,"url":"https:\/\/test-www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/05\/sm_TribalFoodSovereignty-074-1.jpg","link":"https:\/\/test-www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/news\/restoration-sound-and-sustainable\/sm_tribalfoodsovereignty-074-1\/","alt":"Melodi Wynne presenting to a crowd at EWU.","author":"425","description":"","caption":"","name":"sm_tribalfoodsovereignty-074-1","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":1193,"date":"2022-05-31 20:40:35","modified":"2022-05-31 20:40:53","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/test-www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1966,"height":1311,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/test-www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/05\/sm_TribalFoodSovereignty-074-1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/test-www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/05\/sm_TribalFoodSovereignty-074-1-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/test-www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/05\/sm_TribalFoodSovereignty-074-1-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/test-www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/05\/sm_TribalFoodSovereignty-074-1-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/test-www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/05\/sm_TribalFoodSovereignty-074-1-1536x1024.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/test-www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/05\/sm_TribalFoodSovereignty-074-1.jpg","2048x2048-width":1966,"2048x2048-height":1311}},"background_vertical_alignment":"center","mobile_image":false,"background_video":false,"preview_image":false,"text_alignment":"right","text_style":"allcaps","readability_aid":"shaded-box","intro_title":"","title":"Restoration, Sound and Sustainable","bold_title":"","content":"
Restoring prairie can heal the land,
\nand the people it once sustained.<\/p>\n","include_cta":false,"button_text":"","button_link":"","button_style":"","give_heading_text":"","give_heading_tag":"h2","give_intro_text":"","give_fund_explorer_url":"\/give\/funds","give_fund_slug":"","give_campaign_code":"","give_default_amount":"","give_button_text":"Continue","give_read_more_link":null,"component_options_toggle":false,"component_options":{"disable_component":false,"nickname":"","identifier":"","navigable":false}},{"acf_fc_layout":"story-info","module_background_color":"white","display_byline":false,"display_date_published":true},{"acf_fc_layout":"article-content","columns":[{"type":"text","text":"
T<\/span>hese days, modern cash crops have almost completely displaced the prairie flowers, grasses and roots that once sustained countless generations of Native peoples in the Inland Northwest. Nor do massive salmon runs fill the region\u2019s rivers and streams.<\/p>\n For the past three years, Eastern students, staff and faculty members have been working with local experts to bring at least a simulacrum of this \u201clandscape lost\u201d back to life. (See our immersive story about the Prairie Restoration Project<\/a>.) Among those participating is EWU alumna Melodi Wynne, \u201907, a citizen of the Spokane Tribe who has become a leader in the movement to restore \u201cfood sovereignty\u201d to the Native peoples of the Upper Columbia Plateau.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","pull_quote":"","image":false,"caption":""},{"type":"image","text":"","pull_quote":"","image":{"ID":1195,"id":1195,"title":"sm_TribalFoodSovereignty-007","filename":"sm_TribalFoodSovereignty-007.jpg","filesize":2123187,"url":"https:\/\/test-www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/05\/sm_TribalFoodSovereignty-007.jpg","link":"https:\/\/test-www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/news\/restoration-sound-and-sustainable\/sm_tribalfoodsovereignty-007\/","alt":"Melodie Wynne stands in front of indigenous plants at EWU.","author":"425","description":"","caption":"","name":"sm_tribalfoodsovereignty-007","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":1193,"date":"2022-05-31 20:42:14","modified":"2022-05-31 20:42:26","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/test-www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1966,"height":1311,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/test-www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/05\/sm_TribalFoodSovereignty-007-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/test-www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/05\/sm_TribalFoodSovereignty-007-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/test-www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/05\/sm_TribalFoodSovereignty-007-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/test-www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/05\/sm_TribalFoodSovereignty-007-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/test-www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/05\/sm_TribalFoodSovereignty-007-1536x1024.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/test-www.ewu.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/05\/sm_TribalFoodSovereignty-007.jpg","2048x2048-width":1966,"2048x2048-height":1311}},"caption":"Melodi Wynne, '07, PhD, head of the Spokane Tribal Network's Tribal Food Sovereignty project and collaborator with the Prairie Restoration Project."}],"component_options_toggle":false,"component_options":{"disable_component":false,"nickname":"Video","identifier":"video","navigable":false}},{"acf_fc_layout":"article-content","columns":[{"type":"text","text":" Food sovereignty is typically defined as \u201cthe right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods.\u201d For the tribes, this means, in part, reestablishing the lost flora of their ancestral lands. The expertise of Eastern\u2019s restoration team has been useful in this effort, while EWU\u2019s work has benefited from tribal input.<\/p>\n “We\u2019ve been able to share resources such as native plant starts and knowledge about seed collecting and also about how we can be involved with the Prairie Restoration project. Our objectives are definitely aligned and having the cooperation between our two projects has been very rewarding and promising,\u201d says Wynne.<\/p>\n At a recent EWU-sponsored gathering of scientists, scholars and advocates for sustainable living, the subjects of tribal heritage, food sovereignty and prairie restoration were front and center (visit Sovereignty Through Sustainability article<\/a> to watch the recorded videos).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","pull_quote":"\"Our main motivation for this tribal food sovereignty project is to get our foods on the plates of our people on a daily basis, once again.\"","image":false,"caption":""}],"component_options_toggle":false,"component_options":{"disable_component":false,"nickname":"","identifier":"","navigable":false}},{"acf_fc_layout":"article-content","columns":[{"type":"text","text":" Food sovereignty is typically defined as \u201cthe right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods.\u201d For the tribes, this means, in part, reestablishing the lost flora of their ancestral lands. The expertise of Eastern\u2019s restoration team has been useful in this effort, while EWU\u2019s work has benefited from tribal input.<\/p>\n “We\u2019ve been able to share resources such as native plant starts and knowledge about seed collecting and also about how we can be involved with the Prairie Restoration project. Our objectives are definitely aligned and having the cooperation between our two projects has been very rewarding and promising,\u201d says Wynne.<\/p>\n