‘Hey, I grew that’: the Native American school that’s decolonizing foodways

In the Umoho Nation, teens learn about nutrition and build tribal sovereignty by farming for their school and community

Before joining her school's gardening program this year, 14-year-old Emilie Lyons had never encountered an eggplant. She is a freshman at Umoho Nation public school, which serves more than 600 students on the Omaha reservation in Macy, Nebraska. When she brought the vegetable home, she and her dad looked up recipes for how to prepare the peculiar purple nightshade and were surprised by how tasty it was.

Umoho Nation is just one Indigenous-focused school across the US where administrators and educators are endeavoring to introduce healthy, culturally relevant foods into their lunches and other culinary initiatives.