Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Food Sovereignty in the Chickasaw Nation

Abstract

This presentation will begin with an introduction to traditional ecological knowledge (TEK); what it is and why it is important.  It will share a historical example of how TEK was used during a health crisis in the Navajo Nation with Navajo elders and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) working together to solve a problem in the 1990s. The changing environment for First Americans will be discussed as tribes were removed from their homelands in the 1800s to Oklahoma. TEK is now being used as we add back First Americans cuisine and choose our own foods; both traditional and new. The presentation will discuss the four historic periods of First Americans cuisine. Learn how the Chickasaw Nation is taking control of our own food choices by practicing food sovereignty.

Bio

 Dr. Judy Goforth Parker is the Commissioner of Health Policy for the Chickasaw Nation.  She previously served as the Secretary of the Chickasaw Nation Department of Health (CNDH) from 2009-2018.  She has many years of experience working to increase quality of health care for Native Americans throughout the United States.  She has a PhD in nursing from Texas Women’s University and has completed her Nurse Practitioner degree at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (OUHSC). Dr. Parker completed post-doctoral studies in the inaugural cohort of Meharry Medical College Post-Doctoral Degree Program. Her focus included curriculum development in health policy for young Chickasaw scholars, development of Health Impact Assessment and Health Impact Checklist tools, development of a quarterly newsletter on health policy, and partnered on writing a scholarly article related to policy around maternal mortality in American Indian and Alaskan Native women.  Dr. Parker served as an elected tribal legislator for four, 3-year terms from 1994-2009. In 2014, she was named to Governor Bill Anoatubby’s Cabinet for the Chickasaw Nation, and she assumed the role of secretary of the Chickasaw Nation Department of Health.  This long history of tribal service highlights Dr. Parker’s close relationship with the people of the Chickasaw Nation and Native Americans as a whole.  She has been an integral part of the CNDH for many years and was a staunch supporter of health issues within the tribal legislature.