The Indigenous
Food Sovereignty Garden
Indigenous Food Sovereignty
Located at 1467 Highway 15 in Kingston, Ontario, the Indigenous Food Sovereignty Garden was established in 2021 as an Indigenous-led expression of community resilience, land stewardship, and care for future generations. Over three growing seasons, more than 600 volunteers have cultivated vegetable gardens, planted and harvested medicines, established a pollinator garden, and planted over 1,000 native trees and shrubs in this shared community space.
The garden is a place where Indigenous community members engage in personal Asemma/Oyen’kwa’ón:we (Sacred Tobacco) ceremony and participate in a collective remembering of our fundamental relationship with Shkakmigkwe/Yethi’nisténha Ohóntsya (Mother Earth) as a beloved relative. These land-based relationships support individual and community cultural well-being, strengthen Indigenous food sovereignty, and enable tangible climate action.
In recognition of its ecological and cultural significance, the Indigenous Food Sovereignty Garden and Little Forest have been assessed and qualify for inclusion in the Canadian Protected and Conserved Areas Database (CPCAD), contributing to Canada’s 30x30 goal of protecting 30% of lands and waters by 2030. This designation formally recognizes the garden as an Indigenous-led conserved area within the Frontenac Arch Biosphere Region and affirms the vital role that Indigenous stewardship, land trusts, and community-based conservation play in safeguarding biodiversity for generations to come.
