Gamètì garden could ‘set tone for territory’ on food sustainability

Gamètì is in talks with Fort Smith, academics and even another country to collaborate on a project that addresses food security.

Senior administrator Sherbaz Muhammad said the project will help residents learn gardening basics, given the high cost of hauling groceries to smaller communities like Gamètì, helping families to become more self-sufficient.

Muhammad said education about things like gardening has been lacking in the past, and residents have “heavily relied” on a costly supply chain from the south as a result. Food basics like eggs, bread, sugar and flour can only arrive by aircraft unless they’re purchased in Yellowknife or Edmonton during the brief winter road season.

“Winter time is a little bit of moose or caribou meat, summer is all fish. But it’s not year-round. There is no way you actually keep fishing. You freeze it and you consume it for the rest of the year. Same goes for caribou meat,” Muhammad told Cabin Radio earlier this month.

“When somebody goes hunting … they come back, they distribute the harvest with the rest of the community, mostly with relatives or Elders. That’s it,” he said.

“But when it comes to starting your day, you don’t eat caribou meat, you don’t eat fish. In the morning you want different things, your kids want different things on the table.”

Muhammad said Gamètì residents have grown reliant on government funding to cope with the food situation.

He wants a new gardening program to bring in help from elsewhere.

So far, the collaborators involved haven’t been confirmed. Muhammad said the community is looking at partnering with Aurora College, is trying to get the University of British Columbia on board, has spoken with the Town of Fort Smith and is working on a partner from either Greenland or Norway.

Through sharing resources with those partners, he hopes Gamètì can “have something that can set the tone for the rest of the territory when it comes to food sustainability.”

‘People are resilient’

The community’s existing garden has already proven useful.

During last summer’s wildfires, Muhammad had expressed concern about a shortage of supplies after Yellowknife’s evacuation brought services and deliveries to a temporary halt.

At the time, all four Tłı̨chǫ communities – Behchokǫ̀, Gamètì, Wekweètì and Whatì – pitched in funds to fly in two charters to meet Gamètì’s urgent needs. While the town rationed food, its garden’s annual harvest supported the community for some time.

Chief Doreen Arrowmaker said fostering an interest in sustainable growing among residents could eventually lower dependency on transported food.

“We can’t always depend on outside people to go and help us,” Chief Arrowmaker said.

“Food security is also an issue not just in Gamètì, but across the territory,” she added.

“Everything is expensive. Our flights are expensive, our diesel prices are expensive, our groceries are getting very expensive. It’s getting tough living in a small community. But people are resilient, they always help each other out.”