AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SOVEREIGNTY

The Blackfeet Nation located in Northwest Montana is one of the largest intact ecosystems in North America.

PLHI facilitates increased access to affordable, nourishing foods within Blackfeet food delivery systems to promote healthy living. While increasing agriculture production to feed our people, we also seek to preserve the ecological and cultural uniqueness of this region. Relying on ancient regenerative land management principles, Piikani Lodge conducts research and programming within agriculture systems that play a key role in improving the food economy of the Blackfeet Nation and surrounding Rocky Mountain prairie lands.

Piikani Lodge strengthens community economics and health through traditional cultural lifeways reclamation and creating pathways for Piikani people back into Native agriculture and land stewardship. This is being accomplished primarily through initiatives pursued in partnership with the Blackfeet Agriculture Resource Management Plan (ARMP) team, a collective of Native farmers and ranchers, policy makers, agency officials, and academics.

The ARMP is a Tribally-created holistic agriculture plan focused on improving agricultural practices in Blackfeet Territory with an emphasis on economic development, lowering health disparities of Blackfeet people, and making investments in youth. As partners, PLHI and ARMP manage community-led planning and implementation reflecting the real needs and challenges of Piikani who work the land.