“I believe it is our responsibility, as the next generation, to carry these teachings forward. Everything I do is grounded in that responsibility: to strengthen our youth, to reconnect families to ancestral foods, and to restore the pathways to health that our people have always known.”
Emily Si’al (Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska), 30, is a community leader dedicated to reconnecting urban Native youth and families to traditional foods, cultural practices, and intergenerational knowledge. Living outside of her tribal homelands, Emily draws from her Southeast Alaska roots and cultural teachings to create spaces where Native people can reconnect with identity, belonging, and community through food. She believes deeply in the power of traditional foods not only to nourish the body, but to support emotional, cultural, and spiritual healing.
For many Native people living away from their homelands, separation from traditional foods and cultural practices can create a sense of disconnection that impacts overall wellbeing. This loss goes beyond access to food—it affects identity, community ties, and opportunities for intergenerational learning. Emily’s Dreamstarter project, “Íitl’ táawaay ngíisdlaang: Our Traditional Foods Are Healing,” responds to this need by centering healing through reconnection to traditional Southeast Alaska foods, stewardship practices, and cultural values.
Through an intergenerational culture camp and food education initiative, Emily will create a space for youth, families, and elders to come together in shared learning and healing. Participants will engage in hands-on food preparation, cultural teachings, and community-led research that uplifts traditional knowledge and lived experience. By fostering these connections, Emily’s project supports healing across generations—strengthening identity, restoring relationships to culture and community, and advancing food sovereignty for Native people living beyond their homelands.
