Midwinter Harvest Food Program

This project focuses on Health, Sustainable Ecosystems, Education and our Young People in Tyendinaga, Mohawk Nation Territory.

Project Summary

To foster the development of healthy, sustainable communities through projects related to the elimination of poverty, the physical and emotional health of the individual and care for the natural environment, while promoting a greater awareness of Iroquoian cultural teachings and traditional practice.



There are three main parts of our project:

  1. Health: To harvest, process and distribute of foods that meet the immediate need of our people for plentiful, culturally appropriate foods that respect the specific dietary needs of Aboriginal people.  The exceedingly high rates of diabetes among First Nations people, and most alarmingly, among our children as well, can be traced to a marked absence of traditional foods in our diets. Midwinter’s food stores have been drawn on to fill family freezers, for community gatherings, ceremonial purposes and school functions both here on Tyendinaga, and elsewhere like the First Nations School in Toronto or a meal for the homeless in Kingston, Ontario.
  2. Sustainable Ecosystems:
  3. Education and our Young People: An integral part of this project is the development of educational components that will ensure knowledge of these areas is passed down to our future generations, thus strengthening and enriching the fabric of our community. This education will be pursued through our perspective as Aboriginal people, whereby our young people’s Iroquoian identity will be nurtured and encouraged through meaningful participation in cultural practice and tradition, as it is relevant today.


For More Information:

Sue Collis
1020 Ridge Rd., Tyendinaga
Mohawk Nation Territory
K0K 1X0
T: (613) 968-3305