July 26 & 27, 2025: Vancouver, BC – Bison Hide Tanning, Potluck and Foodlands Gathering

Want to be a part of working towards Indigenous food sovereignty in your community and gain bison hide tanning skills? Join the Ancestral Foodways Collective Society and Young Agrarians at Strathcona Park to participate in tanning bison hides, share a potluck meal that will nourish your spirit and body, and help tend to the foodlands, a biocultural corridor that is rooted in Coast Salish food forest systems and chinampa-milpa foodscapes.

Vancouver, the territory of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh peoples, is also home to a diverse community of Indigenous peoples from across Turtle Island. As it has become a gathering place for many diaspora Indigenous peoples, it is important to consider how those who live far from their traditional territory often have limited access to culturally relevant or “country foods”. Focusing on Indigenous access to traditional foods is a part of the wider movement of Indigenous food sovereignty. Indigenous food sovereignty is about increasing access to culturally relevant and nourishing foods for Indigenous peoples, decentering reliance on industrial agriculture and instead focusing on how Indigenous communities can be self-sustaining and resilient. Indigenous communities have, since time immemorial, been stewards of the foodways that have nourished them.

This multi-day work gathering is a hands-on experience in traditional brain tanning, involving three bison hides that Ancestral Foodways Collective Society (AFW) claimed in a nose-to-tail food reclamation effort from a local butcher. You will be helping with the final stages of the hide tanning process, including braining the hides, softening, and smoking the hides. This land-based cultural experience integrates food preparation, stewardship of Indigenous foodlands, and working with bison hides.

Throughout the weekend, you will have opportunities to participate in the stages of tanning a bison hide, gain hide tanning skills and learn about the cultural significance of these practices. Participants will rotate on the two bison hides throughout the day, each taking a turn at softening the hides, as well as participating in other activities such as creating a collective meal and tending to the food and medicine gardens. This gathering is facilitated by AFW and Young Agrarians in partnership with cultural knowledge keepers.

WHEN: Saturday, July 26 from 10am-5:30pm & Sunday, July 27, 2025 from 10am-3:30pm

LOCATION: Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Territory | Ancestral Foodways Collective Society | 857 Malkin Ave, Vancouver, BC V6A 2G9

REGISTER: Please register on Eventbrite as space for this event is limited.

SCHEDULE:

Saturday, July 26: Schedule is approximate

10:00 – 11:30am: Cultural opening and intro circle
11:30 – 12:30pm: Tanning/softening hides, prepping meal and tending gardens
12:30 – 1:30pm: Potluck lunch – Main provided, please bring foods from the list
1:30 – 5:00pm: Tanning/softening hides and tending gardens
5:00 – 5:30pm: Closing for the day

Sunday, July 27:

10:00 – 12:30: Start the day, activities will include:
Sewing hides to prep for smoking
Smoke hides, tending fires
12:30 -1:30pm: Potluck Lunch – Main provided, please bring foods from the list
1:30 – 3:00pm: Tending smoking hides and tending to the foodlands
3:00 – 3:30pm: Closing circle

Additional notes:

• If you are signing up for this event please plan to come for both Saturday and Sunday as you are committing to the community oriented experience and cultural process of hide tanning. 
• If you are attending this weekend event and you are interested in also participating in earlier stages of the tanning process during the days prior to the event please email maria@youngagrarians.org.

BRING: Please bring a food item to contribute to the potluck –  there will be a list of food items needed and you can sign up to bring one of them. If you can, please include a little card with ingredients for folks with food sensitivities. Please bring fully prepared dishes only as there will not be kitchen space for prepping. There will be a refrigerator/freezer for keeping your food items cool.

Please bring a water bottle, and any sunscreen, hat and insect repellant you might need. It will likely be very warm out so please dress accordingly. Make sure to farm-suitable clothing that can get dirty and close-toed footwear – the event will proceed rain or shine (though there will be tents available for the potluck in case of rain or to provide shade in the heat).

PARKING: Free parking is available around Strathcona Park, please read signs carefully.

SHARE: Planning on joining us? Invite your friends and share the Facebook event (coming soon)

ACCESSIBILITY: If you have any accessibility needs, please get in touch with us at maria@youngagrarians.org.

About Ancestral Foodways Collective Society

Ancestral Foodways Collective Society (AFW) is committed to offering community-based learning opportunities for cultivating cultural knowledge and skills that advance food security and food sovereignty for Indigenous peoples and diaspora in downtown Vancouver. The work Ancestral Foodways undertakes is informed by the knowledge of local Indigenous community members and guided by ancestral wisdom. Ancestral Foodways is building an Indigenous Cultural Food Hub at their Fieldhouse in Strathcona Park, Vancouver. This project is being developed alongside the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation. Their goal is to strengthen vital connections between people and the land, food, water, plants, and animals that surround us in our everyday lives. By growing a food forest, tending to plant foods and medicines, and restoring parts of the park landscape to wetlands, AFW hopes to bring about this deeper understanding of the land we all live upon.

Ancestral Foodways works collaboratively to increase access to traditional, cultural and nutritional foods. They hope  to lower barriers to these foods for Indigenous peoples who live in Vancouver and may have limited access to country foods. There are many Indigenous folks from across Turtle Island who call Vancouver home. AFW is building this space as a place for connection to each other, the land, and foods that nourish our bodies and feed our spirits. 

AFW hosts programming that offers traditional foods alongside access to land and cultural skills. The focus is on connecting to traditional foodways such as salmon, bison, potato and corn. AFW uses traditional cultivation methods such as milpa and chinampa systems, three sisters gardening, and medicinal plant cultivation. Their intent is to represent many plants and foods from Indigenous cultures across Turtle Island.

Website: https://www.ancestralfoodways.com/
Instagram: @ancestralfoodwayssociety
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ancesfoodways

ANCESTRAL FOODWAYS THANKS THEIR FUNDERS:

• Real Estate Foundation of BC
• Vancouver Foundation
• Vancity Foundation
• Vancouver Parks Board
• BC Food Bank

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• This event is open to everyone! Additionally, a number of tickets will be held for self-identified Indigenous participants. Supervised children are welcome
• Please leave furry friends at home
• Please stay home if you have cold or flu symptoms
• Please wash your shoes before visiting the AFW site, especially if you work on or have visited a farm recently
• Please do not bring alcohol/recreational substances to this event
• Please share this event with anyone who may be interested!

STAY IN TOUCH

• Sign up for our e-newsletter to get events and opportunities for your region delivered straight to your inbox
• We welcome cancellations at any time – you can do so through Eventbrite, through the link in your registration confirmation email, or by contacting maria@youngagrarians.org.
• Questions? Email Maria Vigneron at maria@youngagrarians.org