HEAL Food Alliance

School of Political Leadership

2019-2020 Cohort

dana eldridge

Farmer & Researcher
Diné/Navajo Nation

For Indigenous People, “policy” has historically been a direct tool of conquest and colonization, and was instrumental in the destruction of our traditional lifeways and food systems. Right now, Indigenous People all over this Mother Earth are changing that narrative by remembering our ancient philosophies and re-imagining “policy” so that it honors and protects Indigenous food systems for future generations.

SoPL is holding space to explore the decolonization of “policy” in a way that truly empowers BIPOC food movements, and which is of the utmost importance in this era of climate crisis and social transformation.
dana on what SoPL means to them

About dana

dana eldridge is a queer Diné person from the Diné (Navajo) Nation, and is of the Tsenjikini Kinlintsoinii (Honey Comb Rock People) clan.

They have dedicated their life to remembering, revitalizing, and protecting indigenous land-based life ways. dana spearheaded the Diné Food Sovereignty Initiative at Diné Policy Institute and co-authored “Diné Food Sovereignty: A Report on the Navajo Nation Food System and the Case to Rebuild a Self-Sufficient Food System for the Diné People”.

dana holds a B.A. in Ethnic Studies from Brown University, and currently lives off-grid on their ancestral family land practicing dry-land farming techniques and learning about traditional food knowledge and plant medicine.
Take me back to the Cohort!