PS 30-172 - CANCELLED - Harms of genomic plant breeding to Indigenous peoples: the case of hybrid hazelnuts

Abstract: Native hazelnuts (makwa bagaanag in the Ojibwe language) (Corylus spp.) (Fagales: Betulaceae) are a sacred food and a relative to Ojibwe peoples throughout the Great Lakes region. Ongoing genetic breeding programs on hazelnuts at academic institutions across the US threaten to jeopardize the food sovereignty of Indigenous peoples. Unlike manoomin (i.e., wild rice), makwa bagaanag has had less attention in a western science lens for its importance to Indigenous people. The goals of this study were to compile and summarize existing information on the importance of makwa bagaanag to Ojibwe peoples and to document accounts and stories from modern-day Indigenous elders and their ways of knowing and knowledge regarding the ecology and human dimensions of makwa bagaanag and how broader ecosystems aspects such as fire exclusion, habitat loss, and fragmentation may impact makwa bagaanag. We systematically reviewed and synthesized historical and modern texts on the relationship between the Indigenous people and makwa bagaanag. Additionally, we interviewed an Ojibwe elder on their perspectives and accounts on makwa bagaanag. Here we show that hazelnuts have historically been and currently are an important food source to Ojibwe peoples and that the genomic breeding of hazelnuts by academic institutions threatens Indigenous food sovereignty and rights in the same ways as with manoomin. In conclusion, this case study suggests equitable actions such as reparations are necessary to the Ojibwe peoples by these institutions and has implications for all other plant species native to the Americas included in genomic breeding programs. Additionally, this research seeks to begin the process of addressing past harms to Ojibwe peoples, attain equity, and will help to bring about change at the intersection of ecological and food justice.