Exploring Indigenous Worldviews through Traditional Foodways

Dr. Enrique Salmón, a scholar and expert in ethnobotany and ethnobiology, believes that foodways are connected to every element and process of sustainable bio-cultural diversity. In his latest book, Kincentricity, Dr. Salmón dives deep into American Indian culture, including related myths and narratives that reveal the rich lore and nutritional science behind traditional foods, and the practices of gathering them that ensure bountiful harvests every year.

Kincentricity is a deeply embedded Indigenous worldview where all living beings—plants, people, and animals—share the same breath, relating as “kin” in an extended ecological family. This philosophy guides an inherent responsibility to be good stewards of life. Dr. Salmón advocates “eating the landscape”—consuming the foods naturally cultivated by the environment. It is a time-tested, sustainable, and profoundly healthful approach that Indigenous peoples have used for thousands of years. When viewed through this lens, recipes are more than instructions; they are living cultural records.

Join Dr. Enrique Salmón and CIIS faculty Charlotte María Sáenz for an insightful conversation on embracing kincentricty and the ancestral, traditional foods and hyperlocal culinary legacies of American Indian Tribes. 

This conversation includes live audience Q&A. Books are available to add to your order at checkout.

Meet the Speaker

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Dr. Enrique Salmón is a Rarámuri (Tarahumara) and teaches American Indian Studies in the Department of Ethnic Studies. He is a leading expert in ethnobotany, ethnobiology, agroecology, ancestral ecological knowledge and the connections between climate change and Indigenous traditional foodways and land management practices. It is Dr. Salmón’s belief that these foodways are connected to every element and process of sustainable bio-cultural diversity and that all facets including cultural expression, landscapes, education, leadership development, networking and policy should be understood and supported.  

Dr. Salmón has contributed essays and chapters to numerous publications and books. He is the author of “Eating The Landscape,” a book focused on small-scale Native farmers of the Greater Southwest and their role in maintaining biocultural diversity. His most recent publication is “IWÍGARA: The Kinship of Plants and People” - an ethnobotany of 80 plants important to American Indians.  

During his studies, he was a Scholar in Residence at the Heard Museum. He has been on the Board of Directors of the Society of Ethnobiology and has published several articles and chapters on Indigenous ethnobotany, agriculture, nutrition and traditional ecological knowledge. 

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Charlotte María Sáenz works as a transdisciplinary and artivist scholar, interested in how we carry, migrate, and recreate liberatory forms of learning, being, and doing in community that advances a common struggle for multispecies life. As part of this creative inquiry, she developed the concept of Seed Pedagogics, a face-to-face political-ethical education framework she first examined in the Zapatista context. She engages with seed pedagogics in her native Mexico and current home in California. This has led her to work with regional Indigenous resurgence around cultural and language revitalization as well as land-back efforts, particularly with the Muchia Te’ Indigenous Land Trust in Rammaytush territory.

At CIIS, she teaches critical pedagogy across disciplines with an intergenerational B.A. Completion Program since 2007, in the Ecology, Spirituality, and Religion and Women’s Spirituality graduate programs since 2024. 

Important Information

We are grateful to our Bookstore Partner

Marcus Books is the nation’s oldest Black-owned independent bookstore celebrating its 60th year. Marcus Books’ mission is to provide opportunities for Black folks and their allies to celebrate and learn about Black people everywhere. Learn more about Marcus Books. 

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Ticket holders will have access to an ad-free replay of the event for one month after the live event, after which unlimited viewing with ads will be available. Portions of the audio will also be released on our podcast. Only registered ticket holders who choose to watch live can participate in the chat and Q&A.

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