The I Collective is an autonomous group of Indigenous chefs, activists, herbalists, seed, and knowledge keepers, that strives to open a dialogue and create a new narrative that highlights not only historical Indigenous contributions, but also promotes Indigenous community resilience and innovations in gastronomy, agriculture, the arts, and society at large. In 2021, I Collective developed the multimedia cookbook, A Gathering Basket, a cookbook and community journal with supplemental webinar series to assist in strengthening the connection of our people to their food. FFCF’s support of their cookbook was featured in the New York Times.

The well received success of the Gathering Basket has helped place the voice of Indigenous people front and center in culinary spaces. The digital publication has enabled the Collective to correct misrepresentation within mainstream media of food and herbal practices that have been in the Americas for millenia. The Interactive Indigneous Cookbook has been a powerful media tool that is a step in a positive direction for the continued work for Native people to own their narratives. The Cookbook has been a widely accessible, culturally relevant educational resource reintroducing food as medicine and relationship to the land. The publication continues to break down stigma, and rekindle the critical relationships fostered through Indigenous foodways. Relationships that hav, for too long, been severely impacted by colonial and genocidal attacks and ongoing attempts at cultural erasure which have caused loss of traditional education, lack of funds, loss of land & environment, loss of language, and loss of elders who carried with them the knowledge of these traditional practices. With Gathering Basket, I-Collective is reclaiming, rebuilding and strengthening indigenous knowledge and practices critical to community and climate resilience.