Promoting Healthy Diets on an American Indian Reservation Through Direct Access to Nutrition

Abstract

The residents of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in northeast Montana face disproportionately high levels of diabetes. There is a general consensus among local leaders that this disparity is due in large part to chronic malnutrition that results from a lack of healthy dietary options, poor nutrition literacy, low levels of self-efficacy, and a general disconnection from traditional Sioux and Assiniboine food culture. To address this issue we produced a series of short videos that sought to empower local youth to create their own sources of healthy food by growing modern food in a garden and foraging for traditional Sioux and Assiniboine foods in the wild. Over a five-week program, a film crew of local youth was responsible for researching the featured foods, writing the scripts, managing the sound and lighting, directing, filming, acting, and interviewing key informants for each movie. To test the educational value of the program, we created a twelve-question survey to measure participant knowledge of filmmaking as well as modern and traditional Sioux and Assiniboine foods and administered it on the first and last day of the program.