MEET Indigenous Entrepreneur Natasha Anderson
Minwaadizi Farm - A small scale organic market farm and land-based cultural center
Natasha is Saulteaux and French Canadian; the daughter of Lynn Ouellette and Earl Anderson (Brass). Her father was part of the 60s scoop; a Government-run large-scale removal of Indigenous children from their homes, communities and families of birth; and was raised in a non-Indigenous family. As a result, Natasha was not raised with her Indigenous kin or culture. She first met her father’s side of the family at 29 years old. Since then she has been on a journey to heal the intergenerational trauma she has inherited.
Connecting to the land through farming and learning her Indigenous culture has played a key role. She is honoured to be learning her cultural ways from her auntie Sharon Jinkerson-Brass who learned from her great Grandmother Rebecca who was a traditional midwife and healer.
Minwaadizi Farm is a small scale organic market farm and land-based cultural center. Minwaadizi means ‘they live a good life’ in Natasha’s native language, Anishinaabemowin.
Natasha began farming in 2018 and has found it to be challenging yet empowering. Her connection to the land has deepened with her own understanding of herself and her identity as an Indigenous woman.
“My Masters in Environmental studies opened my eyes to how colonization has created societies who live in ways that are extractive and out of balance. My aunties have taught me that there is a way to be in relationship with the land, to grow food, be sustained by Mother Earth and follow environmental protocols. I come to the table as an auntie, as a consultant and as a farmer.”- Natasha Anderson
Natasha's Impact Statement
When we support a decolonized approach to growing food we become part of economic reconciliation. Not only are we making a difference in the farming industry, but we are supporting the economic vision of Indigenous peoples, and healing together on the land through our culture as we grow food for our community.
Natasha wants to help people feel like they are a part of something when they switch to buying local, organic produce from Minwaadizi. It’s more than eating healthy, it is supporting the regrowth of native or regionally adapted food and making it more accessible for everyone.
"Food sovereignty is so important - and we need more Indigenous women like Natasha at the helm to restore, replenish and decolonize our food systems to aid in our holistic well-being."
- Vanessa Lesperance, LIFT Circle Lead
The LIFTing Your Leadership program is a cohort experience for 12 Indigenous women and non-binary entrepreneurs, and is a combination of leadership and business development activities (created by LIFT) and story amplification (by PowHERhouse). The project is rooted in decolonized leadership development and steeped in Indigenous ways of knowing and being. This project has been made possible with support from The Indigenous People’s Resilience Fund which is built upon the resiliency of, and guided by, Indigenous Peoples to support Indigenous communities.
