About Us

Indigenous Terra Madre (ITM) is a network of indigenous communities, partners and organizations. It was born out of the wider Terra Madre network to bring indigenous peoples’ voices to the forefront of the debate on food and culture, to institutionalize indigenous peoples’ participation in the Slow Food movement and its projects as well as to develop both regional and global networks.

ITM shares the Slow Food and Terra Madre philosophy of good, clean and fair food as a human right, and consequently accepts that we have a responsibility to protect the heritage, tradition and culture that makes this possible.

As was stated in the Shillong Declaration, ITM encourages communities, including youth, to increase their consumption of local foods, both cultivated and collected, to keep people healthy and nutritionally secure, and encourages chefs to use native plants and animal breeds to prepare gourmet meals, thereby educating consumers.

ITM advocates for the continued custody by indigenous peoples of their native lands, so that they may maintain them and the great variety of seeds, animal breeds, fish, bees and other living organisms they host.

In numbers

At present, ITM involves thousands of individuals in over 370 communities in 86 countries around the world. More than 700 indigenous products are already on the Ark of Taste and over 50 Slow Food Presidia are run by indigenous communities. Several indigenous chefs are also active in the Slow Food Chefs’ Alliance.

A group of indigenous leaders representing all geographic areas of the globe is currently working with Slow Food and its partners to create an indigenous-led governance structure.

Focal Point: Francisco Prieto

Indigenous Terra Madre Network Facebook Group

Advisory Board

After a long process of consultations, in 2018 we created a global round table of indigenous leaders. It is an initial governance experiment towards 2020. The Advisory Board’s (AB) main goal is to contribute to the design and implementation of the ITM Road Map towards 2020: to (1) connect, (2) raise awareness, and (3) act. The AB will then work to strengthen our networking and bridge with new communities, as well as to speak as a unified voice on behalf of indigenous peoples within the network.

The ITM AB is composed of nine-member team, balanced in gender, age, and geographic regions. Recently renewed in 2022, this vital body comprises Indigenous leaders from across the globe and plays a pivotal role in shaping the vision, goals, and activities of the network

Please, learn more about the AB members and contact the one in your area: profiles and bios.

• Dali Nolasco Cruz, Nahua from Tlaola – Mexico, Slow Food Board of Directors
• Margaret Tunda Lepore, Maasai from Nakuru – Kenya, Slow Food International Councilor for Indigenous Peoples
• Dai Kitabayashi, Loochoo from Myako – Japan, Slow Food International Councilor for Indigenous Peoples
• Nicolas Mukumo Mushumbi, Bambuti from Goma – Democratic Republic of Congo, member for Indigenous peoples in Africa
• Minelia Xiu, Maya from Mama Yucatan – Mexico, member for Indigenous peoples in Latin America and the Caribbean
• Lorraine Kahneratokwas Gray, Mohawk from Akwesasne and New Mexico, member for Indigenous peoples in Turtle Island
• Kung Lien-Xiu, Amis from Hualien – Taiwan, member for Indigenous peoples in Asia and Pacific Regions
• Ochen Umar Bashir,Karamoja from Karamoja – Uganda, member for Indigenous peoples in Africa
• Luis Francisco Prieto, Slow Food’s Focal Point for Indigenous Peoples and Afrodescendant Communities, member for Slow Food staff