Noggins Lellum: The inter-relations between Nawken food harvesting and belonging

This presentation will discuss a project on Nawken food harvesting in Scotland. The presentation speaks to a growing body of research on Nawken life-ways developed out of the language and folklore studies of Nawken elder Stanley Robertson at the University of Aberdeen. This documentary research was crucial in re-invigorating a sense of Nawken presence in North-eastern Scotland and also a realisation amongst Nawken elders that there was more activist research that could be developed. Nawken scholar and activist Davie Davidson lead the research on food sovereignty in collaboration with David Anderson and Rob Wishart with the desire to make it useful for the Nawken community according to their own community desires for land rights and broader recognition of their indigeneity. We will discuss the outcomes of this research including methods of documenting evidence in ways that will be useful to the community and how the research has helped to challenge long held perspectives on why Nawken travel, alongside leading to further research on Nawken Indigeneity and political presence.