MARCH 20, 2010

TOHONO O’ODHAM BASKETMAKER TERROL DEW JOHNSON ENDS 2-YR “WALK HOME”

From Sells, Arizona, Johnson, an award-winning weaver, is an advocate for healthy foods. In 1996, he became Co-Founder of Tohono O’odham Community Action (TOCA) and led efforts to build a tribal food system that provides healthy, culturally-appropriate foods. Tohono O’odham people have the highest rate of adult-onset diabetes of any ethnic group in the world. The US President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities gave TOCA the Coming Up Taller Award in 2001. In 2002, TOCA’s founders won the Ford Foundation’s Leadership for a Changing World Award. In furtherance of this effort, in 2009-10, Terrol and 4 young relatives walked from Bar Harbor, Maine, to Sells to encourage Native American families & communities control their health by embracing tribal & other healthy foods. The 3000-mile “Walk Home” was a “journey of the heart.” In 2011, Johnson was named a White House Food Security “Champion of Change” for his work renewing Indigenous food sovereignty.

Sources:
  “Terrol Johnson,” Champions of Change, The White House. Retrieved 6/15/2021, Terrol johnson | The White House (archives.gov)
“The Long Walk Home,” W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Retrieved 6/15/2021, The Long Walk Home - W.K. Kellogg Foundation (wkkf.org)
Photo: Lance Cheung, USDA, 9/6/2012. Public Domain.  Source: 20120906-OSEC-LSC-1885 | Tohono O’odham Community Action Co-… | Flickr