Food Coupons juxtaposes a contemporary US food assistance coupon with Indigenous agricultural knowledge, highlighting the contrast between dependence and abundance. The work reflects my own experience growing up on food stamps and the complicated relationship many Native communities have with food access today.

While federal assistance programs have helped families survive, the processed and nutrient-poor foods they often make accessible have also contributed to disproportionately high rates of obesity, diabetes, and other health disparities in Indigenous communities.

This work also speaks to Kevin Beltran (Zuni and El Salvadoran), who works with Pueblo youth reviving ancestral agriculture, and also inspired this painting. Positioned against the coupon are symbols of traditional foodways are: Kevin’s corn harvested by three generations of his family and his family’s pottery given to him as a high school graduation gift, reminders of sophisticated Indigenous systems of agriculture, trade, stewardship, and nutrition that sustained Native nations for generations before colonization. These food networks were deeply connected to land, culture, and community.

The work asks viewers to consider what has been lost and what remains. Rather than presenting Indigenous people solely through narratives of scarcity, Food Coupons acknowledges a legacy of innovation, resilience, and knowledge. It is both a critique of contemporary food systems and a recognition that Indigenous communities continue to reclaim and revitalize traditional relationships with food, health, and the land.