Seaweed as a keystone food: an ethnographic case study of coastal Lafkenche foodscapes

Indigenous foodways play an important role in shaping local ecologies and territories. I propose the concept of “keystone foods,” which I define as a species consumed and commercialized that is central to cultural identity and local ecology, as a contribution to how local foodways co-constitute territories. Through participant observation and ethnographic interviews, I outline the case study of a seaweed in Chile called kollof, or cochayuyo, that is key to the ecological and cultural reproduction of Lafkenche Indigenous coastal foodscapes. I argue that keystone foods can lead us to deeper understandings of how Indigenous foodways co-constitute local territories.