home.social

#indigenousfood — Public Fediverse posts

Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #indigenousfood, aggregated by home.social.

  1. The Americas have given the world a cornucopia of foods. They survived conquest, migration, and reinvention. This collection explores how Indigenous knowledge shaped the ingredients that feed the world today. The foods that once helped humanity survive famine. #IndigenousFood #LatinFood #FodHeritage #FoodHistory #FoodCultureBites

    flipboard.com/@janettespeyer/t

  2. Virtual Event - #BookDiscussion of “The #Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World”

    February 12 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm

    "Join us for a virtual book discussion of 'The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World,' by #RobinWallKimmerer.

    Free. Registration Required."

    About the author:
    "As Indigenous scientist and author of #BraidingSweetgrass Robin Wall Kimmerer harvests serviceberries alongside the birds, she considers the ethic of reciprocity that lies at the heart of the gift economy. How, she asks, can we learn from #IndigenousWisdom and the plant world to #reimagine what we value most? Our economy is rooted in scarcity, competition, and the hoarding of resources, and we have surrendered our values to a system that actively harms what we love. Meanwhile, the serviceberry’s relationship with the natural world is an embodiment of reciprocity, #interconnectedness, and gratitude. The tree distributes its wealth—its abundance of sweet, juicy berries—to meet the needs of its natural community. And this distribution ensures its own survival. As Kimmerer explains, 'Serviceberries show us another model, one based upon reciprocity, where wealth comes from the quality of your relationships, not from the illusion of self-sufficiency.' "

    FMI and to register:
    mofga.org/event-calendar/book-

    #SolarPunkSunday #MOFGA #TheServiceBerryBook #IndigenousAuthors #IndigenousFood #Foraging #Nature #EthicalHarvest #HonourableHarvest

  3. In #SeanSherman's book, #TheSiouxChef #IndigenousKitchen, he suggests using a mixture of berries - blackberries, strawberries, cranberries, raspberries, blueberries, elderberries -- pretty much anything you have on hand -- if one can't find chokecherries (which is what was used originally)

    What is #wojape? A simple and delicious #NativeAmerican recipe for cranberry sauce

    Ronnie Koenig, Updated Wed, November 10, 2021

    yahoo.com/lifestyle/wojape-sim

    #NativeAmericanRecipes #SiouxChef #IndigenousFood #Berries #MapleSyrup #NativeAmericanFoods

  4. So, I picked out a few recipes for our Winter holiday feast... All from The #SiouxChef ! Seared duck breast with cider glaze (which utilizes juniper berries and sumac and maple syrup and sage), wild rice pilaf (with wild mushrooms and chestnuts and dried cranberries), and griddled maple squash (with our home-grown squash and local maple syrup). I'll be also trying out stews and soups and breads for later in the season. It's so cool to find recipes which utilize ingredients that we can obtain locally!

    #SeanSherman #BethDooley #IndigenousCooking #IndigenousFood #LocalFood #AnimalProducts #TheSiouxChefsIndigenousKitchen #DecolonizeYourDiet #IndigenousKitchen

  5. Me and my mom at Ganondagan 🥰

    We had Corn Mush topped with Buffalo meatballs, Rose Hip sauce and Crispy Manoomin; with a White Corn Piñon Cookie. There was storytelling and some wonderful artists. I’m planning to come back to explore the trails.

    #IndigenousFood #Seneca #IndigenousArt

  6. Learn why Oaxacan mole is the soul of Mexican cuisine and why it matters. I've included a simple leftover-turkey mole that captures centuries of tradition in every bite. #foodculture #foodculturebites #Culture #foodhistory #IndigenousFood #mexicancuisine #oaxacanmole #mole

    Oaxacan Mole: Discover the Joy of Tradition foodculturebites.com/oaxacan-m

  7. We thank the Indigenous Americans for adding variety to our diets and preventing mass starvation. These foods sparked economic booms and even influenced geopolitics. Potatoes fueled Europe's Industrial Revolution by feeding factory workers. Tomatoes created Italian immigrant cuisine in America. Corn subsidies shaped U.S. agricultural policy for a century. #foodhistory #foodculture #foodculturebites #food #IndigenousFood #IndigenousHeritage
    foodculturebites.com/5-indigen

  8. If you are Native and live around Denver CO, there's this cool Indigenous storytelling dinner, with a fully pre-colonial menu, on December 6 at the Convivio Cafe. Tickets are expensive, because "proceeds from the tickets purchased will go to our Native American Food Sovereignty Project for 2026." However there is a sliding fee scale and a raffle for free tickets. And if you're not Native but want to support, you can purchase tickets or portions of tickets for others at the link.

    #IndigenousFood #Indigenous #NativeFood #Thanksgiving #Solidarity #Denver #Colorado

    chil-indigenous-foods.square.s

  9. Digesting Food Studies—Episode 105: Indigenous Food Sovereignty

    Although Indigenous food sovereignty has been attacked and eroded by multiple histories of colonial oppression, rebuilding it can happen—through intergenerational learning, land-based practices, and relationality.

    rss.com/podcasts/digesting-foo

    Kaylee Michnik, talks about her article, “Moving Your Body, Soul, and Heart to Share and Harvest Food” from Vol. 8, No. 2 of Canadian Food Studies (doi.org/10.15353/cfs-rcea.v8i2), including the roles we all play in reconciliation & decolonization. Courtney Vaughan offers a response to the text and its challenges. Starting it off is Alexia Moyer’s account of the tasty and tenuous history of camas cultivation by Coast Salish peoples.

    #DigestingFoodStudies
    #Indigenous
    #IndigenousFood
    #IndigenousKnowledge
    #CoastSalish
    #LekwungenPeople
    #FirstNations
    #FoodSovereignty
    #FoodSystems
    #Decolonization
    #HudsonsBayCompany
    #Reconciliation
    #Camas
    #DeathCamas
    #ZigadenousVenenosis
    #FoodPodcast

    Image: Jacques Gaimard on Pixabay

  10. Digesting Food Studies—Episode 105: Indigenous Food Sovereignty

    Although Indigenous food sovereignty has been attacked and eroded by multiple histories of colonial oppression, rebuilding it can happen—through intergenerational learning, land-based practices, and relationality.

    rss.com/podcasts/digesting-foo

    Kaylee Michnik, talks about her article, “Moving Your Body, Soul, and Heart to Share and Harvest Food” from Vol. 8, No. 2 of Canadian Food Studies (doi.org/10.15353/cfs-rcea.v8i2), including the roles we all play in reconciliation & decolonization. Courtney Vaughan offers a response to the text and its challenges. Starting it off is Alexia Moyer’s account of the tasty and tenuous history of camas cultivation by Coast Salish peoples.

    #DigestingFoodStudies
    #Indigenous
    #IndigenousFood
    #IndigenousKnowledge
    #CoastSalish
    #LekwungenPeople
    #FirstNations
    #FoodSovereignty
    #FoodSystems
    #Decolonization
    #HudsonsBayCompany
    #Reconciliation
    #Camas
    #DeathCamas
    #ZigadenousVenenosis
    #FoodPodcast

    Image: Jacques Gaimard on Pixabay

  11. Digesting Food Studies—Episode 105: Indigenous Food Sovereignty

    Although Indigenous food sovereignty has been attacked and eroded by multiple histories of colonial oppression, rebuilding it can happen—through intergenerational learning, land-based practices, and relationality.

    rss.com/podcasts/digesting-foo

    Kaylee Michnik, talks about her article, “Moving Your Body, Soul, and Heart to Share and Harvest Food” from Vol. 8, No. 2 of Canadian Food Studies (doi.org/10.15353/cfs-rcea.v8i2), including the roles we all play in reconciliation & decolonization. Courtney Vaughan offers a response to the text and its challenges. Starting it off is Alexia Moyer’s account of the tasty and tenuous history of camas cultivation by Coast Salish peoples.

    #DigestingFoodStudies
    #Indigenous
    #IndigenousFood
    #IndigenousKnowledge
    #CoastSalish
    #LekwungenPeople
    #FirstNations
    #FoodSovereignty
    #FoodSystems
    #Decolonization
    #HudsonsBayCompany
    #Reconciliation
    #Camas
    #DeathCamas
    #ZigadenousVenenosis
    #FoodPodcast

    Image: Jacques Gaimard on Pixabay

  12. Digesting Food Studies—Episode 105: Indigenous Food Sovereignty

    Although Indigenous food sovereignty has been attacked and eroded by multiple histories of colonial oppression, rebuilding it can happen—through intergenerational learning, land-based practices, and relationality.

    rss.com/podcasts/digesting-foo

    Kaylee Michnik, talks about her article, “Moving Your Body, Soul, and Heart to Share and Harvest Food” from Vol. 8, No. 2 of Canadian Food Studies (doi.org/10.15353/cfs-rcea.v8i2), including the roles we all play in reconciliation & decolonization. Courtney Vaughan offers a response to the text and its challenges. Starting it off is Alexia Moyer’s account of the tasty and tenuous history of camas cultivation by Coast Salish peoples.

    #DigestingFoodStudies
    #Indigenous
    #IndigenousFood
    #IndigenousKnowledge
    #CoastSalish
    #LekwungenPeople
    #FirstNations
    #FoodSovereignty
    #FoodSystems
    #Decolonization
    #HudsonsBayCompany
    #Reconciliation
    #Camas
    #DeathCamas
    #ZigadenousVenenosis
    #FoodPodcast

    Image: Jacques Gaimard on Pixabay

  13. Digesting Food Studies—Episode 105: Indigenous Food Sovereignty

    Although Indigenous food sovereignty has been attacked and eroded by multiple histories of colonial oppression, rebuilding it can happen—through intergenerational learning, land-based practices, and relationality.

    rss.com/podcasts/digesting-foo

    Kaylee Michnik, talks about her article, “Moving Your Body, Soul, and Heart to Share and Harvest Food” from Vol. 8, No. 2 of Canadian Food Studies (doi.org/10.15353/cfs-rcea.v8i2), including the roles we all play in reconciliation & decolonization. Courtney Vaughan offers a response to the text and its challenges. Starting it off is Alexia Moyer’s account of the tasty and tenuous history of camas cultivation by Coast Salish peoples.

    #DigestingFoodStudies
    #Indigenous
    #IndigenousFood
    #IndigenousKnowledge
    #CoastSalish
    #LekwungenPeople
    #FirstNations
    #FoodSovereignty
    #FoodSystems
    #Decolonization
    #HudsonsBayCompany
    #Reconciliation
    #Camas
    #DeathCamas
    #ZigadenousVenenosis
    #FoodPodcast

    Image: Jacques Gaimard on Pixabay

  14. We thank the Indigenous Americans for adding variety to our diets and preventing mass starvation. These foods sparked economic booms and even influenced geopolitics. Potatoes fueled Europe's Industrial Revolution by feeding factory workers. Tomatoes created Italian immigrant cuisine in America. Corn subsidies shaped U.S. agricultural policy for a century. #foodhistory #foodculture #foodculturebites #food #IndigenousFood #IndigenousHeritage
    foodculturebites.com/5-indigen

  15. ‘Sioux Chef’ book erases colonial borders, shares Indigenous recipes

    Sandra Hale SchulmanSpecial to ICT Beaver tacos. Venison and corn salad. Rabbit soup. Prairie pesto. Balsam fir braised moose. These are just a handful of imaginative recipes featured in a remarkable new book…
    #dining #cooking #diet #food #RecipeTopics #ICTMustRead #Indigenouschefs #Indigenousfood #Recipes #RecipesTopics
    diningandcooking.com/2308534/s

  16. #WildRice and the #Ojibwe

    by Jessica Milgroom

    "Wild rice is a food of great historical, spiritual, and cultural importance for Ojibwe people. After colonization disrupted their traditional food system, however, they could no longer depend on stores of wild rice for food all year round. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, this traditional staple was appropriated by white entrepreneurs and marketed as a gourmet commodity. Native and non-Native people alike began to harvest rice to sell it for cash, threatening the health of the natural stands of the crop. This lucrative market paved the way for domestication of the plant, and farmers began cultivating it in paddies in the late 1960s. In the twenty-first century, many Ojibwe and other Native people are fighting to sustain the hand-harvested wild rice tradition and to protect wild rice beds.

    "Ojibwe people arrived in present-day Minnesota in the 1600s after a long migration from the east coast of the United States that lasted many centuries. Together with their #Anishinaabe kin, the Potawatomi and Odawa, they followed a vision that told them to search for their homeland in a place 'where the food floats on water.' The Ojibwe recognized this as the wild rice they found growing around Lake Superior (Gichigami), and they settled on the sacred site of what is known today as Madeline Island (#Mooningwaanekaaning).

    "In the Ojibwe language, wild rice (Zizania palustris) is called manoomin, which is related by analogy to a word (minomin) meaning 'good berry.'” It is a highly nutritious wild grain that is gathered from lakes and waterways by canoe in late August and early September, during the wild rice moon (manoominike giizis).

    "Before contact with Europeans and as late as the early twentieth century, Ojibwe people depended on wild rice as a crucial part of their diet, together with berries, fish, meat, vegetables, and maple sugar. They moved their camps throughout the year, depending on the activities of seasonal food gathering. In autumn, families moved to a location close to a lake with a promising stand of wild rice and stayed there for the duration of the season.

    [...]

    RESTORATION AND REGULATION

    "As far back as the 1930s, the health of wild rice beds has been a serious concern. In 1939 Minnesota passed a law outlawing mechanized harvest and limiting how and when wild rice could be harvested. Since then, it has enacted other protective policies, including limiting the number of hours in the day during which it is permissible to rice and limiting the length of the canoe used for ricing. In the 1990s, wild rice was identified as an endangered food. The plant is sensitive to water levels altered by dams as well as road construction, pollution, poor harvesting practices, invasive species, genetic engineering (genetic contamination of the wild rice from the paddies), and climate change.

    "In response to these threats, Ojibwe and other Native people organized. For example, in 1994, the Fond du Lac and Bois Forte bands developed a '#WildRiceRestorationPlan for the St. Louis River Watershed' designed to restore lost stands of the crop and manage its harvest. In the same decade, the company Native Harvest (part of the White Earth Land Recovery Project) began to sell hand-harvested wild rice, and multiple bands formed reservation wild-rice committees to manage harvests.

    "In the 2020s, Ojibwe people continue to defend and protect this vital plant and the cultural, health, and spiritual importance that it holds. Individuals as well as tribes organize ricing camps to teach traditional practices of ricing, parching, and finishing. Others are actively fighting against the Enbridge #Line3 #OilPipeline replacement project that would cross wild rice habitat, or collaborating in a movement for Native food sovereignty."

    www3.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/

    #SolarPunkSunday #FoodSovereignty #WaterIsLife #FoodIsLife #NativeAmericanFoodSovereignty #FoodSovereignty #Foodsecurity #TraditionalFoods #IndigenousPeoplesDay #IndigenousFood

  17. #WildRice and the #Ojibwe

    by Jessica Milgroom

    "Wild rice is a food of great historical, spiritual, and cultural importance for Ojibwe people. After colonization disrupted their traditional food system, however, they could no longer depend on stores of wild rice for food all year round. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, this traditional staple was appropriated by white entrepreneurs and marketed as a gourmet commodity. Native and non-Native people alike began to harvest rice to sell it for cash, threatening the health of the natural stands of the crop. This lucrative market paved the way for domestication of the plant, and farmers began cultivating it in paddies in the late 1960s. In the twenty-first century, many Ojibwe and other Native people are fighting to sustain the hand-harvested wild rice tradition and to protect wild rice beds.

    "Ojibwe people arrived in present-day Minnesota in the 1600s after a long migration from the east coast of the United States that lasted many centuries. Together with their #Anishinaabe kin, the Potawatomi and Odawa, they followed a vision that told them to search for their homeland in a place 'where the food floats on water.' The Ojibwe recognized this as the wild rice they found growing around Lake Superior (Gichigami), and they settled on the sacred site of what is known today as Madeline Island (#Mooningwaanekaaning).

    "In the Ojibwe language, wild rice (Zizania palustris) is called manoomin, which is related by analogy to a word (minomin) meaning 'good berry.'” It is a highly nutritious wild grain that is gathered from lakes and waterways by canoe in late August and early September, during the wild rice moon (manoominike giizis).

    "Before contact with Europeans and as late as the early twentieth century, Ojibwe people depended on wild rice as a crucial part of their diet, together with berries, fish, meat, vegetables, and maple sugar. They moved their camps throughout the year, depending on the activities of seasonal food gathering. In autumn, families moved to a location close to a lake with a promising stand of wild rice and stayed there for the duration of the season.

    [...]

    RESTORATION AND REGULATION

    "As far back as the 1930s, the health of wild rice beds has been a serious concern. In 1939 Minnesota passed a law outlawing mechanized harvest and limiting how and when wild rice could be harvested. Since then, it has enacted other protective policies, including limiting the number of hours in the day during which it is permissible to rice and limiting the length of the canoe used for ricing. In the 1990s, wild rice was identified as an endangered food. The plant is sensitive to water levels altered by dams as well as road construction, pollution, poor harvesting practices, invasive species, genetic engineering (genetic contamination of the wild rice from the paddies), and climate change.

    "In response to these threats, Ojibwe and other Native people organized. For example, in 1994, the Fond du Lac and Bois Forte bands developed a '#WildRiceRestorationPlan for the St. Louis River Watershed' designed to restore lost stands of the crop and manage its harvest. In the same decade, the company Native Harvest (part of the White Earth Land Recovery Project) began to sell hand-harvested wild rice, and multiple bands formed reservation wild-rice committees to manage harvests.

    "In the 2020s, Ojibwe people continue to defend and protect this vital plant and the cultural, health, and spiritual importance that it holds. Individuals as well as tribes organize ricing camps to teach traditional practices of ricing, parching, and finishing. Others are actively fighting against the Enbridge #Line3 #OilPipeline replacement project that would cross wild rice habitat, or collaborating in a movement for Native food sovereignty."

    www3.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/

    #SolarPunkSunday #FoodSovereignty #WaterIsLife #FoodIsLife #NativeAmericanFoodSovereignty #FoodSovereignty #Foodsecurity #TraditionalFoods #IndigenousPeoplesDay #IndigenousFood

  18. Pressure Builds to Protect #Manoomin (#WildRice)

    "Laws aren’t always enough. We’re seeing a loss of wild rice all over #Minnesota. Threats from #ClimateChange, threats from pollution, threats from landowners that are ripping out wild rice stocks."

    By Wabigonikwe, Contributor June 13, 2025, via @UnicornRiot

    Excerpt: "Wild rice, often known by its #Objiwe name, manoomin, has been a means of sustenance for #DakotaLakota and Ojibwe peoples since time immemorial. It is the reason that Ojibwe people migrated to this region, 'the land where food grows on water' – without it, people’s health and wellbeing would suffer from not being able to live their way of life and not getting essential nutrients from the rice. (More on the importance of wild rice in UR’s 2017 report, Resistance to Line 3 Pipeline Seeks to Save Sacred Manoomin.)"

    [...]

    "Activists fear that legislators will use this time to review policies as an opportunity to take back provisions on the wild rice sulfate standard, a law put in place in 1973 limiting the amount of sulfate that mining companies pollute into wild rice waters."

    unicornriot.ninja/2025/pressur

    #Line3 #Line3Resistance #WaterIsLife #TraditionalFoods #TraditionalFarming #Sustenance #Mining #Pipelines #IndigenousPeoplesDay #IndigenousFood

  19. Pressure Builds to Protect #Manoomin (#WildRice)

    "Laws aren’t always enough. We’re seeing a loss of wild rice all over #Minnesota. Threats from #ClimateChange, threats from pollution, threats from landowners that are ripping out wild rice stocks."

    By Wabigonikwe, Contributor June 13, 2025, via @UnicornRiot

    Excerpt: "Wild rice, often known by its #Objiwe name, manoomin, has been a means of sustenance for #DakotaLakota and Ojibwe peoples since time immemorial. It is the reason that Ojibwe people migrated to this region, 'the land where food grows on water' – without it, people’s health and wellbeing would suffer from not being able to live their way of life and not getting essential nutrients from the rice. (More on the importance of wild rice in UR’s 2017 report, Resistance to Line 3 Pipeline Seeks to Save Sacred Manoomin.)"

    [...]

    "Activists fear that legislators will use this time to review policies as an opportunity to take back provisions on the wild rice sulfate standard, a law put in place in 1973 limiting the amount of sulfate that mining companies pollute into wild rice waters."

    unicornriot.ninja/2025/pressur

    #Line3 #Line3Resistance #WaterIsLife #TraditionalFoods #TraditionalFarming #Sustenance #Mining #Pipelines #IndigenousPeoplesDay #IndigenousFood

  20. Today is National Indigenous People's Day -- and I had the privilege of chatting with Chef Tawnya Brant about revitalising Indigenous cuisine in a contemporary way, by using traditional ingredients in contemporary dishes.

    #NIPD #IndigenousFood #Canada #Food #Mastonom

    cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-w

  21. Thawing out frozen wild #salmon to butterfly before cooking them over the fire.
    The oceanspray branches that we stripped bark off from yesterday, are soaking under the 5 fish.

    #Fish #Esquimalt #FirstNation #IndigenousFood #CulturalFood #TraditionalFood #NativeBC #YYJ #VictoriaBC #VancouverIsland #VanIsle #PacificNorthwest #PNW #Seafood

  22. #Australia - Native '#superfood' #grasses used to create flour, beer growing in popularity

    By Fiona Broom, August 27, 2024

    "Just three years ago, Chris Harris was using an old metal bed frame to shake out the tiny seeds that hide in native #KangarooGrass.

    "The #AncientGrains can be roasted, brewed or ground into high-protein flour for baking.

    " 'I spent a lot of time on my country — #Ngiyampaa country — with my pop, my dad, my mum and aunties and uncles,' Mr Harris said.

    "Mr Harris has made flour out of #WattleSeed, as well as #MitchellGrass, #ButtonGrass and #KangarooGrass.

    "He has sent native flours and seeds to kitchens across the country for the past two-and-a-half years but said he was looking at ways to expand his operations.
    From builder to bush foods

    "Mr Harris is the farm manager at #BlackDuckFoods, an #Aboriginal social enterprise at #Mallacoota on Victoria's far eastern border with New South Wales.

    "The farm, named #Yumburra — the Yuin word for the black duck native to the Mallacoota region — was set up by award-winning author Bruce Pascoe, whose book Dark Emu shone a spotlight on the lost history of #AboriginalFood systems.

    "Mr Harris was a plasterer with an Aboriginal construction company when first visited the property about four years ago.

    "But he said after discussing bush foods with Mr Pascoe, he realised his future would be as a farmer and native foods educator.

    " 'I'd been talking a lot to him about the lilies, the murnong, and the grains and he'd seen a real interest that I had in the native food space,' Mr Harris said.

    "In the past few years, the small team has grown its knowledge of the ancient grains at their former beef farm on the banks of the Wallagaraugh River.

    "They have encouraged the return of the #NativeGrasses, wattles and #tubers that produce the nutritious ingredients that foodies across the country are learning to love."

    Read more:
    abc.net.au/news/rural/2024-08-

    #IndigenousFood #NativeAustralians #BushTucker #TraditionalFoods

  23. #Australia - Native '#superfood' #grasses used to create flour, beer growing in popularity

    By Fiona Broom, August 27, 2024

    "Just three years ago, Chris Harris was using an old metal bed frame to shake out the tiny seeds that hide in native #KangarooGrass.

    "The #AncientGrains can be roasted, brewed or ground into high-protein flour for baking.

    " 'I spent a lot of time on my country — #Ngiyampaa country — with my pop, my dad, my mum and aunties and uncles,' Mr Harris said.

    "Mr Harris has made flour out of #WattleSeed, as well as #MitchellGrass, #ButtonGrass and #KangarooGrass.

    "He has sent native flours and seeds to kitchens across the country for the past two-and-a-half years but said he was looking at ways to expand his operations.
    From builder to bush foods

    "Mr Harris is the farm manager at #BlackDuckFoods, an #Aboriginal social enterprise at #Mallacoota on Victoria's far eastern border with New South Wales.

    "The farm, named #Yumburra — the Yuin word for the black duck native to the Mallacoota region — was set up by award-winning author Bruce Pascoe, whose book Dark Emu shone a spotlight on the lost history of #AboriginalFood systems.

    "Mr Harris was a plasterer with an Aboriginal construction company when first visited the property about four years ago.

    "But he said after discussing bush foods with Mr Pascoe, he realised his future would be as a farmer and native foods educator.

    " 'I'd been talking a lot to him about the lilies, the murnong, and the grains and he'd seen a real interest that I had in the native food space,' Mr Harris said.

    "In the past few years, the small team has grown its knowledge of the ancient grains at their former beef farm on the banks of the Wallagaraugh River.

    "They have encouraged the return of the #NativeGrasses, wattles and #tubers that produce the nutritious ingredients that foodies across the country are learning to love."

    Read more:
    abc.net.au/news/rural/2024-08-

    #IndigenousFood #NativeAustralians #BushTucker #TraditionalFoods

  24. #Australia - Native '#superfood' #grasses used to create flour, beer growing in popularity

    By Fiona Broom, August 27, 2024

    "Just three years ago, Chris Harris was using an old metal bed frame to shake out the tiny seeds that hide in native #KangarooGrass.

    "The #AncientGrains can be roasted, brewed or ground into high-protein flour for baking.

    " 'I spent a lot of time on my country — #Ngiyampaa country — with my pop, my dad, my mum and aunties and uncles,' Mr Harris said.

    "Mr Harris has made flour out of #WattleSeed, as well as #MitchellGrass, #ButtonGrass and #KangarooGrass.

    "He has sent native flours and seeds to kitchens across the country for the past two-and-a-half years but said he was looking at ways to expand his operations.
    From builder to bush foods

    "Mr Harris is the farm manager at #BlackDuckFoods, an #Aboriginal social enterprise at #Mallacoota on Victoria's far eastern border with New South Wales.

    "The farm, named #Yumburra — the Yuin word for the black duck native to the Mallacoota region — was set up by award-winning author Bruce Pascoe, whose book Dark Emu shone a spotlight on the lost history of #AboriginalFood systems.

    "Mr Harris was a plasterer with an Aboriginal construction company when first visited the property about four years ago.

    "But he said after discussing bush foods with Mr Pascoe, he realised his future would be as a farmer and native foods educator.

    " 'I'd been talking a lot to him about the lilies, the murnong, and the grains and he'd seen a real interest that I had in the native food space,' Mr Harris said.

    "In the past few years, the small team has grown its knowledge of the ancient grains at their former beef farm on the banks of the Wallagaraugh River.

    "They have encouraged the return of the #NativeGrasses, wattles and #tubers that produce the nutritious ingredients that foodies across the country are learning to love."

    Read more:
    abc.net.au/news/rural/2024-08-

    #IndigenousFood #NativeAustralians #BushTucker #TraditionalFoods

  25. #Australia - Native '#superfood' #grasses used to create flour, beer growing in popularity

    By Fiona Broom, August 27, 2024

    "Just three years ago, Chris Harris was using an old metal bed frame to shake out the tiny seeds that hide in native #KangarooGrass.

    "The #AncientGrains can be roasted, brewed or ground into high-protein flour for baking.

    " 'I spent a lot of time on my country — #Ngiyampaa country — with my pop, my dad, my mum and aunties and uncles,' Mr Harris said.

    "Mr Harris has made flour out of #WattleSeed, as well as #MitchellGrass, #ButtonGrass and #KangarooGrass.

    "He has sent native flours and seeds to kitchens across the country for the past two-and-a-half years but said he was looking at ways to expand his operations.
    From builder to bush foods

    "Mr Harris is the farm manager at #BlackDuckFoods, an #Aboriginal social enterprise at #Mallacoota on Victoria's far eastern border with New South Wales.

    "The farm, named #Yumburra — the Yuin word for the black duck native to the Mallacoota region — was set up by award-winning author Bruce Pascoe, whose book Dark Emu shone a spotlight on the lost history of #AboriginalFood systems.

    "Mr Harris was a plasterer with an Aboriginal construction company when first visited the property about four years ago.

    "But he said after discussing bush foods with Mr Pascoe, he realised his future would be as a farmer and native foods educator.

    " 'I'd been talking a lot to him about the lilies, the murnong, and the grains and he'd seen a real interest that I had in the native food space,' Mr Harris said.

    "In the past few years, the small team has grown its knowledge of the ancient grains at their former beef farm on the banks of the Wallagaraugh River.

    "They have encouraged the return of the #NativeGrasses, wattles and #tubers that produce the nutritious ingredients that foodies across the country are learning to love."

    Read more:
    abc.net.au/news/rural/2024-08-

    #IndigenousFood #NativeAustralians #BushTucker #TraditionalFoods

  26. #Australia - Native '#superfood' #grasses used to create flour, beer growing in popularity

    By Fiona Broom, August 27, 2024

    "Just three years ago, Chris Harris was using an old metal bed frame to shake out the tiny seeds that hide in native #KangarooGrass.

    "The #AncientGrains can be roasted, brewed or ground into high-protein flour for baking.

    " 'I spent a lot of time on my country — #Ngiyampaa country — with my pop, my dad, my mum and aunties and uncles,' Mr Harris said.

    "Mr Harris has made flour out of #WattleSeed, as well as #MitchellGrass, #ButtonGrass and #KangarooGrass.

    "He has sent native flours and seeds to kitchens across the country for the past two-and-a-half years but said he was looking at ways to expand his operations.
    From builder to bush foods

    "Mr Harris is the farm manager at #BlackDuckFoods, an #Aboriginal social enterprise at #Mallacoota on Victoria's far eastern border with New South Wales.

    "The farm, named #Yumburra — the Yuin word for the black duck native to the Mallacoota region — was set up by award-winning author Bruce Pascoe, whose book Dark Emu shone a spotlight on the lost history of #AboriginalFood systems.

    "Mr Harris was a plasterer with an Aboriginal construction company when first visited the property about four years ago.

    "But he said after discussing bush foods with Mr Pascoe, he realised his future would be as a farmer and native foods educator.

    " 'I'd been talking a lot to him about the lilies, the murnong, and the grains and he'd seen a real interest that I had in the native food space,' Mr Harris said.

    "In the past few years, the small team has grown its knowledge of the ancient grains at their former beef farm on the banks of the Wallagaraugh River.

    "They have encouraged the return of the #NativeGrasses, wattles and #tubers that produce the nutritious ingredients that foodies across the country are learning to love."

    Read more:
    abc.net.au/news/rural/2024-08-

    #IndigenousFood #NativeAustralians #BushTucker #TraditionalFoods

  27. Returning the ‘Three Sisters’—Corn, Beans and Squash—to Native American Farms Nourishes People, Land and Cultures

    For centuries Native Americans intercropped corn, beans and squash because the plants thrived together. A new initiative is measuring health and social benefits from reuniting the “three sisters.”

    by Christina Gish Hill
    November 20, 2020

    "Historians know that turkey and corn were part of the first Thanksgiving, when Wampanoag peoples shared a harvest meal with the pilgrims of Plymouth plantation in Massachusetts. And traditional Native American farming practices tell us that squash and beans likely were part of that 1621 dinner too.

    "For centuries before Europeans reached North America, many Native Americans grew these foods together in one plot, along with the less familiar sunflower. They called the plants sisters to reflect how they thrived when they were cultivated together.

    "Today three-quarters of Native Americans live off of reservations, mainly in urban areas. And nationwide, many Native American communities lack access to healthy food. As a scholar of Indigenous studies focusing on Native relationships with the land, I began to wonder why Native farming practices had declined and what benefits could emerge from bringing them back.

    "To answer these questions, I am working with agronomist Marshall McDaniel, horticulturalist Ajay Nair, nutritionist Donna Winham and Native gardening projects in Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Our research project, 'Reuniting the Three Sisters,' explores what it means to be a responsible caretaker of the land from the perspective of peoples who have been balancing agricultural production with sustainability for hundreds of years.

    Abundant Harvests

    "Historically, Native people throughout the Americas bred indigenous plant varieties specific to the growing conditions of their homelands. They selected seeds for many different traits, such as flavor, texture and color.

    "Native growers knew that planting corn, beans, squash and sunflowers together produced mutual benefits. Corn stalks created a trellis for beans to climb, and beans’ twining vines secured the corn in high winds. They also certainly observed that corn and bean plants growing together tended to be healthier than when raised separately. Today we know the reason: Bacteria living on bean plant roots pull nitrogen – an essential plant nutrient – from the air and convert it to a form that both beans and corn can use.

    "Squash plants contributed by shading the ground with their broad leaves, preventing weeds from growing and retaining water in the soil. Heritage squash varieties also had spines that discouraged deer and raccoons from visiting the garden for a snack. And sunflowers planted around the edges of the garden created a natural fence, protecting other plants from wind and animals and attracting pollinators.

    "Interplanting these agricultural sisters produced bountiful harvests that sustained large Native communities and spurred fruitful trade economies. The first Europeans who reached the Americas were shocked at the abundant food crops they found. My research is exploring how, 200 years ago, Native American agriculturalists around the Great Lakes and along the Missouri and Red rivers fed fur traders with their diverse vegetable products."

    Read more:
    getpocket.com/explore/item/ret

    #IndigenousFood #NativeAmericanFood
    #Decolonize #TraditionalFoods #TraditionalDiets #Reclaim #ThreeSisters

  28. My maternal grandmother was Metis -- one line was #Membertou of the #MikmaqNation. A family favorite that I did NOT appreciate was grilled eels. Eeeew! (Yeah, I know. I'll eat insects, but not eels.)

    Our Home and Native Foods

    By Donalee Moulton, 2011

    "For Dennis, his journey of rediscovery has included taking part in a three-day culinary workshop organized by the Mi’kmaq Association for Cultural Studies, based in the #MembertouFirstNation, in #SydneyNS. Led by well-known chef #RayBear (who has a #Cree background) earlier this year, up-and-coming Aboriginal cooks came together in Halifax to learn how to prepare traditional cuisine.

    " 'It was an honour to be there,' says Dennis, who applied for the program after he heard about it through a friend. 'Ray Bear is such a respected chef.'

    "Bear says Dennis showed real promise as a young chef. 'He took it very seriously, wanting to learn every ounce of technique,' he says. 'I also learned a lot about traditional hunting and cooking myself. It was educational both ways.'

    "This resurgence in interest in Aboriginal foods is now extending beyond local Native communities. Last year, more than 80,000 people came to the Membertou 400 celebration in Halifax [in 2010], which honoured the 400th anniversary of the baptism of the Grand Chief of the Grand Council of the Mi’kmaq. A Mi’kmaq village—and meals featuring Native cuisine—were highlights of the festivities.

    "A second international PowWow, or Mawio’mi, was held in Halifax this past summer and featured a five-course Mi’kmaq dinner prepared by Ray Bear, served under the stars on the Halifax Common. The traditional Mi’kmaq menu—with a few contemporary additions— included Slow-roasted Venison Loin with Celeriac Purée; Quick-seared Calamari with a Light Bone Jus Pine Aroma; and Pit-fire Boiled Saltwater Lobster with Cornbread Purée and Maple Duck Bacon.

    " 'Food is very important in Mi’kmaq culture, and in Aboriginal culture in general, as it often marks the end of a ceremony or celebration,' says Nora McCarthy-Joyce, spokesperson for the Native Council of Prince Edward Island, in Charlottetown. 'Feasting often includes #TraditionalFoods, which vary from group to group and often depend on geography and what’s available. At a feast, it is customary for a prayer to be said for the food and people, and for Elders to be served before everyone else.'

    "At the heart of Mi’kmaq cuisine is the natural world: the menu and cooking methods are often dependent upon what is available in the streams and forests nearby. Chapel Island, NS, Elder, Lillian Marshall, says the Mi’kmaq were fisher-hunter-gatherers. 'Their main foods were meat, fish, wild plants and berries,' she says. 'However, since they lived in the Maritime Provinces, 90 per cent of the food consumed was from the water.'

    "A particular favourite in this diet has always been eel. The special significance of eel is made evident by its prevalence at important occasions. At a traditional feast, some Elders would bring eel stew or eel soup. It was a sign of both respect and status.

    " 'Eel is a delicacy,' says Mary Rose Julian, who lives in #Eskasoni, the largest Mi’kmaq community in the world. 'It is boiled as stew, baked fillet-style with lusknikn on top or without, or grilled.' "

    Recipes featured in this article:

    - Christmas Pudding
    - Katewey Weskiteka’tasikewey (Braised Mi’kmaw Eel Pie)

    Read more (includes links to recipes):
    saltscapes.com/kitchen-party/1

    #TraditionalDiets #IndigenousFood #NativeAmericanFood #MikmaqCuisine #MikmaqCulture #TraditionalFoods #IndigenousPeoplesDay #AnimalProducts

  29. My maternal grandmother was Metis -- one line was #Membertou of the #MikmaqNation. A family favorite that I did NOT appreciate was grilled eels. Eeeew! (Yeah, I know. I'll eat insects, but not eels.)

    Our Home and Native Foods

    By Donalee Moulton, 2011

    "For Dennis, his journey of rediscovery has included taking part in a three-day culinary workshop organized by the Mi’kmaq Association for Cultural Studies, based in the #MembertouFirstNation, in #SydneyNS. Led by well-known chef #RayBear (who has a #Cree background) earlier this year, up-and-coming Aboriginal cooks came together in Halifax to learn how to prepare traditional cuisine.

    " 'It was an honour to be there,' says Dennis, who applied for the program after he heard about it through a friend. 'Ray Bear is such a respected chef.'

    "Bear says Dennis showed real promise as a young chef. 'He took it very seriously, wanting to learn every ounce of technique,' he says. 'I also learned a lot about traditional hunting and cooking myself. It was educational both ways.'

    "This resurgence in interest in Aboriginal foods is now extending beyond local Native communities. Last year, more than 80,000 people came to the Membertou 400 celebration in Halifax [in 2010], which honoured the 400th anniversary of the baptism of the Grand Chief of the Grand Council of the Mi’kmaq. A Mi’kmaq village—and meals featuring Native cuisine—were highlights of the festivities.

    "A second international PowWow, or Mawio’mi, was held in Halifax this past summer and featured a five-course Mi’kmaq dinner prepared by Ray Bear, served under the stars on the Halifax Common. The traditional Mi’kmaq menu—with a few contemporary additions— included Slow-roasted Venison Loin with Celeriac Purée; Quick-seared Calamari with a Light Bone Jus Pine Aroma; and Pit-fire Boiled Saltwater Lobster with Cornbread Purée and Maple Duck Bacon.

    " 'Food is very important in Mi’kmaq culture, and in Aboriginal culture in general, as it often marks the end of a ceremony or celebration,' says Nora McCarthy-Joyce, spokesperson for the Native Council of Prince Edward Island, in Charlottetown. 'Feasting often includes #TraditionalFoods, which vary from group to group and often depend on geography and what’s available. At a feast, it is customary for a prayer to be said for the food and people, and for Elders to be served before everyone else.'

    "At the heart of Mi’kmaq cuisine is the natural world: the menu and cooking methods are often dependent upon what is available in the streams and forests nearby. Chapel Island, NS, Elder, Lillian Marshall, says the Mi’kmaq were fisher-hunter-gatherers. 'Their main foods were meat, fish, wild plants and berries,' she says. 'However, since they lived in the Maritime Provinces, 90 per cent of the food consumed was from the water.'

    "A particular favourite in this diet has always been eel. The special significance of eel is made evident by its prevalence at important occasions. At a traditional feast, some Elders would bring eel stew or eel soup. It was a sign of both respect and status.

    " 'Eel is a delicacy,' says Mary Rose Julian, who lives in #Eskasoni, the largest Mi’kmaq community in the world. 'It is boiled as stew, baked fillet-style with lusknikn on top or without, or grilled.' "

    Recipes featured in this article:

    - Christmas Pudding
    - Katewey Weskiteka’tasikewey (Braised Mi’kmaw Eel Pie)

    Read more (includes links to recipes):
    saltscapes.com/kitchen-party/1

    #TraditionalDiets #IndigenousFood #NativeAmericanFood #MikmaqCuisine #MikmaqCulture #TraditionalFoods #IndigenousPeoplesDay #AnimalProducts

  30. My maternal grandmother was Metis -- one line was #Membertou of the #MikmaqNation. A family favorite that I did NOT appreciate was grilled eels. Eeeew! (Yeah, I know. I'll eat insects, but not eels.)

    Our Home and Native Foods

    By Donalee Moulton, 2011

    "For Dennis, his journey of rediscovery has included taking part in a three-day culinary workshop organized by the Mi’kmaq Association for Cultural Studies, based in the #MembertouFirstNation, in #SydneyNS. Led by well-known chef #RayBear (who has a #Cree background) earlier this year, up-and-coming Aboriginal cooks came together in Halifax to learn how to prepare traditional cuisine.

    " 'It was an honour to be there,' says Dennis, who applied for the program after he heard about it through a friend. 'Ray Bear is such a respected chef.'

    "Bear says Dennis showed real promise as a young chef. 'He took it very seriously, wanting to learn every ounce of technique,' he says. 'I also learned a lot about traditional hunting and cooking myself. It was educational both ways.'

    "This resurgence in interest in Aboriginal foods is now extending beyond local Native communities. Last year, more than 80,000 people came to the Membertou 400 celebration in Halifax [in 2010], which honoured the 400th anniversary of the baptism of the Grand Chief of the Grand Council of the Mi’kmaq. A Mi’kmaq village—and meals featuring Native cuisine—were highlights of the festivities.

    "A second international PowWow, or Mawio’mi, was held in Halifax this past summer and featured a five-course Mi’kmaq dinner prepared by Ray Bear, served under the stars on the Halifax Common. The traditional Mi’kmaq menu—with a few contemporary additions— included Slow-roasted Venison Loin with Celeriac Purée; Quick-seared Calamari with a Light Bone Jus Pine Aroma; and Pit-fire Boiled Saltwater Lobster with Cornbread Purée and Maple Duck Bacon.

    " 'Food is very important in Mi’kmaq culture, and in Aboriginal culture in general, as it often marks the end of a ceremony or celebration,' says Nora McCarthy-Joyce, spokesperson for the Native Council of Prince Edward Island, in Charlottetown. 'Feasting often includes #TraditionalFoods, which vary from group to group and often depend on geography and what’s available. At a feast, it is customary for a prayer to be said for the food and people, and for Elders to be served before everyone else.'

    "At the heart of Mi’kmaq cuisine is the natural world: the menu and cooking methods are often dependent upon what is available in the streams and forests nearby. Chapel Island, NS, Elder, Lillian Marshall, says the Mi’kmaq were fisher-hunter-gatherers. 'Their main foods were meat, fish, wild plants and berries,' she says. 'However, since they lived in the Maritime Provinces, 90 per cent of the food consumed was from the water.'

    "A particular favourite in this diet has always been eel. The special significance of eel is made evident by its prevalence at important occasions. At a traditional feast, some Elders would bring eel stew or eel soup. It was a sign of both respect and status.

    " 'Eel is a delicacy,' says Mary Rose Julian, who lives in #Eskasoni, the largest Mi’kmaq community in the world. 'It is boiled as stew, baked fillet-style with lusknikn on top or without, or grilled.' "

    Recipes featured in this article:

    - Christmas Pudding
    - Katewey Weskiteka’tasikewey (Braised Mi’kmaw Eel Pie)

    Read more (includes links to recipes):
    saltscapes.com/kitchen-party/1

    #TraditionalDiets #IndigenousFood #NativeAmericanFood #MikmaqCuisine #MikmaqCulture #TraditionalFoods #IndigenousPeoplesDay #AnimalProducts

  31. My maternal grandmother was Metis -- one line was #Membertou of the #MikmaqNation. A family favorite that I did NOT appreciate was grilled eels. Eeeew! (Yeah, I know. I'll eat insects, but not eels.)

    Our Home and Native Foods

    By Donalee Moulton, 2011

    "For Dennis, his journey of rediscovery has included taking part in a three-day culinary workshop organized by the Mi’kmaq Association for Cultural Studies, based in the #MembertouFirstNation, in #SydneyNS. Led by well-known chef #RayBear (who has a #Cree background) earlier this year, up-and-coming Aboriginal cooks came together in Halifax to learn how to prepare traditional cuisine.

    " 'It was an honour to be there,' says Dennis, who applied for the program after he heard about it through a friend. 'Ray Bear is such a respected chef.'

    "Bear says Dennis showed real promise as a young chef. 'He took it very seriously, wanting to learn every ounce of technique,' he says. 'I also learned a lot about traditional hunting and cooking myself. It was educational both ways.'

    "This resurgence in interest in Aboriginal foods is now extending beyond local Native communities. Last year, more than 80,000 people came to the Membertou 400 celebration in Halifax [in 2010], which honoured the 400th anniversary of the baptism of the Grand Chief of the Grand Council of the Mi’kmaq. A Mi’kmaq village—and meals featuring Native cuisine—were highlights of the festivities.

    "A second international PowWow, or Mawio’mi, was held in Halifax this past summer and featured a five-course Mi’kmaq dinner prepared by Ray Bear, served under the stars on the Halifax Common. The traditional Mi’kmaq menu—with a few contemporary additions— included Slow-roasted Venison Loin with Celeriac Purée; Quick-seared Calamari with a Light Bone Jus Pine Aroma; and Pit-fire Boiled Saltwater Lobster with Cornbread Purée and Maple Duck Bacon.

    " 'Food is very important in Mi’kmaq culture, and in Aboriginal culture in general, as it often marks the end of a ceremony or celebration,' says Nora McCarthy-Joyce, spokesperson for the Native Council of Prince Edward Island, in Charlottetown. 'Feasting often includes #TraditionalFoods, which vary from group to group and often depend on geography and what’s available. At a feast, it is customary for a prayer to be said for the food and people, and for Elders to be served before everyone else.'

    "At the heart of Mi’kmaq cuisine is the natural world: the menu and cooking methods are often dependent upon what is available in the streams and forests nearby. Chapel Island, NS, Elder, Lillian Marshall, says the Mi’kmaq were fisher-hunter-gatherers. 'Their main foods were meat, fish, wild plants and berries,' she says. 'However, since they lived in the Maritime Provinces, 90 per cent of the food consumed was from the water.'

    "A particular favourite in this diet has always been eel. The special significance of eel is made evident by its prevalence at important occasions. At a traditional feast, some Elders would bring eel stew or eel soup. It was a sign of both respect and status.

    " 'Eel is a delicacy,' says Mary Rose Julian, who lives in #Eskasoni, the largest Mi’kmaq community in the world. 'It is boiled as stew, baked fillet-style with lusknikn on top or without, or grilled.' "

    Recipes featured in this article:

    - Christmas Pudding
    - Katewey Weskiteka’tasikewey (Braised Mi’kmaw Eel Pie)

    Read more (includes links to recipes):
    saltscapes.com/kitchen-party/1

    #TraditionalDiets #IndigenousFood #NativeAmericanFood #MikmaqCuisine #MikmaqCulture #TraditionalFoods #IndigenousPeoplesDay #AnimalProducts

  32. My maternal grandmother was Metis -- one line was #Membertou of the #MikmaqNation. A family favorite that I did NOT appreciate was grilled eels. Eeeew! (Yeah, I know. I'll eat insects, but not eels.)

    Our Home and Native Foods

    By Donalee Moulton, 2011

    "For Dennis, his journey of rediscovery has included taking part in a three-day culinary workshop organized by the Mi’kmaq Association for Cultural Studies, based in the #MembertouFirstNation, in #SydneyNS. Led by well-known chef #RayBear (who has a #Cree background) earlier this year, up-and-coming Aboriginal cooks came together in Halifax to learn how to prepare traditional cuisine.

    " 'It was an honour to be there,' says Dennis, who applied for the program after he heard about it through a friend. 'Ray Bear is such a respected chef.'

    "Bear says Dennis showed real promise as a young chef. 'He took it very seriously, wanting to learn every ounce of technique,' he says. 'I also learned a lot about traditional hunting and cooking myself. It was educational both ways.'

    "This resurgence in interest in Aboriginal foods is now extending beyond local Native communities. Last year, more than 80,000 people came to the Membertou 400 celebration in Halifax [in 2010], which honoured the 400th anniversary of the baptism of the Grand Chief of the Grand Council of the Mi’kmaq. A Mi’kmaq village—and meals featuring Native cuisine—were highlights of the festivities.

    "A second international PowWow, or Mawio’mi, was held in Halifax this past summer and featured a five-course Mi’kmaq dinner prepared by Ray Bear, served under the stars on the Halifax Common. The traditional Mi’kmaq menu—with a few contemporary additions— included Slow-roasted Venison Loin with Celeriac Purée; Quick-seared Calamari with a Light Bone Jus Pine Aroma; and Pit-fire Boiled Saltwater Lobster with Cornbread Purée and Maple Duck Bacon.

    " 'Food is very important in Mi’kmaq culture, and in Aboriginal culture in general, as it often marks the end of a ceremony or celebration,' says Nora McCarthy-Joyce, spokesperson for the Native Council of Prince Edward Island, in Charlottetown. 'Feasting often includes #TraditionalFoods, which vary from group to group and often depend on geography and what’s available. At a feast, it is customary for a prayer to be said for the food and people, and for Elders to be served before everyone else.'

    "At the heart of Mi’kmaq cuisine is the natural world: the menu and cooking methods are often dependent upon what is available in the streams and forests nearby. Chapel Island, NS, Elder, Lillian Marshall, says the Mi’kmaq were fisher-hunter-gatherers. 'Their main foods were meat, fish, wild plants and berries,' she says. 'However, since they lived in the Maritime Provinces, 90 per cent of the food consumed was from the water.'

    "A particular favourite in this diet has always been eel. The special significance of eel is made evident by its prevalence at important occasions. At a traditional feast, some Elders would bring eel stew or eel soup. It was a sign of both respect and status.

    " 'Eel is a delicacy,' says Mary Rose Julian, who lives in #Eskasoni, the largest Mi’kmaq community in the world. 'It is boiled as stew, baked fillet-style with lusknikn on top or without, or grilled.' "

    Recipes featured in this article:

    - Christmas Pudding
    - Katewey Weskiteka’tasikewey (Braised Mi’kmaw Eel Pie)

    Read more (includes links to recipes):
    saltscapes.com/kitchen-party/1

    #TraditionalDiets #IndigenousFood #NativeAmericanFood #MikmaqCuisine #MikmaqCulture #TraditionalFoods #IndigenousPeoplesDay #AnimalProducts