Enter To Win An Indigenous Cookbook

Enter to win an Indigenous cookbook

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW OVER. CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNER - MOLLIE T. OF MISSOURI.


Win Heid E. Erdrich's cookbook Original Local. Erdrich is a member of the North Dakota Turtle Mountain Band of the Ojibwe people. Her book features recipes and stories from the "original locals" - Native American tribes. Inside you will find 135 home-tested recipes paired with stories from tribal activists, food researchers, families, and chefs. 1



History of Native American Foods

What common foods are Indigenous to the Americas?

Enter to win an Indigenous cookbook


How did Native Americans prepare ingredients?

Native American foods vary in region and season. They utilized the land and grew crops together that complimented each other—for example, the three sister plants (corn, beans, and squash.) You can learn more about the Three Sister Method and download a free recipe here: www.npraprogram.org/3sisters

James Adair (an Irish tradesman who wrote a book about his 40 years residing with Southeast Woodland tribes) wrote that Native Americans ate berries and fruits raw but cooked most other foods. He was impressed with their culinary skills and said: "It is surprising to see the great variety of dishes they can make out of wild flesh, corn beans, peas, potatoes, pumpkins, dried fruits, herbs and roots. They can diversify their courses, as much as the English, or perhaps French cooks: and either of the ways they dress their food, it is grateful to a wholesome stomach." 2


How did removal from homelands affect Native American cuisine?

The removal of Native Americans from their homelands to reservations resulted in them losing knowledge of traditions. They weren't familiar with their new territory's local fauna and flora. And some indigenous cooking traditions were passed down orally. The U.S. military gave them rations of canned goods, flour, sugar, and lard to survive. 3

The closest there is to an across-the-board Native American dish is frybread, and it was a result of ingenuity based on their new resources. "Frybread, a barebones dish of dough fried in oil or lard, was invented by desperate mothers in the 19th century in the wake of the Long Walk, a tragic 300-mile trek in which Indians from Arizona were forcibly relocated to New Mexico" ... "Frybread packs a caloric punch. A pancake-sized serving contains 700 calories and 25 grams of fat. Nutritionists hold the ubiquitous fry bread at least partly to blame for the present-day epidemics of obesity and diabetes among Native American populations." 3


How has this impacted Indigenous food security and sovereignty?

Loss of knowledge and homelands has greatly affected Native communities in terms of food security. Did you know 1 in 4 Native Americans experiences food insecurity compared to 1 in 9 Americans? Rural reservations often mean little access to healthy foods. Many of those we serve are an hour or more from the nearest grocery stores, so the only locally available food is usually convenience-store fare.

Our hope is to change this and help create self-sufficient Native American communities. We help meet immediate nutritional needs for thousands annually (especially Native American Elders) by working with local grocery stores to provide Native Elders with nutritious breakfast items. You can learn more about our Breakfast-In-A-Bag Program here: www.nativepartnership.org/bnb

We also encourage self-sufficiency by tilling garden sites and providing supplies and training on preserving and cooking traditional foods. Click here to learn more about Project Grow.

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1 https://birchbarkbooks.com/all-online-titles/original-local 2 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352618116300750 3 https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/native-american-cuisine-returns-to-its-roots

See the rules for this giveaway here.

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