Native American Foods the Hidden Roots to What We Eat Today: Secrets Revealed!

Hey everybody, it's Nancy from Family Tree Food and Stories,

and I'm here with my cohost.

Hello Sylvia.

Hello there.

Why don't we talk a little bit about Native American Traditions

. I am ready to dig in and start eating.

You know, Nancy, I think one of the things that we ought to

chat just a tiny bit about is.

Why is this important to kitchens today and to our audience today?

And I think, the traditions, like of the Native Americans and the histories

and all of that stuff, they really have made us what we are today.

And we'll talk about some of that later on.

And, what you read about is ways that people brought community

together and the way they were resilient, despite challenges that

maybe different eras brought with it.

So I think it's really important that we understand these traditions.

'cause you might find out you have some in your own repertoire

and you don't even know it.

It's interesting as we talk about Native Americans or any.

Sort of indigenous people.

Ultimately our own relatives were indigenous of some shape or form elsewhere

if we weren't part of those natives here in the United States or in North America.

But you're absolutely right.

So let's look at some of these native food waste, because I think there's so much.

Interesting things that have happened over the course of time, like,

the Lakota ancestors who gave us some insights, and of course the

tribes of their own traditions, but it's hunting, it's forging, it's.

the old ways of doing things.

And they were the people who allowed us, who came over via

boat or however we got here.

I'm presumably didn't swim across the ocean, but anyway, they were

the ones who helped the rest of us or the rest of our ancestors really

survive in this rare and hostile land that we weren't used to well before.

The colonization of everything.

Yeah, and I think maybe take it kind of generally in three parts.

One about food traditions among natives native Americans, second kind of

family meals and how we have shaped our meals and maybe not even knowing it.

I think that'll be very enlightening.

It was to me when I looked into it.

And finally, I think very importantly is the spiritual nature of food.

Mm-hmm.

You know, from the first, to the last supper to today, food has

always been symbolic of bringing people together . , We are humans.

We need each other, and it's so

don't eat alone.

I mean we do in the car and everything else, but if you ate alone in that

day and age, then you are an outcast.

And so there's something that.

Food is beyond a survival mechanism for us to live, but it's also a way to

celebrate we are and where we came from.

And yeah, so we'll get, those are three things that we'll cover here today,

So let's start digging up some stuff, pun intended.

Let's talk about wild turnips and of course, just cultivating

the crops we're talking about.

Originally, the three sisters, I think most of us have learned as

kids, corn, beans, and squash.

How that actually brought our communities, or the native communities or indigenous

communities together, because that was something, , let's say each one

was something that could be preserved over a longer period of time, so

Well before colonization, there's like two eras of Native American food

and one was before we all came over.

Right.

Northern Europeans or Europeans in general.

And , Most of the tribes, but not all.

like I was looking at Cherokee, for instance, Iroquois, they would actually

establish base camps, let's call 'em base camps, where then the warriors

and such would go out and do all the hunting and bringing those things in.

But before colonization, I'd say a lot of it was nomadic in terms of their

lifestyle and their food had to be really nutrient dense and adaptable.

To different kinds of places that they were, predators,

all of that kind of stuff.

So you think about dried bison, elk, deer, wild Turkey, all

things that were portable that you could carry with you and fish.

and of course, as you mentioned, the three sisters, and that

was corn, beans and squash.

And so that was a cultivated crop.

And so I was like, well cultivated.

If, if they were nomadic, how did they cultivate?

Well, those were those base camps, for certain tribes, Cherokee and I

have some tiny bit of that in me.

Again, going back to who we really are, you know, we can reach back

to a lot of different things.

I always say I'm a Heinz 57 kind of, I'm mostly Irish and Scotch,

but I got some Cherokee there too.

I did.

I, but our family doesn't have any of that, that I know of.

So we were the ones that came in and caused the problems.

But it's interesting you mentioned the corns, beans, corn, bean, and squash.

They had to stay in one location for a pretty long period of time

for those things to, to grow the crops to grow, versus a more

nomadic tribe that are dealing with.

Higher level of proteins and hunter gatherer type of things.

But, you mentioned the, the Cherokee, which I thought was interesting

looking at, I had heard about a type of meatloaf that they made.

Now I don't think of Indians and meatloaf, do you?

No.

No.

'cause you think of, ' cause , if you think about it, and it'd be interesting

to hear about that because they didn't have pigs and this is pre colonization.

they didn't have pigs, beef, chicken, dairy, wheat, or cane sugar to work with.

They did all, sort of natural stuff.

So, . What'd they make?

They had some kind of grains and I guess that was either through a crop

that they had or, or foraging, but it's called Poya, P-O-H-Y-A, which is a

name for meatloaf, it was made with.

Venison predominantly, and then other sorts of meats and

vegetables to put it together.

And then you cooked it in the over a

fire, they didn't have microwaves by the way.

or they cooked it in clay pots.

I love that.

, How they cooked.

They would put it in the dirt, put hot coals over it.

a

a Dutch oven.

Yeah.

And, they also cooked with that too open from fire.

That, and probably many, many ways.

So, you know what I also love is hearing the stories about how

the entire family got involved.

Kids.

For one year, Bob and I went up to Plymouth, Massachusetts, and

there's the Indian side, and then there's , the colonial side.

The people that came in and to listen and talk and see how the.

Tribe, people recreated, or some of them actually were of descendants.

How they recreated that environment and the family and the importance of that.

Honestly, even more so than the pilgrims.

It was really fascinating to see how that community worked together.

and although this is not Thanksgiving, I have to laugh.

They shared, we always think that, , the Indians came to help and

rescue pilgrims during Thanksgiving and then they had this celebration.

No, apparently it was a bunch of drunken pilgrims that were just

gotten a little too crazy and were shooting off these guns.

The Indians always told them that they should shoot off

their guns if they needed help.

Well, they were just a bunch of drunken jerks.

So we'll chalk one up for the natives saying you were

good guys to go and help out.

But that's for another story.

Yeah, but that, that was, it wasn't called Thanksgiving at

the time, but that was in 1621.

In the Plymouth colonists there were estimated, I don't know where,

these records are, but 50 to 53 of them and there were 90 and

it was I'll brutalize this name.

The , Wampanoag Tribe and there were 90 of them and they brought

five deer to the celebration.

I thought that was interesting and notable 'cause they probably

brought other things, but

It's kind of like a potluck, right?

Here's my deer.

Yeah,

traveling

yeah.

I wondered if they carried them over their shoulder and they just come lumbering in.

I don't

I wasn't there.

I.

But probably somebody in your crew was, 'cause you settled in New England, right?

Yes, we did settle in New England, so there's definitely some

interesting backgrounds on that one.

And I hope they weren't the drunken ones shooting off the guns.

, And that brings to mind too, there's some.

As awful as it was.

And it was, the relocation and that was post colonization.

they got very little, but it showed their adaptability and their resilience,

although many, many died on the forced marches and such as that.

But they got government commodities and that was salt pork , sugar

coffee and some things.

And outta that came fry bread, which is an interesting dish, you know,

We had some of that and , it wasn't here in the States, but we were up in Canada

and stopped at a roadside restaurant going towards, Calgary one year.

And the, it was run by the local native tribe and they had fry bread.

We have a recipe for fry bread that was given to us, which we'll put in

the show notes by a friend who is part Native American Indian, and her

family stories are pretty interesting.

See if I can get some of those we can add later on as well.

so we do have a recipe for fried bread, and it's kind of like, I

would say it reminded me of a pita bread, like a puffier pita bread.

Yeah.

Yeah.

it's a, real, it's actually a simple recipe, but you can enhance it with

cheeses, various things like that.

I love this one.

Now I gotta say it.

Grits, rocka, , homey grits.

I love that.

, . , Let's brand that name and go with it.

It's a corn porridge made from Dried homeny, and it's like

an early version of grits.

I mean, rock aho, what's that mean?

I'm not even

It sounds like a country Western song rock.

So, you know,, it was a, a fascinating, , kind of thing.

So getting more into family meals and traditions.

Let's talk a little bit about that and what all of that meant.

So , well family traditions were the celebrations that came together from

dance and chant, chat and communities and, the powwows and celebration of

births and deaths and hunts and harvest.

And it was all focused around food in some way, shape, or form.

Not unlike our current lives when you think about holidays and celebrations,

but even the simplest act of daily living seemed to be a celebration of life and

food and nutrition that brought community together, which I think is really

something that we miss today, right?

Then we do.

And that's what we are all about, right?

Mm-hmm.

We grab onto those traditions and bring people together.

I mean, it's just a lost art.

, One of the interesting things, you mentioned nutrition.

were smart Native Americans.

They figured things out, and one of the things they figured out was how to

process corn to enhance and save niacin.

And that's an important, I think it's a b vitamins , to sustain life.

, And another interesting thing, the three sisters, they are a complete protein.

You can eat a meal of corn.

and and squash.

and you get, you know how all that is.

I mean, I'm, an amateur nutritionist and I love it, love thinking about it.

If you put those things together, they have all those amino acid acids.

They knew what was right for their bodies even before we did, obviously, which was.

Incredibly fascinating that, , the rest of us have to have a, lab to do

this and they just did it naturally.

They just came to it.

They knew what allowed them to survive so they could survive without meat.

I think that's kind of interesting 'cause we all know that amino

acids in a steak are all there.

Well, we don't, don't necessarily know that you can have, that's what

vegetarian meals are all about.

It's how people put all those things together and it's one of those traditions

and

going out and killing a deer or a buffalo or, finding a rabbit

. rabbits are not easy to get.

Yeah,

dog, my dog knows that one.

But here's another interesting thing, , have you heard about those

stories where trees talk to one another?

Yes.

There are actually scientists that go under the ground and there's a

humming noise that, I mean, it's eerie,

In the roots.

Yeah, there's a humming noise.

They, I think it the redwood forest or one of the big old

tree forests.

And think about this.

Let's talk for a minute about the three sisters, the stalks of the corn, the

beans, climb up the stalks and the squash.

Big, large leaves, shade the ground and keep the moisture.

They're best friends, Nancy.

They're they're best friends.

Well, let's, hope the sisters don't argue.

Right.

And I guess it's when the bugs come into play.

I, I just love that.

, But we found some other foods, right?

succotash?

We did.

So , there are actually native, well, I will call them.

Foods that we eat today that originated in the whole Native

American or indigenous tribe.

World Cornbread is one of them for sure, and it's more of a grainy cornbread.

And then Johnny Cakes, I mean, first of all, I didn't, I've never

heard of Johnny Cakes up north.

I guess they were there, but it's not something, it seems like a

southern thing that people talk about.

But Johnny Cakes versus pancakes were where pancakes is more of

a, a flower based, and Johnny Cakes is more of a cornbread.

Type of thing, and I didn't know that they could be served as a savory meal.

So it's like a side dish versus pancake that you think of sweet for breakfast.

Maple syrup.

Who would've thought, I am really curious as to how they figured maple

syrup was something that you would cook down and it turn into a sugar.

If you see the sap coming off a tree, typically up north in, you know,

well, okay, so I'm, I'm not like.

Chewing on the bark of a tree.

Yeah.

natives did a lot of that stuff for natural medicine, so maybe it came about

naturally that they figured it out, but I thought that was kind of interesting.

, And that was the Algonquins, the Eastern Algonquins and the Iroquois,

which was the northeast type of

Yeah.

Yeah.

Let me ask you a question.

Up north with the maple syrup, they have almost like little

faucets in the trees, don't they

It has gotten a lot more advanced than that.

So they would do, they used to do the little faucets and you put

the bucket underneath, and that was, they called having a tree.

Now, , it, what you do is you'll see.

Just before the, this maple sugar season, which is when it's warm enough for the

sap flow in the trees, and then it cools down at night, so it sort of shuts it

off so you're not bleeding the tree.

Totally.

But you'll see these, they look almost like medical hoses that go throughout

the forest from tree to tree to tree and they all drain into one particular bucket.

So the trees kind of turn into a, . I'll call it a Frakenstein science

experiment, it looks like in the woods,

Ah,

it's, a lot easier way than chucking or

Uh.

hanging around and, and tapping a tree and trucking a bucket.

Exactly.

So that's kind of interesting.

sun Chokes, which is , a Jerusalem artichoke, was also a native.

Product or a native plant that was more like a potato type of

thing, a starchy kind of thing.

' cause a lot in the Northeast that we think about

Oh.

and clams,

let me weigh in.

Yeah, let me weigh in on this one.

'cause I love this.

And this is Northern Minnesota, but it's in the northern country

around the Great Lakes Wild rice,

which actually isn't rice, it's actually grass.

That's a fascinating story, but they sell it as little rice pellets

and I, when I go to my son in Duluth, I love going to one of their

restaurants and having a rice burger.

A rice burger, so is

Rice Burger.

So is this, you say go to a restaurant.

Is this a Native american restaurant

Well, no, this is any restaurant.

Typically every restaurant in Northern Minnesota will have a wild rice

burger on the menu, and it is so good.

So I always bring it back.

I always get one, but they sell it at the gas stations and the

bag of the rice bring it home.

And I always try to make a rice burger and for some reason I'm not good at it.

Well, bringing back the bag.

Let's put the bag on the table and give it a rest so we can come back with

more of family tree food and stories.

Hang tight.

We'll be right back.

We are back again.

Sylvia, it is time to talk.

, Powwows.

You ready to dive into the next thing?

We were talking about?

Jerkys, which I think is fascinating.

I am not a fan of jerky.

It's just a thing that Bob loves.

I think it's a guy thing.

I don't know.

Do you like Jerkey?

No, but I'll tell you a surprise about jerky.

I never got any, because I always thought it looked like something

that was like a snack food, but it's actually quite healthy.

It's dried meat, it's dried anything fruit can mix in with it.

And I think there's a, a dish a jerky that is fruit and meat

Well, think about it.

It was a port, it was a portable way to bring your steak with you, I

guess if you were on the

apparently apparently this is quite good for you.

And again, getting back to the portability, you could carry

that jerky with you and it could last through the winter.

It's a method, as we've talked about in previous shows of preserving

food and again, very creative ways.

To have food that you can carry with you.

If the hunt was down, you didn't get, you didn't get five deer

this year, you have ways to live.

Or moving from one region to the other.

Here in Florida it's, fascinating because the indigenous tribes would

move from the south in the, wintertime on up to the north in the summertime

where we are predominantly because.

Our region is, we're, we're less likely to get hit by hurricanes.

And so that's what happened.

My dad actually researched that before they moved to Florida.

They said this is the Spring Hill Central Ocala.

Actually, Ocala has never been hit by a hurricane.

Seriously.

Right.

And we, we get a bad rap here in Florida for hurricanes.

I think you guys up the coast get hit more than we

We,

had a hurricane, I think it was Helene came through here and took down trees.

Not as bad as in Virginia, but it was, , pretty bad.

You know, one of the interesting things is the cooking tools that were used.

' cause you think about it, they didn't have,, pretty things

that we have, they may do with.

Making it out of stones and sticks and weaving, like the weaving of

baskets, clay pots, and that's how they made their dutch oven kind of thing.

A mortar and pests, stone grinding, heating hot coals that would

keep the food warm if you didn't have the open fire, which was

I'm gonna stop you there.

Hold on a second.

Hot coals.

We think of hot coals as briquettes.

It was actually charcoal cause Bob uses charcoal that he

makes to do his forging work.

it's interesting how the heat and the coal actually works.

You make charcoal and.

, Most people don't even think that you make charcoal, but you can.

Yeah.

Fascinating.

Oh, that is interesting.

Hey, there's another thing that's happening and my son just ate

there, and that's Sean Sherman.

I don't know if he's a chef, but it's called Owamni.

The Sioux chef in Minneapolis, he's reviving all the foods or anything

pre colonization that the Native Americans used and that says, no

cane sugar, no dairy, no wheat, and you only get bison and some of

the native things that they got.

and I love that my son and daughter-in-law loved it because

they don't eat cane sugar.

And so they, sweetened things with probably maple syrup or whatever.

I hear it's a hard reservation to get, but I'd love to try it sometime.

And I wonder if they serve No, probably don't serve fry bread either.

And you're gonna you said you're gonna post that recipe because

will post, I will post the recipe

in the, in the chat.

Well, in the, in the summary.

But, it's interesting.

No dairy.

I'm gonna presume they had goats or something like that to have

some kind of dairy, but maybe not.

I don't

Well, I don't know.

Yeah, I don't know.

It just says that's he does not serve any dairy because they didn't

have domesticated cows, but maybe they captured a few wild goats.

I don't know.

That might've been kind of a crazy scene.

Try to capture a goat

and

was certainly a

healthier way of eating and cooking and, , I am presuming that the colonial

era had a healthier way of eating except there you talk about utensils.

So we had mentioned this at one point, that.

Some of the eating utensils that the colonial or the pilgrims had were

actually poisonous, like pewter,

eating off pewter plates has a toxicity to it.

So something to consider.

Yeah, and nuts and berries.

Of course, they were, had lots of nuts and berries and nuts.

Also have a complete protein profile.

So again, they found ways.

So interesting.

This is sort of a, pre teaser for a show.

I'm gonna do an interview with a friend of mine Gail Tauber,

Gail Tauber and her husband Phil.

first of all, I'm gonna say this is a very rare interview, so

we're really, really fortunate.

They are the founders of Kashi Cereal and Kashi Cereal was designed as a very

high protein breakfast cereal to help them with bulking up, for working out.

And most of us don't think of grains.

As a protein,

Oh, right.

right?

So it's, it'll, we'll have a lot more on that one.

So the Native Americans knew how to do that before the rest of us

did, but there's more on that one.

yeah.

Science, you know, they knew science when,

Before it was

just,

well, it may Bill

Nye, the science guy, right?

Might be going outta style a little bit, but it comes and goes, who knows?

. So then, , you get to all those foods, and then spiritual connections to food.

And you remember we interviewed Father Jim and he frequently.

Teaches cooking classes for kids and you know, being a priest, he

sees the connection and there's so much religion around eating

and feasts and celebrating and,

The last supper, right?

Yeah, the last supper.

And then, what did we, oh, in a previous show we talked about ghost suppers, where

the Native Americans would celebrate their ancestors and it was a big deal.

You didn't go away when you died like you do now, right?

I mean, kids forget you in six weeks.

No,

Well, but, but even the, , Hispanic or the Mexican culture, the Day of the Dead

where people bring their meals and they celebrate and have picnics in and around

the burial sites of their ancestors.

I love the idea of a ghost supper because.

I think, didn't you mention at one point that Ghost Suppers are not

necessarily just honoring your ancestors, but it could be a meal or a recipe

that you've forgotten about and you haven't used in maybe years or all of

a sudden something triggers a memory that, yeah, mom used to make those

cookies and I don't make them anymore.

Maybe I can put my own spin on it.

So bringing those back in a way that celebrates a life.

The past and the life of today is a very sort of native thing,

yeah.

Let's do that.

Let's meet in the middle.

I dunno what the middle between us is.

I'm in Kentucky.

You're in Florida

Well, let's meet, well, like, we're not like on the life

No, we're gonna celebrate that.

Okay.

but another thing that I think you found was a spirit plate.

Yeah.

Spirit plate.

plate.

Plate with, a little bit of everything is prepared, taken

outside and left for your ancestors.

Yes.

Spirit bite, uh, kind of like leaving the plate for Santa Claus.

Yeah.

Cookies, but more serious, like I took it, that, that meant, just little

bits of the food so that, you know,

sample, so we'll call it a

sample

a sample,

It's an an appetizer plate for the

Just tiny.

Yeah, that's right.

Maybe they're on a diet or something,

you know?

the

local dogs come by and snatch it at night.

You know what?

I think I could have been a really good Native American because what I,

suspect is they did have big feasts, I'm sure, and lots of food and people

would be like laying around like, oh my Lord, did I really eat all of that?

But I'm a nibbler.

So I would've been so good at nibbling and finding me a berry or finding me

a nut or, you know, just little tiny things that, well I'm thinking that

Nancy, 'cause I just had dinner at one of our premier new restaurants in

Lexington that's like, could be anywhere.

And, , they served us three appetizers and by the time I got

to the, through the appetizers.

I couldn't eat one more bite, and so I brought home the, , chicken dish that I

had ordered as an entree, but you know, I,

Three appetizers.

That's a, that's a lot.

I, I would say I could make a meal out of that one.

I ha I have to laugh.

, On sort of slightly aside, but on, , the appetizer side, a number of years

back we had gone to or gotten a very.

Fortunate reservation at a restaurant called Blue Hill at Stone Barnes, which

is up in Pocantico Hills in Westchester, and it's a super four star restaurant.

But what I loved is that, and maybe this is kind of back to the Native

American tribes, is there was no electricity in the lighting in

the entire place for the guests.

Everything was done by candlelight.

Oh

And I came back from the bathroom and I told Bob.

I look amazing in candlelight.

We are cutting electricity from the house,

yeah, I've heard of that actually.

Dining and Darkness.

Yeah.

right, but, well, it wasn't in darkness.

There were a lot of candlelight.

So it was it, but it was a soft sort of a yellow light.

But was interesting is that all the aspects of this tasting menu were

small little bites of things, and there was a salad that they brought, or

lettuce, and it's on a piece of wood.

So you, I'm thinking Native Americans, except they didn't have

these and pins, straight pins.

And the straight pins were done in sort of , a S shape.

And on each pin was a little baby micro green.

And that was our first serve.

And I looked at Bob and I said, how much are we paying for this?

I'm gonna be hungry.

Well, at the end, at the end, after everything, it wasn't

hungry, but they celebrated very much like our Native Americans

or our native, indigenous people.

They celebrated everything that they brought to the table and

they explained where it came from.

The name of the chickens, the.

Unfortunately, the name of the pigs, the name, you know, where the fish was

brought in and how it was prepared.

So understanding where food comes from, I think is part of that

indigenous respect for the land, right?

Well just think about your candlelight story.

A lot of times I'd say, I mean, they didn't have electricity.

They ate my firelight, you

know, in the, in the campfire.

And I actually have heard of darkness.

Total darkness restaurants, because what the idea is, is

you touch,

you use your 10 senses, you use your sense of smell.

I don't think I'd like that.

'cause I like to see what's in front of

I think that's a little creepy.

Yeah, I know.

Uh, uh, total darkness is too much, but soft candlelight is lovely.

And speaking of soft candlelight, so , before we go there, a few things

I just wanna mention that you may not even notice in the grocery store

that actually all started around.

Or Native Americans or native, indigenous tribes.

Think of blue corn chips, right?

Never thought about that.

Or smoked or dried salmon, anything like that.

It's interesting.

Dad came from the Pacific Northwest.

the had diatribes and the Sasha types.

I think I'm probably not doing a very good job of, of recommending these,

but just even understanding a prickly para cactus, I tried that once out in,

out west and kind of doesn't have a flavor to me I can do without eating my

Yeah, there's like,

there's like a straight line from the natives to the colonies , and

then we've all blended all that together and we need to parse it

out and recognize our heritage.

Isn't that what we're about?

We kind of forget where we came from, and I think it's important to go back

to understand that the, the blossoms of the flowers were , the pumpkins and,

well pumpkins actually have a teeny tiny little flower, but squash the

squash flowers, they were also used.

Everything was used.

And celebrated and not wasted.

And I think more of us need to come back to, to understanding that one

thing that I thought was really gross, now this is up in the Alaska area,

the Arctic with the Inuit and the Aluatte tribes, Eskimo ice cream.

Now it's non vanilla ice cream with the chocolate on the outside like an

Oh, I know the answer.

I know the answer.

It's disgusting.

uh.

that's, That's not a disrespect by any means, but animal fat berries,

I guess, to make it taste better and fish all mixed together and

frozen, ugh, somehow doesn't cut it.

I'd need a lot more than maple syrup on that to make it taste good.

Well, have you ever thought about how much, just thinking about something

can influence your taste buds?

Even before.

Even before you eat it, right?

Knowing where it's coming from.

I know there's a lot of sort of internal organs that people love on critters,

like, , brains and stomach and.

Rocky Mountain Oysters and, uh, T-M-I, in my boat.

So,

Yeah, this,

celebrate the love of life and family, and more importantly, understand

your roots, not just your own roots, but our Native American roots.

Because after all, it is fall and it's the time of celebration of everything.

Renewal again.

So well everything is not renewal again, but the celebration of

the slowing down of things for

the wintertime.

Yeah.

I

We'll,

yeah.

We'll see you soon and we'll hear you soon and please remember to share like

and tell others about your stories because we'd like to hear yours too.

It's Podcast dot family Tree, food and Stories.

We'll see you soon and we'll hear you soon.

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care.

Goodbye.