I ordered a used copy #TheSiouxChef cookbook (by #SeanSherman with #BethDooley) a few weeks ago. It just arrived, and by *used*, it had one tiny smudge on the inside back cover. I can't wait to try out some of the recipes! (And yes, I'll transcribe a few of them -- including the one shown, which is a Wild Rice with Roasted Chestnuts, Wild Mushrooms and Dried Cranberries recipe!

#Cookbooks #Recipes #SiouxChef #NativeAmericanRecipes #DecolonizeYourDiet #SolarPunkSunday #TraditionalFoods #TribalFoodSovereignty #NativeAmericanFoodSovereignty #AnimalProducts #IndigenousFoodSystems

The #SiouxChef is Reclaiming North America’s #Indigenous Cuisine

Sean Sherman, co-author of a new cookbook and co-founder of The Sioux Chef, explains why original North American foods and #NativeFoodways are vital to creating a healthy and #SustainableFuture

Sean Sherman
October 18, 2017

Excerpt: "Although hamburgers, pizza, and Coca-Cola are among the foods most often identified as 'American' cuisine, the truth is that over-sugared, over-salted, and fat-laden processed fare does not represent the true American diet. The original American cuisine arose from the vibrant and diverse indigenous cultures that thrived across the North American continent for thousands of years before #colonization.

"My grandparents were among the first generation to be systematically assimilated to 'American”' culture—I heard stories of children kidnapped and sent to boarding schools, their hair cut, their language forbidden. How I wish I had been taught more than the handful of recipes I learned as a child — #wasna (dried meat and berries), #taniga (tripe soup), #bapa (#bison jerky), and #wojape (#chokecherry sauce).

"When I was 13 years old, I began my working in professional kitchens, and by my early 20s, I had become an executive chef. I mastered the art of Italian, French, and Spanish cuisines until, at the height of my career, I knew I wanted to understand why there were so few #NativeAmerican restaurants across the U.S.

"As part of The Sioux Chef, I work with my partner #DanaThompson and a team of 10 chefs, plus a number of indigenous culinary partners across Indian country. Our vision is to create more than a restaurant—it will be a place where we can share our skills, knowledge, and passion, with the goal of spreading our work across the whole of North America. To help us achieve these ends, our new #NāTIFS non-profit will focus primarily on indigenous food education and access. Through NāTIFS, we have created a research-and-development team called the '#IndigenousFoodLab' to further our own research, document our work, and help us become better educators.

"We are also building a replicable model that will place an #IndigenousFoodHub in larger urban areas. The hubs will house a regionally unique indigenous restaurant that will not only make the indigenous foods available to the public, but also serve as a training center to educate students in the preparation, cooking, and preservation of #IndigenousFoods. They will also house education centers that offer classes based on the many curriculums we have been developing to help people identify, understand, and apply the knowledge of indigenous food systems."

Original story:
https://civileats.com/2017/10/18/the-sioux-chef-is-reclaiming-north-americas-indigenous-cuisine/

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/jFFbO

#DecolonizeYourDiet #SolarPunkSunday #TraditionalFoods #TribalFoodSovereignty #NativeAmericanMonth #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth
#NativeAmericanFoodSovereignty #DecolonizeYourDiet #AnimalProducts #BuffaloHarvest #IndigenousFoodSystems

The Enduring Harvest: Reshaping Food Systems on Turtle Island

Posted on November 13, 2025

"On Turtle Island, the land now largely known as North America, traditional food harvesting is far more than a means of sustenance; it is the very bedrock of cultural identity, spiritual connection, and sovereign resilience for Indigenous peoples. For millennia, before the arrival of European colonizers, communities across this vast continent thrived on intricate systems of hunting, fishing, gathering, and agriculture, guided by a profound understanding of the land and its cycles. This #TraditionalEcologicalKnowledge (#TEK), passed down through countless generations, represents a sophisticated science of sustainability, reciprocity, and interconnectedness that continues to shape modern efforts to reclaim and revitalize Indigenous foodways.

"The concept of Turtle Island itself is rooted in creation stories shared by many Indigenous nations, where a giant turtle forms the foundation of the world. This narrative underscores an inherent and sacred relationship between people and the land—a relationship that mandates stewardship rather than domination. Traditional harvesting practices are not merely about taking from the land, but about participating in a continuous cycle of giving and receiving, ensuring the health of both the ecosystem and the community.

A Tapestry of Traditional Foods

"Across Turtle Island, the diversity of traditional food systems reflects the continent’s varied ecosystems. In the Pacific Northwest, the #salmon run is not just a seasonal event but the pulse of life itself. Nations like the #NezPerce, #Kwakwakawakw, and #Haida have relied on salmon for thousands of years, developing complex fishing techniques, preservation methods, and ceremonies that honor the fish as a sacred relative.

" 'Salmon is our first food, our medicine, our economy, and our culture,' states a representative from the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission. However, the construction of #dams, #logging, and #IndustrialPollution have severely impacted salmon populations, disrupting a lifeline for these communities. Despite these challenges, nations are actively working on habitat restoration, dam removal advocacy, and culturally informed fisheries management to bring the salmon home.

"On the vast plains, the #bison (or buffalo) was once the lifeblood of nations such as the #Lakota, #Cheyenne, and #Blackfeet. Millions roamed freely, providing not only food but also shelter, tools, and spiritual guidance. Every part of the animal was utilized, embodying a profound respect for its sacrifice.

"European #colonization, driven by a deliberate policy to destroy Indigenous economies and cultures, led to the near extinction of the bison, reducing their numbers from an estimated 30-60 million to a mere few hundred by the late 19th century. Today, through initiatives like the InterTribal Buffalo Council, Indigenous nations are reintroducing bison to tribal lands, a powerful act of cultural and ecological restoration. 'Bringing the buffalo back is bringing our people back,' remarks Ervin Carlson, former president of the InterTribal Buffalo Council. "It’s healing, it’s hope, it’s sovereignty."

Read more (archived version):
https://archive.ph/BLZiA

#SolarPunkSunday #TraditionalFoods #TribalFoodSovereignty #NativeAmericanMonth
#NativeAmericanHeritageMonth
#NativeAmericanFoodSovereignty #DecolonizeYourDiet #AnimalProducts #BuffaloHarvest

#Wisconsin - #TribalFoodSovereignty resources

"#NativeFoodSovereignty is the right of #AmericanIndians, #AlaskaNatives and #NativeHawaiians to produce their own #TraditionalFoods on their own lands to sustain themselves, their families and their communities. #NativeAmericans had #FoodSovereignty for thousands of years before the first European contact in the Americas. Food systems have dramatically changed to the detriment of Native peoples’ health."
-First Nations Development Institute

Written by Erin Peot

"We are exploring the development of a statement that acknowledges this land’s #FirstNations people. This statement would be used to open discussions and educate the public we work with about First Nations peoples’ rights and the contributions First Nations have made and continue to make throughout this land now known as #Wisconsin."

Learn more (includes resources):
https://foodsystems.extension.wisc.edu/articles/tribal-and-native-food-sovereignty/

Related video, "Indigenous Food Sovereignty in Wisconsin," by Dan Cornelius, a UW Madison CIAS presentation, 2020.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJq4bBpU2sg

#SolarPunkSunday #TribalFoodSovereignty #NativeAmericanMonth
#NativeAmericanHeritageMonth
#NativeAmericanFoodSovereignty #Chippewa #Potawatomi #HoChunkNation #DecolonizeYourDiet

#Montana - Food Access & Sustainability Team (#FAST) #Blackfeet hosts Community #FoodSovereignty event

By: Brianna Juneau
Posted 8:27 PM, Oct 24, 2025
and last updated 1:54 PM, Oct 27, 2025

Sovereignty event
FAST Blackfeet hosts Community Food Sovereignty event
Photo by: MTN News
By: Brianna Juneau
Posted 8:27 PM, Oct 24, 2025
and last updated 1:54 PM, Oct 27, 2025

BROWNING — "#FASTBlackfeet hosted a Community Food Sovereignty event starting with a bison harvest in the morning and a lodge set-up in the afternoon where people gathered to attend workshops about #FoodPreparation.

FAST stands for Food Access & Sustainability Team."

FMI / Watch video:
https://www.krtv.com/neighborhood-news/indian-country/fast-blackfeet-hosts-community-food-sovereignty-event

#SolarPunkSunday #FoodSovereignty #IndigenousFoodSovereignty #BlackfeetNation #BrowningMT #AnimalProducts #BuffaloHarvest #IndigenousFoodSecurity #NativeAmericanFoodSovereignty

#Montana - #StoneChildCollege dedicates new #FlourMill

by Tim McGonigal, Sep 24, 2025

BOX ELDER — "A flour mill nearly a decade in the making was officially dedicated at Stone Child College on the #RockyBoyReservation on Wednesday, September 24, 2025, marking a significant milestone for tribal #FoodSovereignty and health initiatives.

"Tribal and state leaders joined agricultural experts for the ribbon cutting ceremony, celebrating the completion of a project that faced several delays, including disruptions from COVID.

"#BigSandy organic farmer Bob Quinn collaborated with tribal stakeholders to secure the grant funding that made the mill possible. Quinn specializes in ancient #KamutWheat, which is now being grown on the reservation and serves as the primary ingredient for the mill's flour production.

"The flour mill represents more than just agricultural infrastructure for the community. Leaders hope the locally-produced flour will contribute to improved health outcomes on the reservation, where #diabetes and other diet-related health issues are growing concerns.

"The project demonstrates the potential for tribal communities to develop #sustainable food systems that address both economic development and public health challenges through locally-controlled #agriculture.

" 'So we're able to actually grow it, bring it in, mill it, and now we're developing the food chain around it and getting it into the schools and getting it into the commodity program and into the lodge and to the casino. Any place where there's food distribution, we should be there with our with our food. And so #Kamut flour is just, one of the value added products that we're doing,' said Jason Belcourt, #RockyBoy Sustainability Coordinator."

Read more:
https://www.krtv.com/neighborhood-news/indian-country/stone-child-college-dedicates-new-flour-mill

#SolarPunkSunday #LocallyGrownFood #FoodSovereignty #GrowYourOwn #FlourMills #TribalFoodSovereignty #Montana #BoxElderMT #NativeAmericanMonth #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth #NativeAmericanFoodSovereignty

#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."

https://www3.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/thing/wild-rice-and-ojibwe

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