Honoring Indigenous Food Traditions

In fall 2021, Seward Co-op was honored to partner with local members of Indigenous-led organizations to share their ancestral knowledge through a series of cooking and lecture workshops. We are grateful for these leaders and elders for guiding the way in respect for the land, sustainability, and how we hold our places in history for future generations.

In the videos below, learn how to make delicious meals, drinks, medicines, and desserts using local and traditional foods. Join us for a collaborative exploration of the nutritional and cultural significance of the ingredients used with Dream of Wild Health, Division of Indian Work, and Native leaders in our community. The instructors share their expertise on sourcing, sustainability, and environmental impacts we’re seeing in real-time as a result of climate change.

Four Sisters Pasdayapi Salad

Alanna Norris and Youth Leader Ava show us how to make a Four Sisters Pasdayapi Salad, from Dream of Wild Health’s Youth Leader Cookbook. Four Sisters Pasdayapi Salad is a fresh and healthy recipe using wild rice, black beans, and hominy. Alanna and Ava talk about the harmonic growth and “complete protein” of the Three Sisters – corn, beans and squash; and the incorporation of the Fourth Sister, wild rice or sunflower. While preparing this family-friendly recipe, Alanna and Ava share their experiences working with Dream of Wild Health, and how they developed their interests in healthy Indigenous foods. Find the complete recipe here.

Tea Workshop; Medicine Around Us

Derek Nicholas and Hope Flanagan discuss various Native teas in this video. Teas are not just a drink – tea is medicine used orally, in direct contact as a wet compress, as a foot bath, hair rinse, or bath additive. In this workshop, we’ll learn about Cedar Cranberry Tea, Hyssop Tea, and Raspberry Tea, all of which can be foraged respectfully from the land in Minnesota. They share their knowledge about responsible harvesting, noting that wild plants get to choose where they grow, if humans allow it and are mindful of their need for clean water, air, and rich soil. Wild harvested plants and food are as nutrient dense as it gets. To harvest sustainably, consider the seven generations prior and seven generations to come. Find complete recipes here.

Bison Roast and Bison Tacos

Indigenous foods are all around us and are traditionally made without dairy. In this recipe, Derek Nicholas showcases how to cook a bison roast by slow braising. He talks about ways to make the most of the ingredients – especially the bison fat, bones, and produce scraps to make tallow, grease, stock, soups and teas. After the meat is cooked, Derek instructs how to use the bison roast to make delicious tacos with a simple avocado sauce and pico de gallo. Find the complete recipe here.

Maple Cranberry Apple Crisp with Puffed Wild Rice

Learn how to puff wild rice for this tart and sweet dessert with Chef Vanessa Casillas and Hope Flanagan. Hope and Vanessa share stories about ricing and discuss how the effects of climate change are leading to the drastic decline in available wild rice sources. We’ll also learn about wild rice characteristics, maple syrup harvesting, and cranberries; all of which are Minnesota-grown ingredients Find the complete recipe here.

DIY Underground Oven

Built into the earth, underground ovens are used to trap heat and bake, smoke, or steam food. Kateri Tuttle introduces us to the Dream of Wild Health farm and tells us more about the 25-year old health-oriented Indigenous food program. Then, Derek Nicholas shows us how to cook a meal of peppery burdock-wrapped smoky duck and sweet squash in a traditional underground oven at the farm. He walks us through the process of building the structure for cooking, including safety tips when selecting rocks to line the cooking pit to prevent injury and keep the food safe from exploding rocks. Find the complete recipe here.

More Indigenous Cooking in Your Kitchen

Derek Nicholas was featured in a handful of these videos. He is a wealth of knowledge for cooking with Indigenous ingredients, foraging, and cooking seasonally. We are fortunate that he shares his knowledge with us in this series, and there’s much more to glean from his expertise in his book, “Eating with the Seasons, Anishinaabeg, Great Lakes Region.” This field guide for seasonal eating includes over 24 recipes with the addition of Anishinaabemowin language and cultural lessons. You can purchase the book here.

Thank you to all of our instructors:

Alanna Norris, Dream of Wild Health Nutrition Program Coordinator

Ava, Dream of Wild Health Youth Leader

Derek Nicholas, Division of Indian Work Nutrition Program Coordinator

Hope Flanagan, Dream of Wild Health Community Outreach and Cultural Teacher

Kateri Tuttle, Dream of Wild Health Program Coordinator

Chef Vanessa Casillas