Native Recipes

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WIISINIWAN -- Food Recipes




--Frybread--Tasty Symbol of all-Indian unity
--Native cookbooks --Nutrition info, cookbooks for kids
--Wild rice recipes --Maple sugar/syrup recipes
--Corn, hominy, cornmeal -- Beans and Greens
--Squash, pumpkin --Deermeat, Meat
--Fish, birds --Fruit and Berries
--Herbal Teas, Culinary Herbs --Xocoatl (Chocolate), Aztecs (and south) YUM!


INDEX OF RECIPES
FRY BREAD POWER (Zahsakokwahn)

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WILD RICE (MAHNOOMIN) -- SACRED GIFT

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MAPLE (Ininatig) SUGAR/SYRUP (Zinzibahkwud) -- MOON of BOILING

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CORN, (Mandamin) CORN-MEAL, HOMINY

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BEANS and GREENS

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SQUASH (Naubugogwissimaun), PUMPKINS (Ogwissimaun)

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DEERMEAT (Wahwahshkeshiwiwiiyahs) and other ANIMALS

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FISH

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FRUIT, BERRIES

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TEAS (Aniibiish) and HERBAL FLAVORINGS

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XOCATL (Chocolate) -- Aztecs, Mayans, Central American Tribes

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Native Food Web Pages & Cookbooks


  • The Three Sisters Cookbook from the Oneida Nation of New York.
  • FOODS, COOKING, HERBOLOGY--Here are some Native cookbooks you can actually order from the Native Book Centre (Canadian on-line service). One is more anthro stuff on ancient food processing (Iroquois); one is by a Hopi lady don't know anything about it. But the real thing is the cookbook put out by the ladies of Lovesick Lake Reserve, Canada, which sounds from its title like a myth. It's here! Indeed, now I dug out the piece where I first heard of it -- in issue No. 1 of Indigenous Women's Network Magazine. It's so interesting, I retyped it (the IWN disks were lost from issues 1991 through 1994) here. Truly an example of COOKBOOK POWER!, a great True Myth for Modern Times, and great wild game recipes, too.

    AMAZON ON-LINE BOOKSTORE
  • Spirit of the Harvest: North American Indian Cooking, Beverly Cox and (photographer) Martin Jacobs, Publ. by Stewart, Tabori and Chang: NY, 1991, $32. This gorgeous cookbook is good reading as well as good eating. The author includes some personal details from the native women who shared their recipes, almost all of which are practical for city-dwellers with modern kitchens. Gorgeous photos show how it should look. For many of the foods snippets of cultural information (and misinformation) are provided. You won't find any commodities recipes here, nor does "culture" include any of the problems tribal peoples have had with keeping their land or with pollution affecting the small remaining landbases, getting arrested for hunting-fishing-gathering, etc. . This is a classy suburban cocktail-table type cookbook, despite the fact its recipes (mostly) work (if you can get the ingredients). I admit to a weakness for glamorous cookbooks like this if I can afford them, but reserve True-Hearted Kitchen Love for ones like that produced by the Ladies of Lovesick Lake. The Amazon is just a place where you can order it, there's no info about it there. I'd written this review note before finding it on-line.
  • Native Harvests : Recipes and Botanicals of the American Indian--This was published in the '70's, click on the author's name to see a more recent book on Native Feasts year-round from 1990. There's no info about it (like most of the Amazon Native books) but I used to have this years ago, and it was good.
  • A Native American Feast--Cookbook from Amazon that impressed me, though I forgot to take any notes on it. By the same guy whose Native Harvests I used to have many years ago. Possibly this is more in the line of practical recipes.
  • Tepee Cookery : Or Lets Chew the Fat Indian Style : A Cookbook--Amazon doesn't give any info on its books (there's provision for users to enter their own reviews). I picked this one because the author (whose name I forgot to write down) is also co-author of an impressive-sounding book on traditional agricultural knowledge in developing countries. So maybe she knows something about Plains cookery. Maybe she's even an Indian person?

    OTHER NATIVE COOKBOOKS

  • Gatsi Nosdi News: Ultimate Cherokee Cookbook, by Cherokee The Oukah (1700-1800 recipes) -- this is a historical cookbook, most recipes may not be practical today, but there is historical-cultural info in it. You can order it from Gatsi Nosdi Promotions, a Cherokee enterprise that operates a restaurant in Oklahoma.
  • America's First Cuisines sort of historical cookbook or anthro-foodbook book by anthro Sophie D. Coe, deals with Aztec, Maya, Inca pre-conquest foods, University of Texas Press, more of a scholarly work than a cookbook.
  • Kwakuitl Recipes--Taste of history/culture, not practical kitchen tips. From an anthro who published many of his Kwak'hwak'h wife, Ella's, methods of cooking (more descriptions than recipes)in 1914. "First, catch your whale..." kind of like the infamous recipe in Escoffier's French (for expert bigtime chefs only) cookbook of the same period for turtle soup.

  • Bill's World of Food & Drink--This is a huge assortment of links compiled by the redoutable Canadian attorney-for-native causes, Bill Henderson, whose Aboriginal Links are thorough, well-organized, and pretty-pages. He likes good food, evidently, possibly a habit learned from his Native wife. A huge assortment here of links to food-related pages. Unfortunately, a few of the most interesting ones are deadlinks (Rio Lara-Bellon's compilation of Native recipes--gopher archive is missing, under World Food Tour; the Chocolate-Lover's Web Page, which I immediately tried to access, slavering a bit or byte) -- gone, those, without forwarding URLs, alas.

  • Recipe Archive Index -- Amy Gale prepared this, has no Native American recipes, but there are some pretty good ones for fondues, meat loaf, and many other things. These recipes were generally posted to one of the food newsgroups over the past 2 years. Later, I hope to find Rio Lara Bellon's archive of Native recipes she collected, Pablo Bellon says University of Wisconsin is messing with its network, the gopher subdirectory where they were is empty.

    FOR YOUNG PEOPLE, TEACHERS, PARENTS

  • An extensive set of links on Child & Teen Nutrition -- from Kansas State University.

  • Good Nutrition For Kids & Teens -- From the Child Development Institute.

  • CNN - Food and Health News Main Page -- More on general health articles and tips than food, but thre are also complete scripts of shows that have aired since last fall (which don't make that much sense without some kind of pix, at leaxt some still frames). There's also topic descriptions of upcoming shows, mostly broadcast on Saturdays.

  • NOT ON LINE: Easy Menu Ethnic Cookbooks, from Lerner Publishing, Minneapolis, 800/328-4929 for their interesting catalog of K-12 books. So far there are 28 of these (none Native American--French, Swiss, German, Vietnamese, Korean, African, Australian). They're hardbound, but not sturdily enough for real kitchen cookbooks, 48-52 pages, very well illustrated with large color photos of what it should look like (if it comes out right) and process illustrations. The type is large. After an ingredients list, the process is step-by-numbered-step, with pix or diagrams for any hard parts. There's a metric conversion chart and safety hints in each book, just in case imaginative math/science teachers have a taste for using recipes (especially for work on fractions). Especially easy for cooking in a classroom setting is Ethnic Cooking the Microwave Way. The 1992 Vegetarian Cooking Around the World is also noteworthy. The Thai, Russian, Lebanese, and Hungarian cookbooks are also Social Studies -- background about the countries, cultures, histories. Grade 5+.

  • NOT ON LINE--Foods We Eat Grades 1-4 series (Apples, Beans and Peas; Butter and Cheese; Chocolate; Citrus Fruits; Fish; Meat; Pasta and Rice; Sugar; Vegetables) -- all 32 pages, hardbound, $17.50, 25% school discounts.) Lerner Publishing, Minneapolis, 800/328-4929 for catalog. This series was begun in 1989; they're still adding to it. But I recommend much more highly the newer Food Facts Grades 2-5 series which they're still working on. This has much better nutrition/health info than the earlier series. It's been planned for elementary science (both authors are experienced, many high-quality, K-6 science books). On the Menu (in production) are 32-page hrdbound books on: Additives; Fats; Fiber; Proteins; Sugars; Vitamins Books of this series set on the table so far are by either Jane Inglish or Rhoda Nottridge -- the latter a principal in CarolRhoda Books, basically a couple of highly productive local children's book authors who seem to have been "acquired" by Lerner as a production team. Of course I haven't seen these books yet, but I've seen others by these authors. Based on that, I recommend these highly when available. All will list for $17.50, with Lerner's usual 25% school discounting applied to that price.

RECOMMENDED BOOKS -- for heavy-duty researchers and for students. About Native plants, food, cooking, health and nutrition textbooks.

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CREDITS: Page logo of bear stars constellation (big dipper and others) is probably drawn in black ink by Norval Morrisseau, Gull Lake Anishnabg artist, founder of Medicine Painting style. It was donated to Akwesasne Notes in 1974 and used only once: to put a medicine sign under an article by AIM leader John Trudell, about cleaning ourselves up physically and spiritually from alcohol and other non-Indian vices. I recovered it as part of my saving Notes Great Period art project, traced in FreeHand and colored for thes pages. I drew the starmoon. Translation note: Wiisiniwan, the Anisnaabemowin word for recipes topping this page, might really be better interpreted as "Skill or talent for making food good to eat.".

Webmistress --Paula Giese.Text and graphics copyright 1995, 1996.

Last Updated: Friday, July 05, 1996 - 12:55:22 AM