Indigenous Culinary Arts

Traditional North American Native peoples' cuisine has existed for centuries, but its central tenet of respecting nature and its bounty have never been as timely as they are now. Andrew George, of the Wet'suwet'en Nation in Canada, is a well-respected Aboriginal chef and instructor who has spent the last twenty-five years promoting the traditions of First Nations food. Written with Robert Gairns, Andrew has compiled Aboriginal recipes that feature ingredients from the land, sea, and sky, elements of an enduring cuisine that illustrate respect for the environment and its creatures, and acknowledgment of the spiritual power that food can have in our lives.

In this food memoir, named for the manoomin or wild rice that also gives the Menominee tribe its name, tribal member Thomas Pecore Weso takes readers on a cook's journey through Wisconsin's northern woods. He connects each food—beaver, trout, blackberry, wild rice, maple sugar, partridge—with colorful individuals who taught him Indigenous values. Cooks will learn from his authentic recipes.

Food insecurity takes a disproportionate toll on the health of Canada's Indigenous people.'A Land Not Forgotten'examines the disruptions in local food practices as a result of colonization and the cultural, educational, and health consequences of those disruptions. This multidisciplinary work demonstrates how some Indigenous communities in northern Ontario are addressing challenges to food security through the restoration of land-based cultural practices.

The food traditions of North America's indigenous peoples are centuries-old and endure to this day. Feasts that include a bounty of land and sea are the focal point of celebrations and ceremonies; for many, food is what connects family, community, an dthe afterlife. Where People Feast, one of the few indigenous cookbooks available, focuses on Native cuisine of the Pacific Northwest, which takes advantage of the area's abundant seafood, game, fruits, and vegetables - with ingredients both exotic (oolichan, venison, grouse) and common (salmon, crab, berries). As proprietors of the Liliget Feast House, the only First Nations fine dining establishment of its kind, Dolly Watts and her daughter Annie specialize in indigenous cuisine that is both traditional and modern; many recipes are steeped in Native history, while others are contemporary takes that acknowledge other cuisines both near and far.