“The Sioux Chef” dishes on the past — and future — of Native American cuisine
By Madeleine Thomas on 24 Jun 2015
SNIPPET:On “oppression food.”Almost all Native American communities were basically forcibly removed from their traditional food systems, which threw a wrench into everything.
You saw fry bread become integrated into native communities across the board, but only because it was “oppression food,” really. It was something that kept them alive, but it wasn’t really healthy for anybody. Because it had passed through so many generations, people were talking more about their grandmother’s fry bread recipe than they were about the cool sauce they were making from wild greens or roots.
On why Native American food should be the next big thing.I think native communities are really still recovering from what happened to them. Across the board, all Native American people have had a pretty dark history with the United States.
There’s a lot of great positivity we can offer and I think our food system is a huge one that should be all over the place. There should be Native American restaurants all over the nation that really show how diverse the United States is in culture and cuisine — not just beer and burgers at every stop you go to.
There’s so many different food systems, and so many different cultures and religions within Native America, so that should really be the focus.
Someday, I hope we see more Native American restaurants across the board.
http://grist.org/people/sioux-chef-dishes-on-the-past-and-future-of-native-american-cuisine/