Native American Foods - Not Just For Thanksgiving

When we speak of Native American Foods and which ones are most popular, we are considering the foods and traditions of probably 3,000+ different nations, bands, pueblos, communities, and unofficially disignated groups of Indigenous People in the Western Hemisphere. This is a lot of traditions and cuisines to consider. Our Indigenous friends have never all eaten the same thing.

The isolated communities have their own traditions and foods that may or may not be related to a larger group, while some groups of nations actually enjoy similar foods and traditions.

Take for instance, the Iroquois Confederacy of nations that rooted itself in the eastern portion of what is now the USA and up into Canada, or the Southwest Native Americans with their cuisine, which is different. The Plains Indians eat differently still. Each of these groups is pretty large, compared to a tiny village on the northern cost of Alaska, which makes its living from fishing.

Take the Inuit and related nations of Northern Canada, Greenland, and the US Pacific Northwest. These are also different foods. Then we have Mexican Native Americans, Central American Native Americans, South American Native Americans, and Carribean Native Americans. We Have Pacific Islander native Americans -- their food is really different.

We are not finished yet, however. Many different native groups came together with the Europeans and the Carribeans and the Africans to become our interesting American Creole people, whom you will meet in New Orleans. Many other mixtures are called metis or metizo or similar term. More food choices and traditions emerge from them as well.

Probably, we might well begin with the most popular foods apprecaiate by the rest of Americans. In some areas, Native Americasn still cook with aged goose fat and bear grease, which other Americans may not enjoy. Most enjoy "Indian Fry Bread", however.

All My Relations is a motto often attributed to our Indigenous friends, meaning that all life is sacred and related. IN considereing this, we can appreciate from where our food comes and not waste it or its source -- That is a good thing to remember with this motto.

Belwo are a few popular recipes with Native Ameicans and other Americans as well. In fact, some people early everywhere like them.  They include Smoked Salmon, Succotash, Squash casseroles, old-stryle Fry Bread without milk, and a special Eskimo dessert.

The Northeastern Native Americans taught the first English white settlers how to grow corn so that they would not starve to death their first winter, since they had brought no seed with them from England to plant. In addition to corn, the natives grew a variety of beans and squash. Together, the three vegetables became known as The Three Sisters. in some areas, the NAtive Americans were able to find wild rice as well.

When you mix half lima beans and half corn and cook together, you have succotash, another Native American food popular at the time. Some people add tomatoes today.

There was most probably no pumpkin pie at the first Virginia English-thanksgiving dinner, but there were several dishes of squash and pumpkin casserole puddings served as both side dishes and desserts. There was no flour available for crusts. Actually, the Native Americans brought three deer, some game fowl, and all the vegetables to the party and the English women helped cook, while the English men drank the beer that they WERE able to make. This is all recorded in the diary of one of the English-Americans, displayed safely in a museum at this time.

Read more about that day at No Pie At Thanskgiving. There are some good recipes there as well. I love the squash casseroles and even found a crustless pumpkin pie recipe -- you can mix up your regular pumpkim pie recipe but reduce the evaporated milk by half. Pour the mix into a glass pie dish and bake for about 30 minutes or so and you're done.

In Ohio a couple of hundred years ago, the Salmon were always as long as a tall man's arm. They and other fish were huge until they were over-fished out of the rivers, lakes, and ponds.

A favorite dish of Ohio Native Americans as well as others, has been smoked salmon. Here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS

• 1 Very Large Salmon, or 2 as large as you can find
• Garlic, Dill, and pepper to taste, Oregano to taste (optional) 1.5 Cups sugar, 1 Cup salt

INSTRUCTIONS

• Place all ingredients into a very large kettle and add enough water just to cover.
• Let stand for 12 hours overnight in this brine and drain. Also soak 3 to 4 pounds Hickory wood pieces in a bucket of water overnight at the same time.
• Fill large grill with enough charcoal (one handfull) to make the Hickory ignite.
• Cook salmon whole or filleted, covered, until done and meat is still firm but done.

This recipe does not include any milk, buy many recipes for fry bread do include it. Some use buttermilk. I prefer it without milk, but with milk it is more like a donut.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 Cups flour
• 1 TBSP baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 Cup butter or solid vegetable shortening or lard
• 1/2 Cup warm water
• Vegetable oil for frying

INSTRUCTIONS

• In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt and mix together so ingredients or evenly dispersed. If you use a sifter and sift them together, the fry bread will be lighter.
• Alternately add and mix shortening and warm water ins mall amounts until you have a firm dough ball (not very sticky).
• Knead this dough several times and make in balls the size of a baseball or larger.
• Cover dough balls in a bowl with a clean and let rise 10 minutes. Roll or pat risen dough into circles about ½ inch thick.
• Fry bread circles in hot vegetable oil in a heavy skillet until golden brown on both sides.
• Drain on paper towels.
• Sprinkle with sugar, powdered sugar, and/or cinnamon.
• You can also use the fry bread as a tostada base or fold it over for a taco.

If you watch very many episodes of Food Network's Iron Chef America, you know that the Iron Chefs and Challengers make Ice Cream and Sorbets out of any ingredient. Salmon ice cream always sounded nice to me...

This recipe is for Akutaq and is a frozen dessert prepared and eaten by Inuits and related groups in the north. The ingredients may put you off, however:

INGREDIENTS

• Fat - Reindeer fat, seal oil, walrus blubber, moose or caribou fat, anything from a large animal. You could also actually use lard or Crisco.
• Berries - blackberries are great, but so are blueberries or red raspberries.
• Meat - usually cooked salmon that has been cooled, deboned, and crumbled.
• Snow
• Native roots - sassafras would be good, but eny edible root
• Water if needed

INSTRUCTIONS

Take an anount of fat and beat it together with meat with a whisk to add air. When mixed, whip in snow and berries alternately, and tasty roots cut small if you want, until desired consistency is reached. If not sweet enough, add sugar. Keep refrigerated.