Indigenous ways of life are deeply intertwined with the environment and its food offerings. The Indigenous cuisine of the Americas encompasses all cuisines and food practices of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. Contemporary Native peoples maintain a diverse culture of traditional foods, alongside the addition of some post-contact foods that have become customary and even iconic of present-day Indigenous American social gatherings. More than half of the crops grown worldwide today were first cultivated successfully and scientifically in the Americas by Indigenous People.
The Richness of Indigenous Agriculture
Indigenous Andeans, for example, developed more than a thousand different species of potato, each of which thrived in its own distinct growing conditions. Along with potatoes, many other foods-including corn, beans, squash, pumpkins, peppers, tomatoes, yams, peanuts, wild rice, chocolate, pineapples, avocados, papayas, pecans, strawberries, cranberries, and blueberries, to name a few, are indigenous to the Americas. These crops and other foods were exchanged along vast, distinct, and complex trade routes.
Disruption and Its Consequences
Many Native food systems were disrupted due to European settlement and the displacement of Native peoples from their lands. The government issued foodstuffs to Native Americans, which were often unhealthy and substantially different from traditional diets. This unhealthy food, combined with uneven quality of and access to medical care, continues to leave many American Indians fighting an uphill battle for their health.
For elders who no longer drive or those without access to a car or transportation, healthy food choices can be hard to access. Low access to healthy food options combined with poverty and other factors means that many Native people face what is known as “food insecurity” - the inability to access a sufficient quantity of affordable nutritious food due to a lack of money or resources. Almost one of every four Native households face food insecurity. Elders living on a reservation or in a rural area may have very limited options about where to purchase food as well as difficulty accessing those places at all. Many live in what is known as a “food desert” - defined as parts of the country (usually low-income areas) with few or no affordable healthy food choices like access to fresh fruit, vegetables and other healthful whole foods. A food desert can exist both in rural areas and large cities alike. This means that the places many elders call home may only have access to fast food or convenience stores, rather than healthy foods. Those eating a contemporary western diet now experience processed foods high in simple carbohydrates (refined sugar), salts and fats. One example of such a food that is commonly found in Indian Country is frybread. Frybread found today is a product of the shift from traditional foods to government-issued commodities.
Research suggests that the “modern” western diet is detrimental to the health of all consumers and especially elders. American Indian and Alaska Native elders face disparate rates of obesity: nearly 40 percent of men and more than 46 percent of women are obese. The rates of diabetes among Native people are more striking: more than 16 percent have diabetes, a rate more than twice as high as that of the general population in the United States as a whole. Among Native elders, 30 percent - nearly one in three - have diabetes. Some Native communities suffer even higher rates of diabetes. The Pima of Arizona have seen rates of diabetes as high as 60 percent in their community. The consequences of diabetes left untreated include amputations, blindness and death.
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The Movement Towards Food Sovereignty
Still, American Indians are working to restore their environments and original food sources through 2010 to promote a return to traditional foods and food practices. This is an example of food sovereignty, which means that a community chooses those foods they will use to sustain themselves and their cultures.
Tribal Nations are restoring traditional food systems and rebuilding relationships with the land, water, plants, and animals. Native communities can begin by conducting a food sovereignty assessment to understand their current food system and plan how to regain control of their local food system. The First Nations Development Institute has a Food Sovereignty Assessment Tool that could be adapted to the local community and includes information on who participates, how to collect data, survey questions, a process for asset mapping, developing, and implementing local plans.
The Sicangu Food Sovereignty Initiative (SFSI) was developed by the Rosebud of South Dakota with input from community elders, local producers, and partner organizations. Regenerative agriculture will be used for all food production within the boundaries of Rosebud. Infrastructure will be in place to facilitate equitable access to nutritious food for all communities. For example, the state and federal food codes do not account for traditional harvesting and food preparation techniques, so a Tribal food code will be created. A second effort is to organize small local farmers to collectively sell their produce to meet the supply demands of Rosebud’s institutional food market (schools, stores, etc.). Third, SFSI provides a mobile grocery market, which sources from local producers. Food will again be seen as medicine that heals the body, mind, and spirit of the Oyate, and deepens Lakota identity. The food system will foster and support sustainable business ventures, making food production and entrepreneurship a viable pathway for job creation and income generation. Youth will be empowered to lead their families back to self-determination by knowing how to grow, harvest, and prepare foods of their choice. Tribal citizens will be empowered to make highly informed consumption decisions.
Some activists in partnership with Tribal Nations and universities have begun to push for a return to traditional Native diets. One such movement is the “Decolonizing Diet Project” started by Professor Marty Reinhardt at Northern Michigan University. The Decolonizing Diet Project takes the perspective that the change in dietary practices that resulted from the colonization of North America is a form of oppression. Broadly, these types of projects share common objectives. By engaging elders, the knowledge of generations is built and shared among the community in support of the local food system. Such programs also educate communities about traditional diets and the importance of embracing and reviving traditional practices. These programs also help increase physical activity among Native people by encouraging hunting, gathering, gardening and traditional preparation of food. Many, if not all, Native cultures teach, “Food is medicine.”
Regional Variations in Traditional Foods
The traditional diets of Native Americans varied significantly depending on the region and available resources.
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Arctic
In the eastern Canadian Arctic, Inuit consume a diet of foods that are fished, hunted, and gathered locally. The cultural value attached to certain game species, and certain parts, varies.
Alaska Native cuisine consists of nutrient-dense foods such as seal, fish (salmon), and moose. Seal, walruses, and polar bears are the large game that Alaska Natives hunt. The game that is hunted is also used for clothing.
Eastern Woodlands
Corn was a vital source of food for Indigenous communities across the Northern Hemisphere. A 19th-century illustration, "Sugar-Making Among the Indians in the North", depicts this importance. Maple syrup is another essential food staple of the Eastern Woodlands peoples. Tree sap is collected from sugar maple trees during the beginning of springtime when the nights are still cold. Birch bark containers are used in the process of making maple syrup, maple cakes, maple sugar, and maple taffy. When the sap is boiled to a certain temperature, different variations of maple food products are created.
Southeastern United States
Southeastern Native American culture has contributed to the formation of Southern cuisine from its origins through the present day. Though a less important staple, potatoes were also adopted from Native American cuisine and have been used in many ways similar to corn. Native Americans introduced the first non-Native American Southerners to many other vegetables still familiar on southern tables. Squash, pumpkin, many types of beans, many types of peppers, and sassafras all came to the settlers via Indigenous peoples. Many fruits are available in this region.
To a far greater degree than anyone realizes, several of the most important food dishes of the Southeastern Indians live on today in the "soul food" eaten by both black and white Southerners. Hominy, for example, is still eaten. Sofkee lives on as grits. Cornbread is used by Southern cooks. Indian fritters are variously known as "hoe cake," or "Johnny cake." Indians boiled cornbread is present in Southern cuisine as "corn meal dumplings", and as "hush puppies", boiled in oil instead of water. Southerners cook their beans and field peas by boiling them, as did the Indians.
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Southeastern Native Americans traditionally supplement their diets with meat from hunting native game. Venison is a vital staple meat, due to the abundance of white-tailed deer in the region. Rabbits, squirrels, opossums, and raccoons are also common. Although it may have been secondary to game hunting, fishing is also an important food source; many peoples lived near rivers and other consistent sources of fish. Indigenous fishing methods in the Southeast include shooting with arrows, spearing or gigging, trapping with weirs or dams, poisoning with fish toxins, bare-hand noodling, and netting. Livestock, adopted from Europeans, in the form of hogs and cattle, are also kept. Aside from the more commonly consumed parts of the animal, it is traditional to also eat organ meats such as liver, brains, and intestines.
Great Plains and Canadian Prairies
Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies or Plains Indians have historically relied heavily on American bison (American buffalo) as a staple food source. One traditional method of preparation is to cut the meat into thin slices then dry it, either over a slow fire or in the hot sun, until it is hard and brittle. One such use could be pemmican, a concentrated mixture of fat and protein, and fruits such as cranberries, Saskatoon berries, blueberries, cherries, chokecherries, and currants are sometimes added. The animals that Great Plains Indians consumed, like bison, deer, and antelope, were grazing animals. When asked to state traditional staple foods, a group of Plains elders identified prairie turnips (Pediomelum esculentum, syn.
Pacific Northwest
Wapato (Sagittaria latifolia) has a number of varieties and is found growing in damp marsh area around ponds, lakes, rivers, and streams. The edible rhizomes were gathered and could be roasted in the embers of a fire, or dried, ground and the meal pressed into a cake which "served well as bread" as noted by Meriwether Lewis of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
In contrast to the Easterners, the Northwestern peoples are traditionally hunter-gatherers, primarily. The generally mild climate led to the development of an economy based on year-round abundant food supplies, rather than having to rely upon seasonal agriculture.
California
In what is now California, acorns can be ground into a flour that has at times served as the principal foodstuff for about 75 percent of the population, and dried meats can be prepared during the dry season. It seems that acorns and other nuts took priority among indigenous tribes because of the archaeological evidence of "mortars and pestles". Grinding acorns requires a lot of resources and time to gather and process them, which implies an area where location is more permanent. Gathering acorns took everyone in the tribe, because within weeks, the acorns would mature. Obtaining food was done communally.
Deer and seal bones are also found in indigenous communities. This means that the diet is varied, as seals are found near the coast and deer are found further inland. Indigenous tribes were consuming the meat of shellfish with the implication of "bi-pitted cobbles". The meat of shellfish required stone tools to crack open the shells. The consumption of marrow from animal bones is evident from archaeological analyses of "hand axes made from andesitic and quartzitic cobbles". Obtaining bone marrow from an animal requires both time and resources, as it is located in the center of the bone and requires extra effort to extract.
The destruction of Native California was done by the missionaries taking over the indigenous land and clearing the environment for their own cultural foodways. This caused some indigenous tribes to become dependent on missionaries for survival. Although some tribes relied on the food from missionaries, they still hunted for their own food from the evidence of birds found that know to migrate to the area seasonally. Although they were fed by missionaries, they required more food. There are still indigenous people who are keeping their traditions alive through modern cuisine. Ancestral Puebloans are also known for their basketry and pottery, indicating both an agricultural surplus that needed to be carried and stored, and clay pot cooking. Grinding stones have been used to grind maize into meal for cooking.
Caribbean
This region comprises the cultures of the Arawaks, the Caribs, and the Ciboney. The Taíno of the Greater Antilles were the first New World people to encounter Columbus. Prior to European contact, these groups foraged, hunted, and fished. The Taíno cultivated cassava, sweet potato, maize, beans, squash, pineapple, peanut, and peppers. Ajiaco, same as pepperpot, a soup believed to have originated in Cuba before Columbus' arrival. Jerk, a style of cooking meat that originated with the Taíno of Jamaica. Pasteles, a dish that may have also been called hallaca and originated from Puerto Rico. Pasteles were once made with cassava and taro mashed into a masa onto a taro leaf.
Mesoamerica and South America
The pre-conquest cuisine of the Indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica made a major contribution to shaping modern-day Mexican cuisine, Belizean cuisine, Salvadoran cuisine, Honduran cuisine, Guatemalan cuisine.
Chicha, a generic name for any number of Indigenous beers found in South America. Though chichas made from various types of corn are the most common in the Andes, chicha in the Amazon Basin frequently use manioc. Humitas, similar to modern-day tamales, a thick mixture of corn, herbs and onion, cooked in a corn-leaf wrapping. Locro (from the Quechua ruqru) is a hearty thick stew popular along the Andes mountain range. Mazamorra morada, a thick, sweet pudding made from ground purple corn and fruit. Mate de coca, a Peruvian tea made from steeped coca leaves. Ceviche, raw fish marinated in lime juice.
Tools and Techniques
The earliest utensils, including bowls, knives, spoons, grinders, and griddles, were made from all kinds of materials, such as rock and animal bone. Many Indigenous cultures also developed elaborate ceramics for making bowls and cooking pots, and basketry for making containers. Cooking baskets were woven from a variety of local fibers and sometimes coated with clay to improve durability. The notable thing about basket cooking and some native clay pot cooking is that the heat source, i.e. hot stones or charcoal, is used inside the utensil rather than outside.
Reclaiming Traditional Diets for Health and Wellness
Healthy eating in the modern world is not always easy. Fast food and prepackaged foods offer inexpensive and easy alternatives to healthier foods or cooking from scratch. Even in remote locations, you can find snacks like burgers, chips, candies and sodas. Diet and nutrition play a crucial role in our overall health.
American Indians and Alaska Natives in particular face a predisposition to obesity and diabetes. Historically, however, Native people did not face these health disparities. Diets have changed dramatically since the introduction of European foods into the diet of American Indians and Alaska Natives. The diets of Native ancestors contained more complex carbohydrates (such as whole grains, peas, beans, potatoes) and fewer fats (such as meats, dairy products, oils). Foods harvested generally included seeds, nuts, corn, beans, chile, squash, wild fruits and greens, herbs, fish and game, including the animal’s meat, organs and oils. Foods were dried, smoked, stored for later use. Indigenous agricultural practices utilized environmental cooperation as shown by the “three sisters (corn, beans, and squash)”. Corn draws nitrogen from the soil, while beans replenish nitrogen.
In the 15th century, European settlers brought sheep, goats, cattle, pigs, horses, peaches, apricots, plums, cherries, melons, watermelon, apples, grapes, and wheat. Spanish sheep changed the lifeways of the Navajo (Diné).
The shift in the way American Indians and Alaska Natives eat came as a result of being removed from their homelands and relocated to reservations. The Federal Indian Removal Act of 1830 forcefully removed more than 100,000 American Indians to Oklahoma Territory. In 1864, the Diné endured the Long Walk, a forced relocation from Arizona to New Mexico. The Trail of Tears in 1868 removed the Cherokee, Muscogee, Seminole, Chickasaw, and Choctaw Nations to Oklahoma. The forced removal of American Indians to reservations and the destruction of traditional food sources were deliberate governmental efforts to terminate Native peoples. The Army said, “Kill every buffalo you can!"
Destructive efforts continued far into the 20th century. Native children were removed from their families and communities to boarding schools. Children experienced forced assimilation that brought neglect, abuse, oppression, and intergenerational trauma. The federal government discouraged American Indians and Alaska Natives from continuing their traditional hunting and gathering traditions and provided food rations known as commodity foods - lard, flour, coffee, sugar, and canned meat (also known as spam) - to Native communities. Such food products are completely foreign to the traditional Native diet. The distribution of commodities created dramatic dietary changes among Native people. The government never provided enough food to feed all tribal members, and the diet is linked to a multitude of poor health outcomes, including diabetes.
Today, Native people disproportionately experience lower life expectancy, more chronic health conditions, disease, violence, poverty, and an overall lower quality of life - as well as food insecurity.
Practical Steps Towards a Healthier Diet
Eating a healthy diet can be a challenge due to food deserts, the unhealthy nature of commodities, the convenience of fast foods, and limited resources to buy fresh foods. However, you can begin slowly and prepare healthy traditional recipes and cook with traditional ingredients that can preserve and promote your culture. All elders can benefit from a healthier diet.
Make one change at a time. Changing diets is not easy and habits can be hard to break. By making one change at a time, it will be easier to change habits successfully. Cook by sautéing, baking, broiling, roasting, boiling, and steaming. Use healthy traditional oils, e.g., seal oil (if available) or avocado, olive, and expeller-expressed sesame oils. Drink several glasses of water each day. Avoid sugary drinks such as soda, juices, and beverages with high fructose corn syrup. Avoid processed foods, which are generally found in the middle (the aisles) of grocery stores. Try traditional recipes and traditional ingredients.