Indigenous food studies

By and far, the acorn provided the most significant source of food for the majority of Californian indigenous groups. Of the 50 species of oak that exist, about 15 come from the state of California. Mostly, the acorn was boiled in baskets by hot stones and made into a thick jelly-like mush or porridge.  The closest thing to this in markets, Torres says, is the acorn jelly in Korean supermarkets. 

Acorn can be grounded into flour and fashioned into breads. Of course, depending on region, different types of acorns are prioritized and they are still gathered today by many tribes.  Black oak is a favorite in middle elevations in the interior of the State and tanbark oak is more prominent in the humid belt. 

The berries of this evergreen shrub can be dried, and pounded into a coarse flour. The Wintu people (based in Northwestern and Central California) made this flour into a sweet soup, and steeped the seeds to make a cider. 

The Cahuilla of the southern deserts made a sauce out of the fresh fruits for use as a condiment. Manzanitas can be found almost everywhere in California, and peoples throughout the region used these berries for food and medicine. 

Pine nuts were once the most important food source for the Owens Valley Paiute. Harvest was an important occasion. They would build a wagoni - a seasonal home that harvests and processes the nuts. 

They were generally roasted and then eaten. In northern Baja California, tribal people would gather pine nuts for days. The youth were sent up into the trees to pick pine cones and throw them down into baskets. 

Other uses for the pine: the sap can also be mixed with black tar to make an adhesive and the resin is especially good for puncture wounds. 

Chia seeds have become a mainstream "superfood" in recent years, and although the species that you get at your local health food store is different from our native species, the concept is by and large the same. The seeds are used as a protein boost. “They don’t have a lot of flavor by themselves and you can add them to almost anything,” Torres says. He puts them in baked goods and smoothies. 

Prickly pear cacti can be found in many desert areas and can be transformed into juice or uses to treat various ailments. Some tribes made chewing gum from the fruit or boiled it down to a thick syrup. 

Excess fruit was dried and stored for winter. The green part of the cactus — nopal — is also used, eaten as a vegetable after boiling to remove some of the gelatinous juice. 

Mesquite beans are made into flour and can be cooked into breads, cakes, and pancakes. It’s a wonderful gluten-free alternative that’s high in protein and fiber. 

Mesquite trees are so important to the Cahuilla people that they named their seasons for corresponding stages in the development of the bean.  “I’ll put a tablespoon of mesquite in my smoothie,” says Deborah Small, writer and teacher at California State University San Marcos. “It really helps with blood sugar.” 

Typically used as a side dish for meat, this fruit is typically made into mush or it can be dehydrated. The evergreen shrub that produces the fruit is drought tolerant and perfect for semiarid California landscapes. 

Note that there are cyanide-forming compounds in these cherries’ pits and leaching is required before they're eaten. 

Also known as yellow nutsedge, taboose was picked by the Paiute tribe in the Owens Valley for their tubers. 

They have a nutty, slightly sweet flavor and must be soaked in water before eaten. 

The tubers are about the size of hazelnuts, and can be roasted. This plant used to be grown in the ancient irrigation ditches dug out by the Owens Valley Paiutes. 

Distinguished by its purple flowers, Nahavita is a staple for the Paiutes and many other peoples that’s eaten for its edible corm. 

Like the taboose, it was sometimes called an “Indian potato” and was traditionally harvested with a digging stick.

Found mostly on coastal bluffs from Santa Barbara County northwards, this buckwheat plant was made into a tea. 

Seeds were ground and mixed into porridges and cakes or made into a flour. 

Buckwheat is also used as a medicinal plant to help with stomach pains and headaches.  

White sage can be found in abundance throughout the region, especially in Southern California. 

It is considered an everyday plant by the Chumash Indians and can be steeped into a tea for calming effects. 

It’s also used for sore throats and is thought to help with stomach aches. 

Chef Sean Sherman, Oglala Lakota from the Pine Ridge reservation, is the founder of The Sioux Chef. Through his research and culinary experience of thirty years he has uncovered and mapped out the foundations of the indigenous food systems and where its revitalization belongs in the future. 

A two time James Beard award winner, Chef Sean, has become renowned nationally and internationally in the culinary movement of indigenous foods. With an ever growing team of decolonized-minded peers, he is leading a movement to completely redefine North American cuisine through the understanding and utilization of indigenous food knowledge. This talk gives the case for an evolution of Native American Foods, taking important education of the past and applying them to the now.

 Chef Sean has become renowned nationally and internationally in the culinary movement of indigenous foods and with an ever growing team of indigenous minded peers, is leading a movement to completely redefine North American cuisine through the understanding and utilization indigenous food knowledge. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. 

This program is part of the Youth in Action: Conversations About our Future series. Youth in Action programs feature young Native activists and changemakers from across the Western Hemisphere working towards equity and social justice for Indigenous peoples. 

Native food systems and agricultural practices were disrupted upon European settlement and the displacement of Native peoples from their lands. For the last century, new foods introduced by U.S. federal policy were unhealthy and substantially different from traditional diets. The introduction of 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. Today we see many young people returning to traditional food sources and sustainable ways of living through political action and sustainable practice. This November, for Native American Heritage Month, join us in a conversation with Samuel Lopez (Tohono O'odham), Mariah Gladstone (Blackfeet, Cherokee), and Alecia Lennie (Inuvialuit) to learn how these young Native foodies are working to decolonize their diets and restore balance in their bodies and communities.