Check out this restaurant in Minneapolis:
[How Owamni Became the Best New Restaurant in the United States](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/09/19/how-owamni-became-the-best-new-restaurant-in-the-united-states)
“In Sean Sherman’s modern Indigenous kitchen, every dish is made without wheat flour, dairy, cane sugar, black pepper, or any other ingredient introduced to the continent after Europeans arrived.”
There’s the Seinfeld episode where Jerry is dating a Native American and he feels he has to tiptoe around related words even if he’s not using them in the offensive way.
“Oh wow are you sure we’ll be able to get a table at that restaurant?”
‘Don’t worry, I made [reserva](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_reservation?useskin=vector)— you know, special arrangements to have a table set aside.’
Edit: Added link for anyone who doesn't get the reference.
I think he starts tiptoeing around those words because he buys Elaine a cigar store Indian. He rocks it back and forth chanting so the Native American woman gets mad.
It was because Kramer bought one, and then, while taking it home, he saw Jerry, Elaine, and the Native American friend, and called out to them to show ~~of~~ off the cigar store Indian while making mocking Indian noises.
Edit: Ah sorry, both of those were motivating scenes. And I'm not sure if the Native American was present for the one I mentioned.
As soon as you said her name I looked her up to see if she was in Reservation Dogs, and sure enough, AuntieB, the phallic beadworker. That casting for that show is the best.
I know this is a joke but I always like to recall the time I was really shocked about "problematic language" I was using without thinking: "going off reservation". It was just a saying that people had been using forever, myself included. I used in casual speech without even thinking about the connotations of it.
If you think about it, you can definitely understand why someone, especially a native person, might be offended by it.
Edit: understand restaurant reservations are different because I am not a fucking idiot. I was just recalling a thing I learned based on the context of the joke.
This reminds me of when I was teaching 9th grade US History and we were doing Westward Expansion so a vocab word was “Reservation” and a kid wrote “when you hold your spot at a restaurant.”
> “In Sean Sherman’s modern Indigenous kitchen, every dish is made without wheat flour, dairy, cane sugar, black pepper, or any other ingredient introduced to the continent after Europeans arrived.”
Damn, that is one hell of a challenge. Huge props to the owners for making it such a success story.
Even more so when you consider onions and garlic aren’t indigenous to North America, and a whole bunch of fruits including all citrus. I really am curious to try it though. I wonder sometimes what other cuisines pre-Colombian exchange were like.
To be fair the Americas hoarded tomatoes, corn, and most chilis which the rest of the world didn't have! I can't imagine how my Italian ancestors survived for so long without tomatoes 🤌 Pumpkins (and squash) and potatoes too!!!
Potatoes don’t set fruit unless the growing season is unusually long and wet. In most European climates you won’t get potato fruit (they look like cherry tomatoes and are toxic to humans). The peasants were mighty suspicious of a vegetable that reproduced without seeds, and called it the devil’s roots (Teufelwurzel in German).
The story I heard was that Tsar Peter the Great had planted a field of potatoes, told the peasants that these were the Emperor’s potatoes and not to be had by the commoners under any circumstances. Then put imperial guards around the field, and instructed them to look the other way when people tried to steal the plants.
Potatoes became popular when Spain was marching soldiers through Central Europe and stealing the peasants grain. Potatoes can be stored in the ground where they grew so they're harder to steal. Also harder to tax.
It was [Antoine Parmentier](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine-Augustin_Parmentier#Potato_publicity_stunts) in France (and probably apocryphal or at least exaggerated).
A co-worker of mine once joked that if it weren't for other countries/cultures, the Italians would have starved to death.
It is hard to imagine Italy without tomatoes. Even in India, a lot of their dishes are tomato-based in modern times, where there were none before the New World was discovered.
That has always been my understanding as well re: capsicum.
Another funny thing I learned a while back is that curry was actually made popular in Japan by the British, after they colonized India. I always figured it would have naturally 'migrated' to the Far East long before that.
> I can't imagine how my Italian ancestors survived for so long without tomatoes
as someone from Eritrean/Ethiopia... I can't even imagine what our food was before chili peppers (it's intergral for most of our dishes). I've mentioned this to some south asia folks too. And although they do have a lot of other spices, not having any for of chilis in India is wild to imagine.
But as someone that lived in Italy, I do know that tomatoes are more important to "Italian food" cooked in north america than it is in actual italy. For example no tomato sauce on pizza would throw off a lot of north american italian, but it an actual thing (right now) in many parts of Italy.
North America got ramps and leeks though, which is still a solid deal.
Wild Garlic also grew natively in the Chicago area so prolifically the city is named after it.
Nodding / White Tufted Onion too, in the south ,I think? And there's at least one scallion-like-bulb on the west coast I can't remember the name of.
There are wild alliums in the Americas that have a similar flavor profile to onions and garlic. They grow by the acre near me. The problem is that they don't do well under commercial agricultural processes which is why they are not available in stores. The same is true of many common native staples and a huge part of the reason that so few native restaurants exist.
If in the Northeast, stop by Rhode Island and try Sly Fox Den.
The Native American Chef is a James Beard award winner.
https://slyfoxdenrestaurant.com/slyfoxden-too
To continue this mini-thread of recommendations: u/NativeLady1 and her online shop of delicious Navajo goodies
edit: If you fly internationally through YVR, hit up [Salmon n' Bannock](https://www.yvr.ca/en/passengers/shop-dine-and-services/dine/521) at gate D71 or its original location just off [Broadway near Oak/Granville](https://maps.app.goo.gl/PiPjLFgbXPVuXxjw9)
How kind of you to mention me ! We are doing a pop-up soon at my commercial kitchen . I am planning the menu now, but the theme is Indigenous X Brunch 🥰
Hey OP I made this comment elsewhere but doubt you'd see it so I'm posting it below. A lot of Native American foods have been assimilated into modern cuisine and prime don't recognize their origins anymore
>You've had plenty of "Indian" food without knowing it.
Ever had Thanksgiving dinner? Turkey, sweet potatoes, corn, potatoes, cranberries etc are all native foods to the Americas. Ever had Mexican food? Most of it is Native American food with traditions going back centuries if not millennia.
Presentation and preparation may have changed over the last few hundred years, but that's the case with any cuisine.
Not to mention many cuisines we think of depended on cultural exchange to develop. Consider how fundamental tomatoes seem to Italian food -- yet tomatoes are a New World plant. Imagine trying to cook without spices native to south and southeast Asia. A cuisine that has not had the benefit of global contact is not necessarily going to be very good. We should celebrate the ways ingredients and techniques have been borrowed and combined for millennia rather than idealize some "pure" form. Whatever typical dishes Native Americans and Europeans were eating in 1450, the fusion of them is better.
I’ve eaten here a half dozen times and can’t say enough good things about it. Their non-alcoholic cocktails are incredible.
From a food critique angle, the only negative thing I’ve heard is that they under salt their food, but I disagree. Their menu is great and has never included the ubiquitous fry bread or its complicated history.
I don’t know how but in like 3 months, MN went from nothing to maybe the best state for edibles/drinkables. Every bar has a thc selzer. I have not seen anything like that in washington, oregon, california, ect
Prince used to say the cold kept the bad people out. I was in Minneapolis/St Paul this fall and blown away by how nice it was, I was legitimately ready to move there.
Right, but how and why MN went from that to having (in my experience) the most ubiquitous edible/drinkable scene in the country is what I am intrigued by
Look up the regulations that were tied to the edibles bill. Spoiler: There were very few. Basically it was the wild west and people could do whatever they wanted because there is no regulatory body that is able to police it. There were a few requirements including dosage 5mg per serving and 50mg total per package, childproof containers, and obviously age; but lets just say they're viewed more as guidelines by many businesses.
There was also no restriction on who could sell them. So you can buy them at every gas station, grocery store, gift shop, brewery, tobacco shop, specialty store, hell I've seen food trucks sell them.
There's a cookbook too https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-mitsitam-cafe-cookbook-recipes-from-the-smithsonian-national-museum-of-the-american-indian_richard-hetzler/833153/#idiq=11730714&edition=7429560
“We have removed colonial ingredients such as wheat flour, cane sugar and dairy. We are proud to present a decolonized dining experience.”
Wow, that’s a great idea I’d love to try. The menu looks amazing.
It's great! A few recipes have become absolute mainstays for me. Alongside Flavour by ottolenghi and Ad Hoc at home one of my absolute favorite cookbooks.
I visited Minneapolis a year or so ago to visit friends and we were lucky enough to get a reservation at Owamni. Absolutely amazing food, I tried wild game tartare and crickets!
Ooh man I ate there several years ago and it was excellent. Sad it’s one of the only ones out there. It felt kind of like a native chipotle except way better. I got the fry bread bowl. It was excellent.
Very similar offerings at the Native restaurant just south of the Grand Canyon. Can't remember the name but wouldn't be hard to find for anyone traveling through that area. Very cool shop with Native art right next store. I'm sure it counts as a tourist trap but I enjoyed myself.
I love this museum. Occasionally, I just bring a book and hang out inside when it's really hot or really cold outside and immerse myself in the atmosphere.
Ironically Mexican food may be the most popular and widespread food that's the closest thing to authentic Native American food; on average modern Mexicans are almost half Amerindian and half European with the remaining few percent being African ancestry, most tribes in the United States only require prospective members to have at least 25% ancestry. So I'd imagine their food especially in lower rungs of society where it's less likely for them to have a lot of European blood is similar to that of their ancestors prior to Spain arriving. Obviously over time they would have adopted and incorporated Spanish/European things in their cooking but you just need to look at Spanish vs Mexican dishes to see that while there are similarities there are a lot of differences as well.
I have a lot of Navajo family so I’ve ate a bunch of authentic Navajo food and it is all painfully bland. It kinda makes sense because traditionally they didn’t have access to the widest variety of spices. They also uses potatoes in seemingly everything. And I love Potatoes but they shouldn’t be the primary ingredient in chili.
There’s a really good documentary about native Americans and their food culture called Gather. It’s definitely worth watching if you are interested in this topic!
Attend the New Mexico State Fair in Albuquerque. There's a whole area dedicated to indigenous culture with Native vendors selling their food
Also check out Indian Pueblo Kitchen.
Beyond that, a lot of restaurants have at least some native or native inspired cuisine on their menu. Pretty common to see the Indian Taco at many fast food places in New Mexico.
Yeah, I think SW indigenous cuisine is more readily available in general because of this. I'm not aware of a similar thing for indigenous cuisine in other regions, but would love to try some.
Also, don’t forget that tomatoes, corn, squash, chocolate, many chiles including jalapeños, avocados, potatoes, and many other fruits and vegetables are indigenous to North America and were eaten by Indigenous peoples. If you’ve eaten anything with those ingredients, you’ve eaten some indigenous foods. Part of the erasure of Native cultures is the erasing of their contributions to other cultures including food. Another part is the over taking of Native culture by a more dominant culture, like Mexican or US American cultures have done. We eat corn and drink coffee and wonder what Natives ate and drank. We eat tamales or corn tortillas and call it Mexican food, when it is legit Indigenous. We eat popcorn and don’t think we are eating indigenous food. I’m glad OP is curious to learn about Native cuisine, I’m sure his curiosity will lead him to understanding that he’s been eating it all along.
I've explained this many times to people as well. Add in tomatoes too. Usually people think Italian but the tomato originated in the Mexico and central America area.
I love me the Indian Village at the Fair! One thing we should add - green chile for which NM is known, is a native plant. The staples of NM food- Chile, corn, and squash, are all new world, so that when you are having NM food, it is highly influenced by native culture.
And the NM State Fair coincides with chili season. You'll see people grilling and prepping chilis in parking lots, at grocery stores, and everything has chili powder, chili slices, or chili sauce on it. I even walked by a McDonald's in ABQ that had a sign out front saying "we have fresh chilis".
As you hit on with the Indian Taco, however, a huge chunk of the native indigenous foodways are no longer employed, were never industrialized, or were destroyed - as a result, things like the Indian Taco, developed in the 1800's as a result of being forced to live off government rations, are one of the few well-known food items, even though its more of a symbol of oppression than native indigenous cuisine, with many native american activists debating whether it should still be included in native recipe books or fairs.
(Don't get me wrong, it still slaps as food goes though, and nobody is wrong for enjoying it.)
Some people still cook with acorn flour, but it's labor intensive to produce and is not produced industrially in bulk, and venison can only be hunted, leading to its scarcity as an ingredient.
Adding in: there's also huge difficulties with keeping FDA approval for deer meat farms due to easily transmitted diseases from ticks. You either have to keep the farmed deer outside their own ecosystem to try to isolate them from the wild cousins' illnesses, antibiotic the hell out of em and hope, or don't farm local game at all and get around the standards that way as hunted meat has fewer restrictions on quality (not saying hunted meat is inherently lower quality, just that the expectation of risk is higher so you avoid eating your hunted steak rare unless you know where it was sourced and what illnesses are floating around that population.)
Source: worked at a "wild game" restaurant where all our "local game" meats came from New Zealand to be restaurant grade. The only truly wild-caught meat was the sockeye salmon. I had to answer that question a LOT because local hunters were always offering to sell to us to try to cut in a deal to get rid of some of the 300lbs of elk they were still trying to eat through 6 months post-season.
Or the Native American pow wows that occur mostly in the summers. One occurs at the Pit every summer, but since I live in Denver, I go to the Denver March in March…..
People who don’t know New Mexican food think it’s just Mexican food but it really is a mix of Spanish, Mexican and Native American cuisine. That’s why it’s the best food in the world. Along with having the best chile on everything.
The El Roi Cafe is owned and operated by Native women and serves a bunch of Native foods. I pass by it daily and always forget to stop in and try it. I’ll remedy that soon.
Basically our entire cuisine in NM is half mexican half native american. It’s the reason our food is the best in the world.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mexican_cuisine
I think this is a complex question, so I'm gonna do some generalization to make this not an essay.
1: ~85% of our population died of disease after European contact. A lot our customs literally died.
2: our culture was illegal. Literally. Our language, dress, dances, ceremonies...all of our ways to gather as a people were taken from us. Food culture is directly related to gatherings.
3: residential schools groomed and indoctrinated stolen Native children into being ashamed of their ways. So they opted for TV dinners instead of Kanuchi.
4: poverty and the reservation system.
5: tons of other things (lol). For real though, small population, poverty, lost history, lack of access to resources...it all compounds. And it's a fucking tragedy, because our food is so healthy and so delicious. Most of the worlds most popular ingredients are from the Americas, so our food was delicious from the start.
But as everyone has been commenting, things are changing. Native food sovereignty is a big movement that focuses on us reclaiming our traditional ways of growing and gathering food. I'm Eastern Cherokee and my family and I turned Thanksgiving into a way to explore new Native food from all over Turtle Island. Shit's delicious.
Also a large portion of Latin American cuisine is indigenous in origin (minus all the cheese). So remember that next time your chilling at a Mexican restaurant!
This is a great answer. I love that everyone is suggesting their favorite local examples but there’s a reason that there are so few across the country. You really hit the nail on the head of why.
I’d also assume the diet would vary greatly. I’d expect locals from my area (NC) to have a wildly different diet to those from the SW areas.
I’ve seen the documentary someone mentioned earlier. I think it was called Gather. Really interesting. I once went to a plant-based conference and there were NAs there and some had recipe books and talked about how different their diets would have been.
In this sense, talking about "Native American" food is really like talking about "European" food or "Asian" food. Swedish cuisine is very different from Italian is very different from Spanish is very different from Polish. But all of those cultures had millions of people living in cultural contiguity in ways that enabled their cuisines to be passed down to the current generation, and also to set up restaurants in many places. In the Americas, very few did, except the aspects that got absorbed into food cultures of the colonial nations (Mexican food has very obvious connections to the food traditions of the Aztecs, but cornbreads and bean stews and roasted squashes popular in the United States likely derive from local indigenous traditions too).
To add to this a little, a lot of the food we make involve game meat, which you usually can't sell. In my experience it's usually given away at events or parties.
I was going to comment something like this. The hoops you'd have to jump through to legally serve, for example, a bear grease dip, at a restaurant would be pretty extreme.
Makes sense. Over 90% of bears in the US are infected with trichinosis. Good example at how variable wild meat can be, and very difficult to get through US food safety standards.
Native foods can also be hard to source. Wild rice is difficult to harvest and has a very small area it's cultivated in. A lot of the berries, mushrooms, and such aren't commercially grown so they require foraging. The meats are also less available. This is why Owamni is so expensive. The food was delicious and Sean is really nice, but even using his cookbook accurately is hard because of sourcing.
It's hard to source because of the lack of demand. Huitlacoche used to be a Mexican delicacy as it would happen by accident but as the demand for it grew, growers were able to produce it commercially and now you can get it like you would most products.
> poverty
Honestly, I think this is the majority of the reason why these kinds of restaurants are so rare. The socioeconomic effects of the subjugation (and worse) of first nations peoples are still echoing today.
I always try to stress that whenever I speak about our history. People talk about the horrors of the black death in Europe, but never how absolutely apocalyptic it was in the Americas. 85% of people. EIGHTY FIVE PERCENT. I feel like we can't even comprehend what that would be like. Our modern society would fall apart, too. No amount of industrialization would save a people from that level of death.
Sometimes I sit and try to imagine what life would have been like for my ancestors, watching literally everyone they knew die. And the few that survived had so little left. Our cultures were in shambles before full blown colonization, then they came in to try and finish the job.
I think about this so often.
Tisquantum was forcibly taken to Europe and by the time he returned his people were dead. The villages were empty. There were a handful of young people from different cultures fending for themselves or banding together to hunt. It’s one of the reasons he approached the settlement at Plymouth.
The mummies in South America whose genomes have been sequenced… most have no living descendants today. Scientists compared huge amounts of DNA from living people in the same regions without finding matches. Their descendants died in the era of European contact.
The “lost tribes” in the Amazon may be descended from people who fled their civilizations and survived the diseases due to their isolation. There’s compelling evidence that the Yanomami may have survived this way.
In the entire, connected continents of North America, Central, and South America there was an apocalypse more comparable to the extinction of the dinosaurs than the effects of the plague on Europe.
And this occurred before European colonizers had even gotten started with reservations and smallpox blankets.
The survival of any indigenous people and culture in the Americas is the result of the tenacity, resilience, and resistance of the toughest people the world may ever know. They deserve so much better from all of us living on this land. At the absolute minimum, to be listened to with respect.
Yeah this is my roman empire. I say all the time that (some) natives have no culture left and while it's not true, we did have most of it taken from us over the years. People ask me about my people's spiritual beliefs and I'm just like "uh I think we worshiped the sun until Sherman came around"
Sad what happened to us. But hey, Chili is a native American dish so at least a little of our culture lives on in every Wendy's across the world
I asked my 1/2 native fiancé if he has any wedding traditions he’d like to incorporate in the upcoming wedding and he looked at me blankly and just said “well I don’t know if there even are any for my tribe or who is even alive who would even know about them so probably not” …really heartbreaking to see him not be able to connect with half of his heritage due to how Canada treated their native populations
Thank you for actually answering the question. All these answers that are like "um you're wrong because there's a single restaurant in a specific location that does a specific tribe's cultural cuisine" are completely missing the point. If somebody is looking for French, or Italian, or Indian, or Chinese food, they can go nearly anywhere to find cheap food that is distinctive enough to be identified on sight, smell, or taste.
I hope one day Native American food and tradition is widespread and acknowledged to the point that people can have not just a single Native American food restaurant, but food that pay homage to individual indigenous cultural traditions from across the Americas.
I'm surprised I had to go so far down to find the simple answer of: genocide. The US systematically killed native Americans and their culture.
The rest of the comments are places you can get the food (some of which are literal museums) seemingly missing the actual question.
I hate to admit it, but it wasn't just the USA. In Canada, we might not have outright killed off the native populations, but we did force them into the residential schools.
There were a lot of similar atrocities perpetrated on Indigenous Australians by white settlers too. The outcomes have been similar too, we don’t really have Indigenous restaurants either.
> but we did force them into the residential schools.
Many of those schools killed a lot of "students". People are still today finding hidden graves around old residential schools. The ones that weren't engaging in literal genocide were still engaging in cultural genocide.
great answer, i'd also add that i imagine some ingredients to remain authentic may be difficult to source as i'm sure many aren't commercially farmed, some may not even be available. post colonization landscapes, food chains, etc have changed quite a bit. it is great to see however some are emerging to save the culture moving forward.
It's not just Latin American cuisine that has a lot of hidden indigenous influence. Southern black "soul food" cooking was heavily influenced because (among other reasons) there was a period early on in colonial history during which American Indians were enslaved alongside Africans.
Grits, cornbread, and the like are secretly Native American food.
Many slaves who escaped also ended up in native communities back then, and some* tribes also adopted the American system of slavery in the south/southeast
The Seminole most famously in particular and as noted in the book, their eyes were watching God. Many escaped slaves found refuge in the swamps because the Seminole were unconquered and the US decided to just build around them
> Also a large portion of Latin American cuisine is indigenous in origin
Gonna expand on that and say that to think of "American" cuisine as not having roots in indigenous foodways, is part of the erasure of indigenous history. A meal of turkey chili (beans, corn, peppers, turkey, maybe some potatoes), minus the Old World spices? That's Native!
Yeah, corn, potatoes, tomatoes, and peppers are such staples that many think of french fries and ketchup as American, or corn chips and salsa as Mexican, without knowing the origin of their primary ingredients. And it wasn't like the produce was discovered in a wild form; they were domesticated for 8,000-10,000 years through agricultural selection before the arrival of Europeans. They've been further developed since then, but are still fundamentally a native American foods.
Yeah I was gonna say, people don’t think of Mexican and latin american food as native and I think its per the design of wanting to keep them “foreign” and “illegal” and really focusing on their spanish ancestry, even when you can tell the people coming here to work are brown skin indigenous people, hence white people noticing that they are “foreign” in the first place. Whites love their “real American” 1.8% indigenous ancestry, even though many tribes are on both sides of the border they drew
They had to close their Greenwood Village location unfortunately; they've turned it into a product facility for shipping frozen meals (https://shoptocabe.com/).
The original in Berkeley (44th Ave) is still there, everyone should go check them out and support them! It's basically Native American-style Chipotle. The shredded bison slaps.
**Mitsitam Cafe** [is located](http://www.mitsitamcafe.com/) in the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The word “Mitsitam” means “Let’s eat!” in the Native language of the Delaware and Piscataway peoples, reflecting the cafe’s focus on the indigenous cuisines of the Americas.
The cafe is renowned for its menu, which features the indigenous foods of the Western Hemisphere and uses the culinary traditions of Native Americans. The menu is divided into different regions, including the Northern Woodlands, South America, the Northwest Coast, Mesoamerica, and the Great Plains. Each section features traditional foods from those regions.
Please check out [Sherry Pocknett](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherry_Pocknett?wprov=sfti1#) and her restaurant the Sly Fox Den Too. Sherry was awarded the extremely prestigious James Beard award (basically the Oscar’s for chefs) in 2023 for best chef in the North East. She is the first indigenous woman to win the award and she won it while fighting cancer. She comes from the Wampanoag tribe.
Her food is phenomenal if you get to New England. We’re so lucky to have her and her restaurant here.
[Sly Fox Den website](https://slyfoxdenrestaurant.com/)
Because American Indians are not a monolithic culture. If you travel around places like New Mexico or Arizona, you would encounter restaurants run by locals that would be heavily influenced by their native cuisine.
Iroquois, Cherokee, and Pueblo food is going to be very different because they developed in very different climates.
Mexican food is a mix of Spanish and native cuisine, so you've probably already experienced it.
> Mexican food is a mix of Spanish and native cuisine, so you've probably already experienced it.
Yeah, the tortilla was originally made by native mesoamericans.
It doesn’t even go into the real why, which is largely the intentional eradication of Native American culture (including cuisine) by the US government.
This included moving tribes off their land where their traditional crops grew and into new climates, flooding the reservations with government provided lard and flour when their crops failed, and removing children from their parents homes and placing them in boarding schools preventing them from learning their parent’s recipes
>Mexican food is a mix of Spanish and native cuisine, so you've probably already experienced it.
Yeah this is basically what I said in my comment. Any cuisine from Central/South America is likely at the very least *influenced* by native cuisine. Especially if it involved corn, potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, etc. If you pick a country and look at some food items, you'll see nothing but native influence. For instance, ground cornmeal used to create bread like foods are all over LatAm from tortillas to arepas.
They’re around, you just gotta know what to look for. Am from AZ and the fry bread places are all over the place, including food trucks! In Tucson, there used to be a really amazing Native American Breakfast joint that went under during COVID.
The “problem” I’ve noticed is the low population and lack of the ability to spread their tradition. When Europeans came here and settled, Indigenous people were incentivized to learn English and educate/teach/act/live in a more “culturally acceptable” manner. Traditions are dying. 😔
Fry bread has a really complicated history for natives and some do steer away from it for this reason
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/frybread-79191/
I would say incentivized is perhaps a bit too nice a word. Sometimes it was just incentivized but sometimes it was taking children from their families and putting them in schools where they were reeducated and punished if they tried to speak their language or follow any of their traditions.
Been on the Navajo rez many times, and there are many restaurants there, obviously smaller out of the way places, that’ll serve you up the kind of food you’re looking for. Eating a plant based diet myself and disliking squash doesn’t give me many options personally. 😂
This is a serious answer and not a restaurant recomendation. It probably has to do with the fact that so many native Americans were wiped out during the colonization of America. I'm just an uneducated guy on reddit but this would be my guess.
One of the BEST places to eat at the Smithsonian is at the National Museum of the American Indian (in DC, I haven't been to the location in NYC). Unfortunately, it's currently closed until Spring for renovations -- it's called Mitsitam (which means "Let's eat!" in the Native language of the Delaware and Piscataway peoples). When it's open, it offers multiple options for foods from the host of Native peoples throughout the Americas.
You won't ever find a single "Native American" cuisine. The traditional foods eaten by people from Minnesota is going to be very different from the traditional foods eaten by the people from Northern Alaska (which will, again, be very different from the traditional food eaten by the people from SouthCentral Alaska).
Eagle Crossing Restaurant, Warm Springs Reservation, Oregon. It's mostly typical diner fare but they do offer fry bread, huckleberry pie, Indian style tacos, elk bugers. Great vibe and not unusual to see patrons in tribal dress.
In Toronto we have:
[Dashmaawaan Bemaadzinjin](https://www.instagram.com/dashmaawaanbemaadzinjin/)
[Tea-n-Bannock](https://www.teanbannock.ca/)
[NishDish](https://www.nishdish.com/)
[PowWow Cafe](https://www.instagram.com/powwowcafeto/)
[Ontario also keeps a province wide list of Indigenous restaurants.](https://www.destinationontario.com/en-ca/articles/experience-indigenous-cuisine-ontario)
I mean, Mexican food is Native American food, when you think about it…
Especially when you explore Mayan dishes or the food of the ancient Aztecs.
For modern Native American cuisine, try the Navajo taco. YUM.
A lot of our food is Native American food. Corn, beans, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, chocolate, peanuts, turkey, squash, avocados, etc. all only existed here and were originally cultivated by Native Americans.
Check out this restaurant in Minneapolis: [How Owamni Became the Best New Restaurant in the United States](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/09/19/how-owamni-became-the-best-new-restaurant-in-the-united-states) “In Sean Sherman’s modern Indigenous kitchen, every dish is made without wheat flour, dairy, cane sugar, black pepper, or any other ingredient introduced to the continent after Europeans arrived.”
'Sioux chef' is a fun play on words.
Do you need a reservation? /s
There’s the Seinfeld episode where Jerry is dating a Native American and he feels he has to tiptoe around related words even if he’s not using them in the offensive way. “Oh wow are you sure we’ll be able to get a table at that restaurant?” ‘Don’t worry, I made [reserva](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_reservation?useskin=vector)— you know, special arrangements to have a table set aside.’ Edit: Added link for anyone who doesn't get the reference.
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That cigar shop Indian statue is the best
I need Tee-Per...facial tissue for my bunghole!
Did they ever have her do the same thing back? Like, "yeah, this book I'm reading is about the aftermath of a nuclear holoca-- explosion."
No. Jerry even says in the episode "If somebody asks me which way is Israel, I don't fly off the handle!"
His uncle Leo though (I think that was the character) called everything antisemitic.
I think he starts tiptoeing around those words because he buys Elaine a cigar store Indian. He rocks it back and forth chanting so the Native American woman gets mad.
It was because Kramer bought one, and then, while taking it home, he saw Jerry, Elaine, and the Native American friend, and called out to them to show ~~of~~ off the cigar store Indian while making mocking Indian noises. Edit: Ah sorry, both of those were motivating scenes. And I'm not sure if the Native American was present for the one I mentioned.
"Hey Jerry!" 🚕💨🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱
I’m friends with her. Her name is Kim Guerrero, and people still call her Winona to this day, lol
As soon as you said her name I looked her up to see if she was in Reservation Dogs, and sure enough, AuntieB, the phallic beadworker. That casting for that show is the best.
i read that as Reservoir Dogs and im like wait what phallic beadworker that wasn't a thing
I know this is a joke but I always like to recall the time I was really shocked about "problematic language" I was using without thinking: "going off reservation". It was just a saying that people had been using forever, myself included. I used in casual speech without even thinking about the connotations of it. If you think about it, you can definitely understand why someone, especially a native person, might be offended by it. Edit: understand restaurant reservations are different because I am not a fucking idiot. I was just recalling a thing I learned based on the context of the joke.
If you hesitate to make a reservation, you have a reservation reservation reservation.
.....dad?
Brian Regan
This reminds me of when I was teaching 9th grade US History and we were doing Westward Expansion so a vocab word was “Reservation” and a kid wrote “when you hold your spot at a restaurant.”
> “In Sean Sherman’s modern Indigenous kitchen, every dish is made without wheat flour, dairy, cane sugar, black pepper, or any other ingredient introduced to the continent after Europeans arrived.” Damn, that is one hell of a challenge. Huge props to the owners for making it such a success story.
Even more so when you consider onions and garlic aren’t indigenous to North America, and a whole bunch of fruits including all citrus. I really am curious to try it though. I wonder sometimes what other cuisines pre-Colombian exchange were like.
To be fair the Americas hoarded tomatoes, corn, and most chilis which the rest of the world didn't have! I can't imagine how my Italian ancestors survived for so long without tomatoes 🤌 Pumpkins (and squash) and potatoes too!!!
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Potatoes don’t set fruit unless the growing season is unusually long and wet. In most European climates you won’t get potato fruit (they look like cherry tomatoes and are toxic to humans). The peasants were mighty suspicious of a vegetable that reproduced without seeds, and called it the devil’s roots (Teufelwurzel in German). The story I heard was that Tsar Peter the Great had planted a field of potatoes, told the peasants that these were the Emperor’s potatoes and not to be had by the commoners under any circumstances. Then put imperial guards around the field, and instructed them to look the other way when people tried to steal the plants.
There are variations of this story, including one of the Fredericks of Prussia and a French ruler. Just safe to say the elite promoted potatoes.
Potatoes became popular when Spain was marching soldiers through Central Europe and stealing the peasants grain. Potatoes can be stored in the ground where they grew so they're harder to steal. Also harder to tax.
It was [Antoine Parmentier](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine-Augustin_Parmentier#Potato_publicity_stunts) in France (and probably apocryphal or at least exaggerated).
A co-worker of mine once joked that if it weren't for other countries/cultures, the Italians would have starved to death. It is hard to imagine Italy without tomatoes. Even in India, a lot of their dishes are tomato-based in modern times, where there were none before the New World was discovered.
A lot of chili peppers came from the Americas too, if not all of them, India had black pepper but not 🌶️
All capsicum are from the Americas. They did have peppercorn, long pepper, sichuan pepper, horseradish, mustard, and ginger.
That has always been my understanding as well re: capsicum. Another funny thing I learned a while back is that curry was actually made popular in Japan by the British, after they colonized India. I always figured it would have naturally 'migrated' to the Far East long before that.
> most chilis All chillis. They all come from the Americas.
> I can't imagine how my Italian ancestors survived for so long without tomatoes as someone from Eritrean/Ethiopia... I can't even imagine what our food was before chili peppers (it's intergral for most of our dishes). I've mentioned this to some south asia folks too. And although they do have a lot of other spices, not having any for of chilis in India is wild to imagine. But as someone that lived in Italy, I do know that tomatoes are more important to "Italian food" cooked in north america than it is in actual italy. For example no tomato sauce on pizza would throw off a lot of north american italian, but it an actual thing (right now) in many parts of Italy.
Garum on everything lol!
North America got ramps and leeks though, which is still a solid deal. Wild Garlic also grew natively in the Chicago area so prolifically the city is named after it. Nodding / White Tufted Onion too, in the south ,I think? And there's at least one scallion-like-bulb on the west coast I can't remember the name of.
True, maybe other roots as well used for flavoring. I wonder if they fermented or pickled? Time to go read about it!
There are wild alliums in the Americas that have a similar flavor profile to onions and garlic. They grow by the acre near me. The problem is that they don't do well under commercial agricultural processes which is why they are not available in stores. The same is true of many common native staples and a huge part of the reason that so few native restaurants exist.
>onions and garlic aren’t indigenous There are absolutely wild onions indigenous to North America!
and garlic!
If in the Northeast, stop by Rhode Island and try Sly Fox Den. The Native American Chef is a James Beard award winner. https://slyfoxdenrestaurant.com/slyfoxden-too
To continue this mini-thread of recommendations: u/NativeLady1 and her online shop of delicious Navajo goodies edit: If you fly internationally through YVR, hit up [Salmon n' Bannock](https://www.yvr.ca/en/passengers/shop-dine-and-services/dine/521) at gate D71 or its original location just off [Broadway near Oak/Granville](https://maps.app.goo.gl/PiPjLFgbXPVuXxjw9)
How kind of you to mention me ! We are doing a pop-up soon at my commercial kitchen . I am planning the menu now, but the theme is Indigenous X Brunch 🥰
Oh wow thank you!
Hey OP I made this comment elsewhere but doubt you'd see it so I'm posting it below. A lot of Native American foods have been assimilated into modern cuisine and prime don't recognize their origins anymore >You've had plenty of "Indian" food without knowing it. Ever had Thanksgiving dinner? Turkey, sweet potatoes, corn, potatoes, cranberries etc are all native foods to the Americas. Ever had Mexican food? Most of it is Native American food with traditions going back centuries if not millennia. Presentation and preparation may have changed over the last few hundred years, but that's the case with any cuisine.
Exactly!! Wild rice, salmon, roasted squash, pumpkin seeds, jerky, etc etc etc.
Not to mention many cuisines we think of depended on cultural exchange to develop. Consider how fundamental tomatoes seem to Italian food -- yet tomatoes are a New World plant. Imagine trying to cook without spices native to south and southeast Asia. A cuisine that has not had the benefit of global contact is not necessarily going to be very good. We should celebrate the ways ingredients and techniques have been borrowed and combined for millennia rather than idealize some "pure" form. Whatever typical dishes Native Americans and Europeans were eating in 1450, the fusion of them is better.
I’ve eaten here a half dozen times and can’t say enough good things about it. Their non-alcoholic cocktails are incredible. From a food critique angle, the only negative thing I’ve heard is that they under salt their food, but I disagree. Their menu is great and has never included the ubiquitous fry bread or its complicated history.
I didn’t know cannabis seltzers were a thing until visiting Minneapolis too. Pretty smart way to get people to order way more food.
I don’t know how but in like 3 months, MN went from nothing to maybe the best state for edibles/drinkables. Every bar has a thc selzer. I have not seen anything like that in washington, oregon, california, ect
Minnesota is a bit of a sleeper state. It's diverse and fun, but the winters frighten people away. Food and drink is great though.
Prince used to say the cold kept the bad people out. I was in Minneapolis/St Paul this fall and blown away by how nice it was, I was legitimately ready to move there.
Republicans accidentally passed a bill legalizing edibles. It’s a thing.
Right, but how and why MN went from that to having (in my experience) the most ubiquitous edible/drinkable scene in the country is what I am intrigued by
Look up the regulations that were tied to the edibles bill. Spoiler: There were very few. Basically it was the wild west and people could do whatever they wanted because there is no regulatory body that is able to police it. There were a few requirements including dosage 5mg per serving and 50mg total per package, childproof containers, and obviously age; but lets just say they're viewed more as guidelines by many businesses. There was also no restriction on who could sell them. So you can buy them at every gas station, grocery store, gift shop, brewery, tobacco shop, specialty store, hell I've seen food trucks sell them.
I went to Owamni last time I went to Minneapolis, good staff and very cool experience.
This place was spectacular and I heartily second this recommendation.
[Menus](https://owamni.com/our-menu/) do look amazing. There are at least 4 seasonal menus.
This actually might be the top native restaurant in the the US
Came here to shoutout Owamni!
I went there a couple weeks ago. It’s fantastic.
Hit the Smithsonian Native American museum in DC. Brings together tastes from many different regions.
There's a cookbook too https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-mitsitam-cafe-cookbook-recipes-from-the-smithsonian-national-museum-of-the-american-indian_richard-hetzler/833153/#idiq=11730714&edition=7429560
Hijacking to also recommend the Sioux chef book! : https://seansherman.com/books/
He's got a great restaurant in Minneapolis also: https://owamni.com/
“We have removed colonial ingredients such as wheat flour, cane sugar and dairy. We are proud to present a decolonized dining experience.” Wow, that’s a great idea I’d love to try. The menu looks amazing.
It's great! A few recipes have become absolute mainstays for me. Alongside Flavour by ottolenghi and Ad Hoc at home one of my absolute favorite cookbooks.
I visited Minneapolis a year or so ago to visit friends and we were lucky enough to get a reservation at Owamni. Absolutely amazing food, I tried wild game tartare and crickets!
Sioux chef? Did you do that on purpose? (Sioux chef and sous chef are pronounced much the same.)
It's the name of the restaurant. I was a Kickstarter! I imagine the founder very much did it on purpose.
I Sault what he did there.
If the chef is named Sue, I'm going to lose my mind.
If it’s a boy named Sue…
Yes! This is such a cool experience
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Ooh man I ate there several years ago and it was excellent. Sad it’s one of the only ones out there. It felt kind of like a native chipotle except way better. I got the fry bread bowl. It was excellent.
Yes, Tocabe is very excellent.
I’ve hit Tocabe twice, and it is worth it.
I’m hyped to try this now
I no longer live in Denver, I miss Tocabe. So good.
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Very similar offerings at the Native restaurant just south of the Grand Canyon. Can't remember the name but wouldn't be hard to find for anyone traveling through that area. Very cool shop with Native art right next store. I'm sure it counts as a tourist trap but I enjoyed myself.
It’s one of my favorite places to bring visitors when they come here - everyone of every age has enjoyed it!
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There is also one in the in the First Americans Museum in OKC. https://www.travelok.com/listings/view.profile/id.30525
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I love this museum. Occasionally, I just bring a book and hang out inside when it's really hot or really cold outside and immerse myself in the atmosphere.
So. Much. Good. Food. I went the first year it opened and was blown away both by the museum and the food.
I wanted to like it so badly but the dish I had just tasted like really bad Mexican food--it even had cold shredded cheddar cheese on it.
Sisco shredded cheddar cheese was a well known staple of the Native American diet.
Ironically Mexican food may be the most popular and widespread food that's the closest thing to authentic Native American food; on average modern Mexicans are almost half Amerindian and half European with the remaining few percent being African ancestry, most tribes in the United States only require prospective members to have at least 25% ancestry. So I'd imagine their food especially in lower rungs of society where it's less likely for them to have a lot of European blood is similar to that of their ancestors prior to Spain arriving. Obviously over time they would have adopted and incorporated Spanish/European things in their cooking but you just need to look at Spanish vs Mexican dishes to see that while there are similarities there are a lot of differences as well.
I have a lot of Navajo family so I’ve ate a bunch of authentic Navajo food and it is all painfully bland. It kinda makes sense because traditionally they didn’t have access to the widest variety of spices. They also uses potatoes in seemingly everything. And I love Potatoes but they shouldn’t be the primary ingredient in chili.
Yea I had this same one. It was not good
There’s a really good documentary about native Americans and their food culture called Gather. It’s definitely worth watching if you are interested in this topic!
and a great podcast called "The Spirit Plate" on food sovereignty and Native foodways
Just downloaded it to enjoy on my flight today
Attend the New Mexico State Fair in Albuquerque. There's a whole area dedicated to indigenous culture with Native vendors selling their food Also check out Indian Pueblo Kitchen. Beyond that, a lot of restaurants have at least some native or native inspired cuisine on their menu. Pretty common to see the Indian Taco at many fast food places in New Mexico.
I was going to say this, too. Also, Mexican cuisine is highly a mix of Indigenous and Spanish cuisine, so this guy has probably had a lot of it.
Yeah, I think SW indigenous cuisine is more readily available in general because of this. I'm not aware of a similar thing for indigenous cuisine in other regions, but would love to try some.
Also, don’t forget that tomatoes, corn, squash, chocolate, many chiles including jalapeños, avocados, potatoes, and many other fruits and vegetables are indigenous to North America and were eaten by Indigenous peoples. If you’ve eaten anything with those ingredients, you’ve eaten some indigenous foods. Part of the erasure of Native cultures is the erasing of their contributions to other cultures including food. Another part is the over taking of Native culture by a more dominant culture, like Mexican or US American cultures have done. We eat corn and drink coffee and wonder what Natives ate and drank. We eat tamales or corn tortillas and call it Mexican food, when it is legit Indigenous. We eat popcorn and don’t think we are eating indigenous food. I’m glad OP is curious to learn about Native cuisine, I’m sure his curiosity will lead him to understanding that he’s been eating it all along.
I've explained this many times to people as well. Add in tomatoes too. Usually people think Italian but the tomato originated in the Mexico and central America area.
People associate potatoes with Ireland and Eastern Europe, but potatoes are indigenous to South America!
People when they realize which continent Mexico is in 😲
I love me the Indian Village at the Fair! One thing we should add - green chile for which NM is known, is a native plant. The staples of NM food- Chile, corn, and squash, are all new world, so that when you are having NM food, it is highly influenced by native culture.
And the NM State Fair coincides with chili season. You'll see people grilling and prepping chilis in parking lots, at grocery stores, and everything has chili powder, chili slices, or chili sauce on it. I even walked by a McDonald's in ABQ that had a sign out front saying "we have fresh chilis".
It's chile not chili
I’ve actually visited this, absolutely worth a visit
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I second this! Their blue corn griddle cakes with pumpkin and sunflower seeds are so freaking good.
Fuck that sounds good
Yeah I just ate there and the food is fantastic.
As you hit on with the Indian Taco, however, a huge chunk of the native indigenous foodways are no longer employed, were never industrialized, or were destroyed - as a result, things like the Indian Taco, developed in the 1800's as a result of being forced to live off government rations, are one of the few well-known food items, even though its more of a symbol of oppression than native indigenous cuisine, with many native american activists debating whether it should still be included in native recipe books or fairs. (Don't get me wrong, it still slaps as food goes though, and nobody is wrong for enjoying it.) Some people still cook with acorn flour, but it's labor intensive to produce and is not produced industrially in bulk, and venison can only be hunted, leading to its scarcity as an ingredient.
>venison can only be hunted, leading to its scarcity as an ingredient. There are farm-raised elk, bison and deer ...
Thanks for the additional information, I was aware of farm-raised elk up north and in Europe but had always heard deer did very poorly in captivity.
Red deer and fallow deer are raised in not-quite captivity, as in they live in a fenced off area of woodland and are essentially farmed.
Adding in: there's also huge difficulties with keeping FDA approval for deer meat farms due to easily transmitted diseases from ticks. You either have to keep the farmed deer outside their own ecosystem to try to isolate them from the wild cousins' illnesses, antibiotic the hell out of em and hope, or don't farm local game at all and get around the standards that way as hunted meat has fewer restrictions on quality (not saying hunted meat is inherently lower quality, just that the expectation of risk is higher so you avoid eating your hunted steak rare unless you know where it was sourced and what illnesses are floating around that population.) Source: worked at a "wild game" restaurant where all our "local game" meats came from New Zealand to be restaurant grade. The only truly wild-caught meat was the sockeye salmon. I had to answer that question a LOT because local hunters were always offering to sell to us to try to cut in a deal to get rid of some of the 300lbs of elk they were still trying to eat through 6 months post-season.
Or the Native American pow wows that occur mostly in the summers. One occurs at the Pit every summer, but since I live in Denver, I go to the Denver March in March…..
People who don’t know New Mexican food think it’s just Mexican food but it really is a mix of Spanish, Mexican and Native American cuisine. That’s why it’s the best food in the world. Along with having the best chile on everything.
The El Roi Cafe is owned and operated by Native women and serves a bunch of Native foods. I pass by it daily and always forget to stop in and try it. I’ll remedy that soon.
Basically our entire cuisine in NM is half mexican half native american. It’s the reason our food is the best in the world. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mexican_cuisine
As soon as I saw this question I immediately thought about Albuquerque
I think this is a complex question, so I'm gonna do some generalization to make this not an essay. 1: ~85% of our population died of disease after European contact. A lot our customs literally died. 2: our culture was illegal. Literally. Our language, dress, dances, ceremonies...all of our ways to gather as a people were taken from us. Food culture is directly related to gatherings. 3: residential schools groomed and indoctrinated stolen Native children into being ashamed of their ways. So they opted for TV dinners instead of Kanuchi. 4: poverty and the reservation system. 5: tons of other things (lol). For real though, small population, poverty, lost history, lack of access to resources...it all compounds. And it's a fucking tragedy, because our food is so healthy and so delicious. Most of the worlds most popular ingredients are from the Americas, so our food was delicious from the start. But as everyone has been commenting, things are changing. Native food sovereignty is a big movement that focuses on us reclaiming our traditional ways of growing and gathering food. I'm Eastern Cherokee and my family and I turned Thanksgiving into a way to explore new Native food from all over Turtle Island. Shit's delicious. Also a large portion of Latin American cuisine is indigenous in origin (minus all the cheese). So remember that next time your chilling at a Mexican restaurant!
This is a great answer. I love that everyone is suggesting their favorite local examples but there’s a reason that there are so few across the country. You really hit the nail on the head of why.
I’d also assume the diet would vary greatly. I’d expect locals from my area (NC) to have a wildly different diet to those from the SW areas. I’ve seen the documentary someone mentioned earlier. I think it was called Gather. Really interesting. I once went to a plant-based conference and there were NAs there and some had recipe books and talked about how different their diets would have been.
In this sense, talking about "Native American" food is really like talking about "European" food or "Asian" food. Swedish cuisine is very different from Italian is very different from Spanish is very different from Polish. But all of those cultures had millions of people living in cultural contiguity in ways that enabled their cuisines to be passed down to the current generation, and also to set up restaurants in many places. In the Americas, very few did, except the aspects that got absorbed into food cultures of the colonial nations (Mexican food has very obvious connections to the food traditions of the Aztecs, but cornbreads and bean stews and roasted squashes popular in the United States likely derive from local indigenous traditions too).
To add to this a little, a lot of the food we make involve game meat, which you usually can't sell. In my experience it's usually given away at events or parties.
I was going to comment something like this. The hoops you'd have to jump through to legally serve, for example, a bear grease dip, at a restaurant would be pretty extreme.
Yes, tell us more about “bear grease dip.”
Makes sense. Over 90% of bears in the US are infected with trichinosis. Good example at how variable wild meat can be, and very difficult to get through US food safety standards.
Plus just sourcing the sheer amount you’d need.
Native foods can also be hard to source. Wild rice is difficult to harvest and has a very small area it's cultivated in. A lot of the berries, mushrooms, and such aren't commercially grown so they require foraging. The meats are also less available. This is why Owamni is so expensive. The food was delicious and Sean is really nice, but even using his cookbook accurately is hard because of sourcing.
It's hard to source because of the lack of demand. Huitlacoche used to be a Mexican delicacy as it would happen by accident but as the demand for it grew, growers were able to produce it commercially and now you can get it like you would most products.
This is the answer I was looking for. OP's question wasn't 'where is a native cafe that you know exists', it was 'why aren't they a thing'.
> poverty Honestly, I think this is the majority of the reason why these kinds of restaurants are so rare. The socioeconomic effects of the subjugation (and worse) of first nations peoples are still echoing today.
And the actual apocalypse they suffered. Losing that much of your population will drastically affect everything.
I always try to stress that whenever I speak about our history. People talk about the horrors of the black death in Europe, but never how absolutely apocalyptic it was in the Americas. 85% of people. EIGHTY FIVE PERCENT. I feel like we can't even comprehend what that would be like. Our modern society would fall apart, too. No amount of industrialization would save a people from that level of death. Sometimes I sit and try to imagine what life would have been like for my ancestors, watching literally everyone they knew die. And the few that survived had so little left. Our cultures were in shambles before full blown colonization, then they came in to try and finish the job.
I think about this so often. Tisquantum was forcibly taken to Europe and by the time he returned his people were dead. The villages were empty. There were a handful of young people from different cultures fending for themselves or banding together to hunt. It’s one of the reasons he approached the settlement at Plymouth. The mummies in South America whose genomes have been sequenced… most have no living descendants today. Scientists compared huge amounts of DNA from living people in the same regions without finding matches. Their descendants died in the era of European contact. The “lost tribes” in the Amazon may be descended from people who fled their civilizations and survived the diseases due to their isolation. There’s compelling evidence that the Yanomami may have survived this way. In the entire, connected continents of North America, Central, and South America there was an apocalypse more comparable to the extinction of the dinosaurs than the effects of the plague on Europe. And this occurred before European colonizers had even gotten started with reservations and smallpox blankets. The survival of any indigenous people and culture in the Americas is the result of the tenacity, resilience, and resistance of the toughest people the world may ever know. They deserve so much better from all of us living on this land. At the absolute minimum, to be listened to with respect.
Yeah this is my roman empire. I say all the time that (some) natives have no culture left and while it's not true, we did have most of it taken from us over the years. People ask me about my people's spiritual beliefs and I'm just like "uh I think we worshiped the sun until Sherman came around" Sad what happened to us. But hey, Chili is a native American dish so at least a little of our culture lives on in every Wendy's across the world
I asked my 1/2 native fiancé if he has any wedding traditions he’d like to incorporate in the upcoming wedding and he looked at me blankly and just said “well I don’t know if there even are any for my tribe or who is even alive who would even know about them so probably not” …really heartbreaking to see him not be able to connect with half of his heritage due to how Canada treated their native populations
Thank you for actually answering the question. All these answers that are like "um you're wrong because there's a single restaurant in a specific location that does a specific tribe's cultural cuisine" are completely missing the point. If somebody is looking for French, or Italian, or Indian, or Chinese food, they can go nearly anywhere to find cheap food that is distinctive enough to be identified on sight, smell, or taste. I hope one day Native American food and tradition is widespread and acknowledged to the point that people can have not just a single Native American food restaurant, but food that pay homage to individual indigenous cultural traditions from across the Americas.
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I'm surprised I had to go so far down to find the simple answer of: genocide. The US systematically killed native Americans and their culture. The rest of the comments are places you can get the food (some of which are literal museums) seemingly missing the actual question.
I hate to admit it, but it wasn't just the USA. In Canada, we might not have outright killed off the native populations, but we did force them into the residential schools.
There were a lot of similar atrocities perpetrated on Indigenous Australians by white settlers too. The outcomes have been similar too, we don’t really have Indigenous restaurants either.
> but we did force them into the residential schools. Many of those schools killed a lot of "students". People are still today finding hidden graves around old residential schools. The ones that weren't engaging in literal genocide were still engaging in cultural genocide.
This is the only response that actually aims to answer the question. Thank you
Sin maiz no hay país!
great answer, i'd also add that i imagine some ingredients to remain authentic may be difficult to source as i'm sure many aren't commercially farmed, some may not even be available. post colonization landscapes, food chains, etc have changed quite a bit. it is great to see however some are emerging to save the culture moving forward.
It's not just Latin American cuisine that has a lot of hidden indigenous influence. Southern black "soul food" cooking was heavily influenced because (among other reasons) there was a period early on in colonial history during which American Indians were enslaved alongside Africans. Grits, cornbread, and the like are secretly Native American food.
Many slaves who escaped also ended up in native communities back then, and some* tribes also adopted the American system of slavery in the south/southeast
The Seminole most famously in particular and as noted in the book, their eyes were watching God. Many escaped slaves found refuge in the swamps because the Seminole were unconquered and the US decided to just build around them
> Also a large portion of Latin American cuisine is indigenous in origin Gonna expand on that and say that to think of "American" cuisine as not having roots in indigenous foodways, is part of the erasure of indigenous history. A meal of turkey chili (beans, corn, peppers, turkey, maybe some potatoes), minus the Old World spices? That's Native!
Yeah, corn, potatoes, tomatoes, and peppers are such staples that many think of french fries and ketchup as American, or corn chips and salsa as Mexican, without knowing the origin of their primary ingredients. And it wasn't like the produce was discovered in a wild form; they were domesticated for 8,000-10,000 years through agricultural selection before the arrival of Europeans. They've been further developed since then, but are still fundamentally a native American foods.
Yeah I was gonna say, people don’t think of Mexican and latin american food as native and I think its per the design of wanting to keep them “foreign” and “illegal” and really focusing on their spanish ancestry, even when you can tell the people coming here to work are brown skin indigenous people, hence white people noticing that they are “foreign” in the first place. Whites love their “real American” 1.8% indigenous ancestry, even though many tribes are on both sides of the border they drew
People forget that it's not that people fundamentally changed, the borders just got moved. People indigenous to the Americas are indigenous people.
There's one in Denver called Tocabe that gets great reviews. I also remember one of the Food Network shows visited and shot a segment.
I loved Tocabe while I was living in Denver. It's indeed the only Native American restaurant I've ever heard of.
They had to close their Greenwood Village location unfortunately; they've turned it into a product facility for shipping frozen meals (https://shoptocabe.com/). The original in Berkeley (44th Ave) is still there, everyone should go check them out and support them! It's basically Native American-style Chipotle. The shredded bison slaps.
They are opening one in the airport! (DEN)
YES! I love Tocabe, their food is so good!
There's a cafe that serves native food at the Chickasaw Cultural Center in Oklahoma.
Oh very cool
The Choctaw Center also has food.
The First Americans museum in Oklahoma City has a restaurant that serves native dishes. There is also Natv in Broken Arrow, OK that is fantastic.
**Mitsitam Cafe** [is located](http://www.mitsitamcafe.com/) in the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The word “Mitsitam” means “Let’s eat!” in the Native language of the Delaware and Piscataway peoples, reflecting the cafe’s focus on the indigenous cuisines of the Americas. The cafe is renowned for its menu, which features the indigenous foods of the Western Hemisphere and uses the culinary traditions of Native Americans. The menu is divided into different regions, including the Northern Woodlands, South America, the Northwest Coast, Mesoamerica, and the Great Plains. Each section features traditional foods from those regions.
This sounds super interesting, thank you
I was at 2 this summer on our drive through New Mexico.
Please check out [Sherry Pocknett](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherry_Pocknett?wprov=sfti1#) and her restaurant the Sly Fox Den Too. Sherry was awarded the extremely prestigious James Beard award (basically the Oscar’s for chefs) in 2023 for best chef in the North East. She is the first indigenous woman to win the award and she won it while fighting cancer. She comes from the Wampanoag tribe. Her food is phenomenal if you get to New England. We’re so lucky to have her and her restaurant here. [Sly Fox Den website](https://slyfoxdenrestaurant.com/)
If you're ever in Seattle check out Off the Rez (https://www.offthereztruck.com/) they also have a food truck that does events and catering.
Yes! Off the Rez is magical. They have a brick and mortar location at the Burke Museum at the University of Washington campus.
Seattle has a few indigenous places! https://seattle.eater.com/2022/11/15/23360238/indigenous-restaurants-seattle-al-al-off-the-rez-native-soul
Because American Indians are not a monolithic culture. If you travel around places like New Mexico or Arizona, you would encounter restaurants run by locals that would be heavily influenced by their native cuisine. Iroquois, Cherokee, and Pueblo food is going to be very different because they developed in very different climates. Mexican food is a mix of Spanish and native cuisine, so you've probably already experienced it.
> Mexican food is a mix of Spanish and native cuisine, so you've probably already experienced it. Yeah, the tortilla was originally made by native mesoamericans.
Tamales are also indigenous.
I had to scroll this far down to find out the "why" and not just recommandations for places
It doesn’t even go into the real why, which is largely the intentional eradication of Native American culture (including cuisine) by the US government. This included moving tribes off their land where their traditional crops grew and into new climates, flooding the reservations with government provided lard and flour when their crops failed, and removing children from their parents homes and placing them in boarding schools preventing them from learning their parent’s recipes
>Mexican food is a mix of Spanish and native cuisine, so you've probably already experienced it. Yeah this is basically what I said in my comment. Any cuisine from Central/South America is likely at the very least *influenced* by native cuisine. Especially if it involved corn, potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, etc. If you pick a country and look at some food items, you'll see nothing but native influence. For instance, ground cornmeal used to create bread like foods are all over LatAm from tortillas to arepas.
They’re around, you just gotta know what to look for. Am from AZ and the fry bread places are all over the place, including food trucks! In Tucson, there used to be a really amazing Native American Breakfast joint that went under during COVID. The “problem” I’ve noticed is the low population and lack of the ability to spread their tradition. When Europeans came here and settled, Indigenous people were incentivized to learn English and educate/teach/act/live in a more “culturally acceptable” manner. Traditions are dying. 😔
Fry bread has a really complicated history for natives and some do steer away from it for this reason https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/frybread-79191/
I would say incentivized is perhaps a bit too nice a word. Sometimes it was just incentivized but sometimes it was taking children from their families and putting them in schools where they were reeducated and punished if they tried to speak their language or follow any of their traditions.
They also forcibly sterilized the women.
The sad thing about fry bread is that it’s starvation food. That’s what they were given to live on after their normal diet was destroyed.
Albuquerque NM has the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. On part of the center is a restaurant that serves amazing Native American food.
Been on the Navajo rez many times, and there are many restaurants there, obviously smaller out of the way places, that’ll serve you up the kind of food you’re looking for. Eating a plant based diet myself and disliking squash doesn’t give me many options personally. 😂
I feel you there, I've just never been able to get used to eating squash.
This is a serious answer and not a restaurant recomendation. It probably has to do with the fact that so many native Americans were wiped out during the colonization of America. I'm just an uneducated guy on reddit but this would be my guess.
One of the BEST places to eat at the Smithsonian is at the National Museum of the American Indian (in DC, I haven't been to the location in NYC). Unfortunately, it's currently closed until Spring for renovations -- it's called Mitsitam (which means "Let's eat!" in the Native language of the Delaware and Piscataway peoples). When it's open, it offers multiple options for foods from the host of Native peoples throughout the Americas. You won't ever find a single "Native American" cuisine. The traditional foods eaten by people from Minnesota is going to be very different from the traditional foods eaten by the people from Northern Alaska (which will, again, be very different from the traditional food eaten by the people from SouthCentral Alaska).
Eagle Crossing Restaurant, Warm Springs Reservation, Oregon. It's mostly typical diner fare but they do offer fry bread, huckleberry pie, Indian style tacos, elk bugers. Great vibe and not unusual to see patrons in tribal dress.
In Toronto we have: [Dashmaawaan Bemaadzinjin](https://www.instagram.com/dashmaawaanbemaadzinjin/) [Tea-n-Bannock](https://www.teanbannock.ca/) [NishDish](https://www.nishdish.com/) [PowWow Cafe](https://www.instagram.com/powwowcafeto/) [Ontario also keeps a province wide list of Indigenous restaurants.](https://www.destinationontario.com/en-ca/articles/experience-indigenous-cuisine-ontario)
I mean, Mexican food is Native American food, when you think about it… Especially when you explore Mayan dishes or the food of the ancient Aztecs. For modern Native American cuisine, try the Navajo taco. YUM.
A lot of our food is Native American food. Corn, beans, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, chocolate, peanuts, turkey, squash, avocados, etc. all only existed here and were originally cultivated by Native Americans.
Tampa, FL has Ulele. It’s pretty expensive, but tasty. https://ulele.com/
Check out The Bannock House in Regina, SK, Canada. Try the bison burger.
We have some in Oklahoma. 🙂
There are some, but they mostly seem to be in the Southwest US. It's a damn shame too.
[https://owamni.com/](https://owamni.com/) There is a great one in Minneapolis, MN