November is Native American Heritage Month, so I decided to host a lunch and learn at work today around this Ted Talk: Why aren’t there more Native American restaurants?
Why I saw the title of the talk I admit it was the first time the question had even occurred to me, but it was so pointed: I couldn’t name any. I have no memory of hearing about Native American cuisine outside of old history lessons of hunting buffalo. But shouldn’t Native food be everywhere? We are all occupying indigenous land — the source of that cuisine — yet it’s absent.
Colonialism obviously played a huge part (the whole part) in this and the video does a good job giving a bit of the history so we can understand how Native culture was systematically dismantled and with it the passing along of traditions, including food. I encourage you to watch it – it got me asking questions and understanding a crucial factor in the experience of Indigenous people.
With Love,
Natalie