Indigenous and Wild Foods Feasts at White Earth

Happy Holidays from Native Harvest!

In November, the White Earth Land Recovery Project hosted a celebration of our people. The event took place in the White Earth community of Naytahwaush, and featured Wild and Indigenous Foods (recipes below), traditional storytelling, prayer, and song.

The menu featured a delicious Venison roast, cornbread, wild cranberries, Mahnomen (Native Harvest Wild Rice), Maple Syrup, and Swamp Tea (Labrador Tea).

While many people across the United States celebrated Thanksgiving, many of us at White Earth remembered that our Elders taught us to give thanks every day.

When we wake up in the morning and face the east as the sun rises, we should remember to give thanks for our life and good health. We should reflect on the gifts we have received and use our tobacco to give thanks. Every day is a new beginning. Every time we gather, hunt, or grow food, we should offer our tobacco. The animals, plants, and water that feed us are Spiritual beings, like we are.  

Our traditional food IS medicine. It feeds our body, mind, and Spirit.

This holiday season we invite you to give thanks for your life and good health by sharing our traditional food, the Taste of White Earth, with your family and friends!

Here are few our Holiday Recipes

Roast Saddle of Venison with Wild Rice (serves 12)

• One 5 lb saddle of Venison (or other meat of your choice such as Moose, Bison, or Beef) dressed and severed for easy carving.
• Dried juniper berries
• Peppercorns
• Bacon (optional… of you don’t want to use bacon, use a thin coating of sunflower oil before studding the meat) 6-8 strips of thickly sliced bacon
• Native Harvest Wild Rice

Basting Marinade:

• 2 tablespoons of Native Harvest Honey or Native Harvest Maple Syrup
• 2 cups of cider

Stud the saddle of meat with juniper berries and peppercorns. Lay the bacon strips over and secure with toothpicks. Stand the saddle on a rack in a large roasting pan.

Prepare the basting marinade by simmering the honey (or maple syrup) in the cider in a small saucepan until it is well dissolved and steaming. Roast, basting often, for 1.5 hours in an oven preheated to 350 degrees F. Let the roast cool for 20 minutes. Carve, serving 1 rib per portion. Serve on a bed of wild rice, together with the pan drippings.

Cranberry and Walnut Sauce (approximately 3 cups)

• 1 pound wild cranberries
• 2 cups of water
• ½ pound of dried black walnuts chopped
• 1 cup of Native Harvest Maple Syrup
• 2 tablespoons of corn starch with enough water to make a thick paste

Place cranberries and water in a covered pot, bring to a boil, and simmer until the berries pop. Add the chopped walnut and maple syrup, simmer for 10 more minutes, then thicken with the cornstarch paste, stirring to blend thoroughly. Serve hot or chilled with turkey, game, or other fowl.

Corn Pone (serves 6)

• 1 cup corn meal
• ½ cup of nut milk or water
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 tablespoons of bacon drippings

Mix the corn meal, nut milk (or water), and baking powder together thoroughly. Grease a hot skillet with the bacon drippings. Drop the batter into the skillet by tablespoonfuls, shaping into 6 pone cakes. Brown for 10 min on each side. Serve hot. You can sweeten these or dress them up with Native Harvest honey, dried fruit and berries, fragrant herbs, powdered roots, or small quantities of wood ashes.

*These recipes are from the book: Native Harvests American Indian Wild Foods and Recipes by E.Barrie Kavasch.

Twice a month throughout the year, White Earth Land Recovery Project hosts Indigenous and Wild Food Feasts in the White Earth community of Naytahwaush. Feasts have been made possible by the Blandin Foundation, Headwaters Foundation for Justice, and the Otto Bremer Foundation.