native american foodways

A bowl of creamy cheese grits. Food writer Erin Byers Murray hopes that exploring the story of grits will help spur more discussion about how food shapes our culture, as humble ingredients are elevated into expensive dishes even as we come to terms with l

Saving The Story Of Grits, A Dish Born Of Poverty Now On Fine-Dining Menus

11:28am April 18, 2019

by Kristen Hartke

Interest in grits is rising because of heirloom corn varieties and the backing of master chefs. But the Southern staple has deep roots that wind through economics, race, politics — and nostalgia.

Wild rice grows along the edges of the Kakagon River in Wisconsin.

Climate Change Threatens Midwest's Wild Rice, A Staple For Native Americans

6:52am August 07, 2018

by Rebecca Hersher

When harvests are bad, Native Americans in the region may go without rice for the year. And there have been a lot of bad years lately, as climate change causes more frequent and severe rainstorms.

Queue Listen Now

The USDA has been providing food aid in the form of canned, shelf-stable nonperishables to Native Americans for decades.

How Might Trump's Food Box Plan Affect Health? Native Americans Know All Too Well

6:24pm February 25, 2018

by Maria Godoy

For some, the USDA's plan to deliver SNAP benefits as canned, shelf-stable food is painfully familiar. The agency has long given this type of aid to tribes, with devastating health effects.

Queue Listen Now

A freshly brewed cup of Navajo tea. This beverage is caffeine-free and tastes earthy and grassy.

Health & Safety

For Navajos, Desert 'Tea' Fosters Kinship With Heritage And Nature

3:40pm August 29, 2017

by Lela Nargi

Some Navajo are trying to bring back their traditional food culture, including drinking Navajo "tea." It's brewed with a plant called greenthread that thrives in the mid-summer heat of the Southwest.

Lillie Pete sifts the juniper ash before adding it to her blue corn mush.

To Get Calcium, Navajos Burn Juniper Branches To Eat The Ash

4:57am August 21, 2017

by Laurel Morales

Most American Indians are lactose intolerant, which means they need to find nutrients outside of dairy sources. It turns out that a return to traditional cooking methods can be key to good health.

A prehistoric granary overlooking Cedar Mesa, a site inside the newly created Bears Ears National Monument in Utah that is sacred to many Native American tribes. Natives still hunt and forage for food and medicine throughout the Bears Ears region.

Bears Ears Monument Is A Win For Tribal Food Sovereignty. Will Trump Undo It?

4:36pm January 09, 2017

by Kristina Johnson

The newly created monument preserves 1.3 million acres in Utah where natives have foraged for millennia. But critics who point to the land's energy extraction potential want the designation undone.