The Indigenous Food Supply

Long before the Europeans cam, the indigenous tribes of the Americas survived and even thrived. They relied on local flora and fauna for centuries. Now thanks, to the pandemic, they are relying on ancient farming and hunting techniques to survive.  These methods will hopefully sustain into better times.

 Regular contributor Priya Krishna wrote this interesting article for today's New York Times Food section.  She interviewed several members from different tribes and how they're coping through this challenge. The Pine Ridge Reservation, home to the Oglala Sioux Tribe , a vast two million acre area in South Dakota have to rely on food stamps or the Food Distribution Program On Indian Reservations.. This provides boxes of food, usually unhealthy to the native Americans. However, their web site states that they can deliver such healthy and native foods as bison, cornmeal, wild rice, wild salmon and catfish. Hopefully this is true because diabetes rates are high on reservations thanks to most meals containing too much sugar and processed foods . Unfortunately, acquiring nutritious foodstuffs is a hard task due to the spread of the virus and shelves are quickly emptying out. It also doesn't help that the nearest grocery is a two hour drive. Then there are government regulations and environmental conditions that prohibit hunting and fishing in the Continental United States.

What is saving the Oglala Sioux and other tribes across the nation are the time honored practices of seed saving, canning and dehydrating. Their forebears developed these to survive harsh conditions with limited supplies. Milo Yellow Hair of the Pine Ridge Reservation is busy preparing 8,000 seedlings of local varieties of squash and corn - hearty crops with a short growing time to plant in people's yards. Since many have no electricity for refrigerators and freezers, he encourages them to dry the produce. Corn, for example, can be cooked and dried to be used as a base for soups and stews. it can also be dried to make wagmiza wasna, a traditional snack in which the corn is pounded with berries and tallow.There is also a great sense of community especially in the Navajo community. as others make their gardens available to others. They're also assembling care packages for their elders  which include ingredients for fry bread, a Navajo tradition that has a complicated history as it was made from rations from the federal government. The Chippewa tribe has a long history of canning and they're canning beets cucumbers and carrots, with many donating to other tribe members.In Alaska, the Athbaskan tribe can hunt and fish. One, local grocery store owner Cynthia Erikson has a freezer full of caribou, moose and whitefish. This will definitely come in handy in the months to come.

We can learn from the indigenous Americans during these hard times. They rely on ancient practices for sustaining their food stores and supplies. They are getting good nutrition and copious bounties thanks to their traditional farming practices.