Heid Erdrich is a member of the Turtle Mountain band of Ojibwe and the author of “Original Local: Indigenous Foods, Stories and Recipes from the Upper Midwest.”
“I would love for people to look at their Thanksgiving table without changing a thing and discuss where those foods came from,” says Erdrich. “Are they indigenous foods? The green beans and the corn, the squash, the pumpkin, the turkey itself – who helped make these foods come to the world?”
Sean Sherman, who is Oglala Lakota, owns a catering business called The Sioux Chef and the Tatanka food truck.
“Pushing aside the mythology of it all, I think really holding onto the harvest feast, the gathering and the being thankful — I think that part of it is extremely positive and it’s good to keep up that positivity,” says Sherman.
Erdrich and Sherman joined MPR News’ Tom Crann to discuss indigenous foods and shares some recipes.
A Middleground 