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Native Nutrition
Argus Leader
published: 1/19/2003
Posted to NDN AIM by ErthAvengr
Jarett C. Bies
In the northeast corner of South Dakota, near the long banks of Lake Traverse, those native to the area remember the traditions that made up the day-to-day meals.
Buffalo and deer meat were mainstays, and wild vegetables, such as turnips and onion, were easy to find across the grassland.
Other vegetables, especially corn, came from the gardens to the tables. Wild herbs, plants and flowers were used for flavoring and in teas.
"I think our diet was the best diet, as it was high in protein with almost no carbohydrates," says Karen Brown, 58, a member of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe. "In times of plenty, food was preserved, and when there was less, that food was used."
Many members of the tribe see Brown, who has worked as a cook at reservation schools and maintains many food traditions of the past, as a resource in the community.
Changes in lifestyles and the introduction of different types of foods have changed how people eat, but some Native Americans are looking for a return to traditional ways.
A study on food patterns on the Lake Traverse Indian Reservation by Sisseton Wahpeton College and South Dakota State University found that 40 percent of respondents don't eat the same foods they had growing up.
"We grew up eating things that are totally foreign to people today," Brown says. "We would eat muskrat, squirrel and rabbit, even skunk from time to time."
Now, officials are looking at printing a cookbook of traditional recipes and have begun offering classes on native foods to the Sisseton-Wahpeton people. They also are considering a videotape to teach people how to cook and hope to double the number of gardens on the reservation by next spring.
It's a return to tradition that has been blossoming across the state, as buffalo-slaughter plants are built and ceremonial plants are restocked on various reservations.
Dried-corn soup, wild raspberries, strawberries and chokecherries were just a few of the standard foods that aren't as common anymore.
"At naming ceremonies, it was a custom to provide a feast, and we have a soup with meat - usually buffalo or deer," Brown says. "But my favorite part was the puddings made from wild plums. Chokecherries and June berries, nothing else tastes like them. But I liked the wild plum puddings."
Today, the land is no longer rich with wild berries and vegetables. Hamburger and pork have replaced wild game and fish. Federal food programs, restaurants and grocery stores have pushed aside some of the hunting-and-gathering traditions for those who live on the reservations.
"It seems too many of the young people no longer have pride in their culture. I see a lot of young people taking to other cultures," Brown says. "Everything now is fast food, and both parents work. Children are so busy they forget to take the time to remember."
But more than half the participants in the study showed they are interested in learning about their past - such as hunting and gathering - and putting more tradition into their futures. The findings of the study will help improve the diet and perhaps the health on the reservation, though officials said one reason for the study was to analyze the nutritional value of native foods.
Diabetes afflicts as many as half of Native Americans older than 45 in South Dakota.
According to the U.S. Indian Health Service, the death rate for American Indians because of diabetes is 249 percent greater than for all other Americans. Adult-onset diabetes is seen in children as young as 13.
"The native foods were good for you," says study participant Dedria Keeble, a coordinator with Sisseton Wahpeton College in Sisseton. "And it took a lot of hard work to gather and prepare them, so that, too, was good for people."
Traditional methods
Along with wild game, the native diet of the Northern Plains used corn as a basis for nearly every meal. Raised in small fields alongside gardens of other vegetables, this grain was a cornerstone in the diet.
"We grew everything, and we had about half an acre for corn and another half-acre for potatoes," Keeble says.
The study found that 93 percent of respondents used produce in cooking but only 27 percent had gardens. Tribal efforts have made gains in this area. "People are interested in growing their own gardens, and in the past, we had between 40 and 50 gardens tilled for this purpose," Christopherson says. "Now, we will have about 200 for next spring."
Food preservation also is important.
"Strips of meat, cut thin, would be hung in the sun to dry," Brown says. "Then when the men were out traveling or hunting, they would have food to take with them. Preserved foods were also eaten during the winter."
A tomato-canning class recently was held to teach tribal members how to can and to show them it can be less expensive than buying pre-canned goods.
Duwayne One Road, 53, is a member of the tribe and lives on the reservation when he's not working in road construction. He says many people would prefer traditional foods if they were available.
"Even though we have other stuff on the reservation now, it's still pretty common to see someone making dried-corn soup," One Road says.
"When I was growing up, we had a lot of traditional foods. Now, it's not everywhere like it was."
Dr. Bill Lone Fight, president of Sisseton Wahpeton College, says changes in the diet of Native Americans have many aspects that are difficult to see.
"Really, traditional or native foods are ubiquitous in the non-native diet. As Indians or Americans, we'll probably never lose corn as a part of it," Lone Fight says. "But we may lose our traditional corn to new mutations and varieties. For us, we still have the traditional ceremonies and stories that make them a part of our spiritual and cultural life."
Buffalo meat is probably the most significant native food that is no longer as widely available as it once was, though this is now changing. "In virtually any city of any size, you can get bison meat," Lone Fight says. "Another consideration is that animals hunted are traditional foods. If you eat what you hunt or fish, you're eating Indian foods."
Nutritional value
At the food nutrition laboratories at SDSU, commonly consumed traditional and cultural foods were analyzed for nutritional content, says Laurie Stenberg Nichols, dean of the College of Family and Consumer Science at SDSU.
Helen Chipman, national coordinator of the Food Stamp Nutrition Education Program for the Extension Service at USDA, says making connections between diet changes and chronic disease is crucial for a study such as this. But she doesn't want people to think native foods are healthier than non-native foods.
"We do not know as much about the nutritional value and health benefits of native foods as we do about other foods, which is one of the reasons we conducted this research," she says.
Bison is recognized for its high-profile and lean nature, and the puddings made from chokecherries and juneberries are high in iron and vitamin C, Keeble of Sisseton Wahpeton College says. Wild turnips and corn soup also are high in protein and carry varieties of protein not found in other vegetables.
John Christopherson, program manager for the Sisseton Wahpeton Sioux Tribe Health and Fitness Center's diabetes grant program, says there are some confusing aspects of the traditional diet.
"Fry bread is really not a traditional food, but it has been seen as one over the last three or four decades," Christopherson says. "When Indians started to get flour and lard, fry bread became a part of the diet. Now, it's a significant food."
Flour and lard came into the native diet as a part of federal food programs that started around the same time as reservations. "The program began as a U.S. Department of Agriculture surplus food program," Lone Fight says. "It was a successor to the rations programs established on reservations across the country."
Now, at the Lake Traverse reservation, 62 percent of those surveyed said they use foods from these programs each month.
The problem seen with the program was that many of the items provided were unfamiliar to the Native Americans who received them. "Comanches were given rice, and they had never seen it before," Lone Fight says. "They thought that the rice was fly larvae, and those who ate it were called Ômaggot eaters.' "
In addition to confusion, many of the federally provided foods led to cultural changes. "When the programs came to the reservation, they would be distributed at the tribal complex, and more people moved from the rural areas to be closer," Brown says.
Some say the introduction did more harm than good. "When I was a boy, we didn't go to the store every day. We did a lot of hunting instead," says Duane Brown, who grew up on the reservation. "Most people didn't see the foods we received for free were doing damage."
But now, Christopherson says, the use of the supplemental food must mesh with the use of native foods. "Since so many use them, we need to get an idea of which ones are liked and make efforts to get better food," he says. "If we're going to eat those foods, we should know their nutritional value."
Changes
Keeble says the effort to educate and remember the past is ongoing, but good beginnings are present. "We are having more classes on the subject, both at the college and in the community," she says. "The interest is there, and now we have to provide the support."
A cookbook containing many of the past methods is in the works, and a native plants class is on the schedule for spring at Sisseton Wahpeton College. "Sharing was a big part of the culture here, so we are finding ways to share experience and knowledge," Keeble says. "We are planning to make a video to share the stories and methods of the past as well."
Christopherson says the center where he works has changed its name from diabetes center to health and fitness center. "It's not just for people with diabetes," he says. "The number one thing I tell people is that they have to know their bodies. I wish we had seven fitness centers on the reservation, as people have to have the opportunity to exercise."
One Road hopes more buffalo meat will become available on the reservation.
"We need more fresh fruits and vegetables here because they are so good for people," he says. "It's good to see there's more awareness about food and exercise. I'm glad the center is open. I'll be using it."
The efforts to keep traditions in place, or to regrow them in the present, are not isolated to the Lake Traverse Indian Reservation.
In the 1990s, the Cheyenne Sioux Tribe began efforts to build a mobile bison-slaughter plant. The tribe restored its buffalo herd but faces a number of obstacles in making the buffalo-processing idea a reality.
In Lake Andes, 2,000 seedlings were distributed to tribal members to restock a variety of traditional ceremonial and food plants. The program took place last summer as an effort to reinvigorate those plants laid low by herbicides and pesticides.
"I've worked in various parts of the country, and we are leading the way here in South Dakota, in the exploration of native plants as food," Lone Fight says. "The Northern Plains are one place where they are abundant and the culture is still in place, but we have to move fast before it dwindles."
Christopherson is planning classes on food preparation at the center, where hands-on learning could help with his idea of combining the present food available with traditional food. "We need to make improvements, but if you hand someone a piece of paper, it does much less good than actually showing them how to prepare food," he says. "We need to start here but continue."
Reach Jarett C. Bies at 977-3925 or jbies@argusleader.com.
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