Native American Food Sovereignty, Explained

[@TomTasker]

to an Irish-American whose family came to the americas because of the potato "famine" the term food apartheid is really perfect and should be more widely used.

[@MossyMozart]

From what I understand, Ireland is only now recovering it's pre-famine population.

[@evanbelcher]

Yeah it's only through learning about Palestine that I found out that "famine" is just a word to make "intentional starvation" sound like some natural phenomenon rather than a colonial weapon

[@TomTasker]

@@evanbelcher my knowledge of the potato famine made that connection for me as well when they started saying "famine" in Gaza.

[@naolidecomisso4108]

​@@TomTasker oh thank god the "" representend that. When you put those things ob famine i thought you thinked that event was fabricated or aomething, just like what tankies do with the starving people under urrs

[@TomTasker]

@@naolidecomisso4108 i know english is hard but i'm glad you tried your best there little buddy, here's a gold star for you 🌟

[@isabellaspangher1734]

I really appreciate Indigenous people preserving their history and showing off their cuisines. In Oakland CA, there is a restaurant called Wahpehpah’s kitchen that highlights Native American cuisine to share and teach about the food systems of Indigenous people. The food there is really tasty too.

[@Glopdemon]

Thank you for the mention, I am going to have to check that place out one of these days

[@AlTen951]

Hilarious, as the founding of the Bay Area is based upon the “49ers” literally committing genocide on the natives of CA. Hundreds of thousands murdered. The history is there if you bother to care.

[@mirror-images]

in Berkeley there’s also mak-'amham/Cafe Ohlone, run by members of the Ohlone nation, the original stewards of the Bay Area

[@ETAisNOW]

Indigenous to what? Earth? Like all of us? You think they sprung up out of geysers like magic with some sort of special right over the continent? It was tons of different tribes, peoples, even other races, all killing each other for land for thousands upon thousands of years on these grounds. What preserved history are you talking about? There’s no written records from them, they don’t even know the names of the tribes before them, it’s all lost history, so much war and death with no records… all they can speak to is recent times and speculation on what things used to be like, which seems to be conveniently “we are spiritually superior, we understand the universe and life, we’re so nice and awesome and honorable and oh by the way the whole continent is ours cause chief Smokey nuts did a rain dance over a mountain or wtf ever. “Indigenous” ha. They killed for and took their land like everyone else on Earth. We are all indigenous to Earth and if you give up ground you only get it back by taking it. Welcome to Earth. “Preserving history” yeah that didn’t start til white people showed them how to. It was all word of mouth and trippy looking cow drawings in caves. There was no “indigenous cuisine”. It was whatever the earth provided in that location and time and was subject to change constantly, methods of preparing food varied wildly and changed constantly.

[@Natallz]

OOH I’m close by I have to go check it out thank you

[@LaineyBug2020]

That 'Ecocide' of the now critically endangered River Cane (which was bamboo!) was one of the reasons for dust bowls, habitat loss for keystone predators like red woves and panthers (especially Florida panthers, a critically endangered subspecies of mountain lion) major flooding and soil erosion. There were so many things about Turtle Island that made it a literal paradise and the Colonists just decimated it then raized what was left, burned it, salted it and deficated all over it to mark it as theirs.

[@YourCapyFrenBigly_3DPipes1999]

There have been so many ecosides thanks to white settlers and white authorities over the past 500 years..... I wonder if we'll ever be able to make up for it

[@YourCapyFrenBigly_3DPipes1999]

There have been so many eco-cides over the past 500 years in North America . I hope it's not too late to turn them around. It will probably take at least another 200 years to do so.

[@chickensalad3535]

There was definitely some sort of twisted power and gratification that the colonists felt when decimating those things.

[@ajmentel2453]

Not only that, but Cane Break ecosystems were home to the Carolina Parakeet, which despite the name was common throughout the south and up into the Great Lakes region :( absolutely stunning bird

[@missmelodies52]

This is ongoing to this day. Consider how prairies in central North America are up to 95% lost, in many cases for farmland. This ecological devastation is then used as a reason why these places are “less beautiful” than mountainous or coastal regions. People who live here have very little pride or affinity with their natural environments, making it much easier for companies and governments to continue destroying our ecosystems. People can’t love what they don’t know.

[@kimnenninger7226]

I am not Native American but I have used their knowledge of farming to grow my food. I live in Southern Arizona in the foot hills. We do not have enough water to mindlessly irrigate our gardens nor do we want to use pesticides and herbicides. We practice "regenerative farming" as the indigenous people who lived on this land before we got here did. It is a great and natural was to fertilize, mulch, and conservative water. It was very hard at first but now that I have developed my land it is very efficient. I hope that we can all learn from each other so we can stop using toxic waste to grow our food.

[@CRneu]

be aware that "Regenerative farming" is a greenwashing term pushed by large farming corporations and ranchers to make their practices seem less harmful. It's like the phrases "clean coal" or "green natural gas". They're marketing terms. Regenerative farming is a myth, basically. You're practicing sustainable agriculture. There is a difference.

[@موسى_7]

​@@CRneu The word regenerative should only apply when improving the fertility of bad land.

[@vincepelmeni2394]

oh my god that’s so cruel. thank u for the information. I am Slavic and from now on whenever I will make Ukrainian Vareniki with potato filling I will be more aware of the native American heritage of this crop. i can not imagine my slavic cuisine with out foods that originally have been cultivated by indigenous people

[@1midnightfish]

💙💛

[@jenniferbrdar4605]

Slava Ukraine! I am Croatian American. You can't have ajvar without peppers that originally came for the North American continent. Your vernikie are the best. Better than polish perogies.

[@a-ramenartist9734]

​@@jenniferbrdar4605 without ajvar I don't think I would be the same...

[@YourCapyFrenBigly_3DPipes1999]

What a kind comment!

[@19DannyBoy65]

I am Ukrainian on my mom’s side and Métis on my dad’s side in Alberta and the history of Ukrainian settlers here in western Canada and their relationship and exchange of culture with the indigenous peoples is very fascinating. Ukrainians were widely discriminated against by the predominantly English colonizers after already fleeing discrimination and conflict in their homes, but many found acceptance living and farming near First Nations and Métis communities that could empathize with that experience.

[@AshatHome]

As an indigenous woman reconnecting with my culture (food is actually what helped me feel more connected to my ancestors), I'm so glad I found these videos 🪶🧡✊🏾

[@CanadianBear47]

I was wondering if u have any resources for how I could learn about indigenous foods. Or resources that helped in food and healing journey.

[@TnJxss]

Indigenous Americans are not brown not black we are tanned ✊🏽✊🏼 not brown not black we don’t derive from Africans we derive from Asians we aren’t black if you’re black or brown you’re an African not indigenous American

[@LillibitOfHere]

I have so much admiration for Native American agricultural practices. We’ve shot ourselves in the foot by trying to turn the Americas into Europe instead of learning.

[@teslashark]

Worse, these days non-American agricultural studies tend to think of pre-colonial America as a whole equivalent of stereotypical Mongolia, where the people aren't working the land at all

[@destroybananas]

That bison photo absolutely broke my heart, it is so disgusting

[@complimentary_voucher]

I'm glad I'll never understand that grotesque mindset. I feel bad for having to move a spider's web. Imagine enjoying butchering an entire species almost into extinction. It boggles the fucking mind.

[@fredriksdottir]

Yeah, I had to pause for a bit after that.

[@renerincon1]

Thanks for bringing up Native American agriculture. When people think of Native Americans they just imagine nomadic warriors, however I tell people that most native Americans were foremost farmers and that through their agricultural science developed the most important food crops that we have today. The three sisters or the “ Milpa” as it’s called in Mexico is one of the most successful farming techniques developed by man. Years ago I read an article on how one doctor that treated American Indians was shocked because of poor health of his native American patients. He traced the problem to the poor diet of processed goverment foodstuffs. He had his patients eat a diet that was more like their ancestral diet and his patients showed a dramatic improvement.

[@Dirk_Strider]

Exactly. The warriors of our tribes (I'm Ojibwe) were originally farmers and hunters, until the invasion from France and England (and Spain before them). There were occasional intertribal spats over hunting territory that would be solved through treaty and trade negotiations (there are thousands of years of wampum shell belts symbolizing tribal peace and cooperation), but there were no widespread wars requiring an entire warrior society before the European invasion. Our hunters became warriors when France and England were manipulating us against each other. North America (and Central and South) were full of farming and crafting cultures with continent-wide trade. The US highway system is built on top of intertribal trade routes predating most European countries.

[@celine1849]

hiii this is really great information! do you happen to know where i can find the article?

[@renerincon1]

@@celine1849 Sorry but I no longer have that article. I saved the magazine about 25 years ago but I seemed to have lost it when I moved. I do remember some key points of the article and when I get a chance I will share them with you. I am also start looking for that study online. Greetings

[@thinkfirst1989]

​@@Dirk_StriderI really want to know more about the highway origins too!

[@curiousworld7912]

When I was still able to garden, I always used the 'three sisters' method, with the corn, beans, and squash. It was not only a way of producing good food, it also saved space for other vegetables and fruits. That said, what we Western Europeans did to Native Peoples (and continue to do) is beyond criminal.

[@ekekekekk]

❤

[@slitheen3]

I was inspired to try out a three sisters garden this summer by the class I took last winter about indigenous Americans. It wasn't even a significant part of the class, but we read a couple chapters from Robin Kimmerer's book Braiding Sweetgrass (believe it was Epiphany in the Beans and The Three Sisters) and it spoke to me so deeply that this was my first summer gardening and I'm almost certainly going to do it again next year. Hopefully more successfully this time with the experience I gained this summer, lol I tried using snap peas instead of actual beans, because I love snap peas and "theyre pretty similair, right? It shouldn't matter much" and boy was that wrong 😅 I DID also grow a bush variety of wax beans that did very well, so I'm getting a pole variety of those to go around the corn next time

[@curiousworld7912]

@@slitheen3 I loved your post - you made me spit my coffee with 'Epiphany in the Beams'. :) I, too, tried peas with the Three Sisters, and I'm sure the results were very similar.. My biggest gardening error of all though, is having planted pumpkins and cantaloupes too close together. I ended up with some kind of monstrous 'pumpaloupe', which was completely inedible. Best of luck with your future endeavors, and thanks for the smiles. :)

[@slitheen3]

@@curiousworld7912 Aww omg that's so cool, what a small world! Maybe "pumpaloupes" would make for good carving material...🤔 Glad to hear I brought you some joy, and thank you for the well wishes! ❤

[@curiousworld7912]

@@slitheen3 :)

[@quiestinliteris]

My family are subsistence hunters of British and Central European ancestry, and I was mortified to learn recently that it's easier for us to access wild game in our area than it is for Indigenous communities. That HAS to change. Hell, Texas periodically does culls to curb the whitetail population, which likes to get out of control every few years. My dad was once invited to participate in a HELICOPTER HUNT for destructive feral hogs - he refused because all of the animals were to be left to rot where they fell. I know the problem is much deeper and more complex than "just let people hunt," but that aspect of it sure is needless.

[@user-ye6ty9ie8g]

it's degenerated humans that are out of control

[@Emolovesblack28451]

If it makes you feel any better, feral hogs in Texas generally have parasites and wouldn’t necessarily be fit for human consumption anyways.

[@twitchy_bird]

My maternal grandmother was cherokee, and my paternal grandmother was Sioux. They taught me so much about my Native heritage and I couldn't imagine life without the knowledge and traditions they passed down.

[@SamBidwell-b8f]

Bish u whiter then me

[@Reichukey]

American Resiliency on youtube just awarded Amber Lightfeather their June Community Resilience Award for her work with wild rice (manoomin) restoration! Highly recommend their channel and understanding how indigenous lifeways are helpful to our ecosystems and being connected to the land we inhabit with all other beings! Thank you for your work in helping us all learn!!

[@IrisGlowingBlue]

Thanks for the recc!

[@grovermartin6874]

@@Reichukey What is their channel?

[@wompusslompus5424]

Thank you for sharing! I'll have to check it out!

[@grovermartin6874]

@@Reichukey Thank you for that information! I watched one of the videos, and it was marvelously information packed, well explained, and promises to deliver much more. I was happy to subscribe!

[@flaminghead4502]

Great video! I am Ukrainian, and for all of us Ecocide hits close to home. It's really eye-opening, to see that colonizors are always the same - taking away not only land, but the connection with that land alltogether. Bolsheviks took our grain, fruit and berry cultures from us, to stop nationals from growing our own food,causing the desappearance af that cultures, with no way to restore them, so it's really heartwarming to see your culture slowly regaining your own crops and technicks. Best wishes for you

[@Li_Tobler]

Мені зігріває серце бачити скільки українців тут в коментарях) Я завжди відчувала якийсь спірітуальний зв'язок з індіанцями, коли читала романи Майн Ріда - як на мене сповнених емпатії та симпатії до цих культур - а зараз, дізнаючись їхню і нашу істоію, цей зв'язок поглиблюється ще більше. Я навіть розплакалася під час відео, адже ніхто не заслуговує таких страждань, і все ж це стається знову і знову...

[@aeolia80]

So my right wing conservative religious mom has one thing that she is totally left wing political about, and it's related to this video, she won't eat quinoa. No, not because she doesn't like the taste or think it's too trendy, and she will eat it if it's offered to her, but she won't buy it and make it for herself. And the reason is she heard that when quinoa started to become extremely popular, it made so the indingenous people in the Andes that had it as a staple crop were no longer able to afford it to eat it, quinoa became too expensive, they were growing it, but mostly for profit and there was very little if anything left for themselves.

[@aeolia80]

Man! To think that in the in the areas of California where a good portion of produce is grown is also food deserts says A LOT

[@MrChristianDT]

That is really sad for a type of food that is kinda just OK.

[@savage.4.24]

This is absolutely true. As is the same for corn. As a kid it was 5 to 10 cents American per ear. My grandfather(born in 1912) said as a child it was about 10 cents per bushel. That's a giant bucket of corn.

[@TheRusty]

For a long time, this was sort of the case with corn in Mexico as well - corn grown in Iowa was WAY cheaper to buy in Mexico, than Mexican-grown corn was. Because of the NAFTA agreement, and the heavy, heavy subsidization of the corn industry in the US. Which is wild, absolutely wild, considering corn was "invented" in Mexico!

[@cam4636]

@@TheRusty Basically all "Fair Trade certified" products fall under this, falling under FTA rather than specifically NAFTA. Trade organizations will ship produce, dairy, meat, grains halfway around the world to undersell local (usually significantly poorer) producers and stamp a label on their packaging that they're "Fair." And don't forget the costs and waste produced by shipping, the degradation of the nutrition of the product from being picked unripe and sitting in transit, the products that have to be thrown out from damage/spoilage which would've been fine if they'd been used more quickly...

[@Pottery4Life]

Do a Co-Op with PBS-Terra Hungry Planet and go on a reservation and show us how a transition back to traditional food sources is happening. Thank you.

[@autumnstoptwo]

they should also use the proceeds from videos like these to fund the transitions and help indigenous people on reservations be able to afford to take the time to rekindle those relationships with the soil and train up new stewards.

[@Pottery4Life]

@@autumnstoptwo Not too sure there is much in the way of "proceeds". Reasonably popular channels generally make enough to keep the fire burning. But yes, generally I like your idea. 👍

[@PrestonSmithsMusic]

Will there be an episode on how the TransCanada rail destroyed the plainlands natives? I think people should know about that, and residential schools.

[@samwill7259]

There is no excuse for any human being to go hungry, to not eat well in this world we live in. Every starvation, every malnutrition is a choice. And someone is doing it on purpose

[@michelecox5241]

This statement is completely disconnected from reality.

[@obsidianjane4413]

@@michelecox5241 Not really. They just are skimming a very deep and complicated problem.

[@opalexent]

Excuse? "Every starvation"? What are you talking about

[@agentwashingtub9167]

@@michelecox5241Not really. Retailers waste over 4 million tons of edible food per year. We produce enough for everyone, but it's cheaper for rich companies to waste a full third of it instead of making sure people don't starve. Hunger, as an extension of poverty, is a policy choice

[@QueeneAllie]

ohmigosh, I wish there were more Native restaurants around the country!

[@goblinwizard735]

“not a commodity or a fad.” that. as a non-Native i think about this. whether my interest, and how i do or don’t exercise it. is going to help or hurt. i think buying Native made cookbooks is probably good, but when it comes to things like sourcing ingredients it becomes trickier. on one hand my interest could help Native farmers sell more of their produce but on the other hand it cann tax their ability to produce enough - which can mean Native people themselves again loose acess to the produce & etc. there’s also likely a lot of other ways my attention positively and negatively affects systems Native folks are currently trying to (re)create that i’m not even aware of.

[@artosbear]

The control of food has taken away the ability of people to self-govern.

[@ToniAllen]

I grew up on them commods too, lol! I know I'm in the minority here, but that cheese is nasty. My mom still tries to pawn blocks off on me when I go visit, haha. I'll take all that ground bison, though. ᏩᏙ for sharing Indigenous culture and history with the world.

[@themanifestorsmind]

Send that cheese to me! Lol. My family was too proud to take commodities, but we definitely qualified. My friend across the street got it, and I was so jealous of that cheese

[@healinggrounds19]

The blocks of government cheese were nasty and should not be called cheese. I make cheese as a hobby. That stuff is like Velveeta.

[@ToniAllen]

@@healinggrounds19 R'amen to that. Also, I'd love to get into cheesemaking. Rock on!

[@TheKrampus83]

At a large scale the European colonization turned much of the north American continent into a beef and grain factory. We are all still entrenched in that fully extractive system, exported to the entire world. We have a limited amount of time to learn from these mistakes

[@reddenver]

It’s crazy how we( society at large) are so familiar with the foods that originated in the Americas and many dishes that we see as essential European dishes, but we don’t know any Native American dishes.

[@louisjov]

It would be cool if you guys did a series on the main groups of native peoples in the Americas For instance, a video on the coast Salish tribes, a video on the groups on the east coast, a video on the groups in the southwest etc. All of these cultures are very unique from each other and it would be interesting to see the similarities and differences

[@Dirk_Strider]

That would be great. I'm Ojibwe (northeast/"midwest" around Lake Superior) and while I love any Native representation, like the show Rez Dogs, that's specifically southern/Oklahoma cultures, and shows about "out west" are usually Pueblo cultures, Plains based things are always Lakota, and all of that is great but there are so many tribes with completely unique cultures. We're not usually the topic of media and there's a lot never covered.

[@Cindy99765]

Something on the Lenni-Lenape (NJ/DE/PA areas) would be cool too! They were actually the first tribe to make a formal treaty with the US government.

[@lorekeepermeerah]

Mvskoke cultural historian here and thank you for making stuff like this! A lot of people seem to have conveniently forgotten or not been taught about what they did to the bison, and to us. If we forget the past, it’s doomed to repeat.

[@truthisfallacy]

"Not to supplement nutrition but to stave off starvation" is so well put. I'll be using that in the future when I need to explain an experience I had.

[@mmps18]

Thank you Tai and PBS Origins for the important history lessons!

[@fr0gsrcool753]

i love tai and his videos on pbs origins so much!!!! as a native, it makes me so happy to see another native taking up space & representing us and our beautiful native cultures, while also be such a good intelligent educator!!!! thank you for posting these videos with tai :)

[@neurotic_bunny]

aside from the loss of life, language, culture and all of that, what depresses me the most is the loss of all of the cumulative knowledge about the land that all of our First Nations (and my Inuit ancestors) possessed. intricate understandings of all of the animals and plants across ALL of the americas that our western ways of thinking have only begun to scratch the surface of. that there was so much medicine out n about, all around, and only a handful of that knowledge has survived to this day. anyway thank YOU for helping to spread hope and reeducation ♥️

[@user-hl1ct3yh1r]

3:59 so made tribes dependent on the government for food. Wow. Now we’re all dependent on the market for food. BRING BACK COMMUNITY AND SUBSISTENCE FARMING!

[@MegaSnail1]

Ancient cultures like Native Americans have so much to teach us in these out of balance times. Thank you for sharing,

[@k.a.u.4599]

Try to reframe your thinking from them being ancient cultures. They are still here! This is something I had to reframe as well

[@MegaSnail1]

@@k.a.u.4599 Good point. Perhaps I should have said ancient traditions grounded in respect for the environment have much to teach us. Thank you.

[@Thenewboidahlia]

Why are the Amish, people not even native to the Americas, get to continue their traditions uninterrupted but indigenous peoples still cannot? I mean we know why but still..

[@grovermartin6874]

@@Thenewboidahlia Maybe because the Amish accepted capitalism and paid for the land? They also eschew violence.

[@Thenewboidahlia]

@@grovermartin6874 I know those are seemingly valid reasons but you know they’re absolutely not right? And your bit about them eschewing from violence isn’t the subtle dog whistle you think it is 🙄

[@grovermartin6874]

@@Thenewboidahlia What dog whistle? That's a part of their religion.

[@PersePixels]

​@@Thenewboidahlia Ayeap, all those trails of tears and broken treaties and attempting to work within *THE U.S.'s OWN LAWS* and being backstabbed anyway, and somehow the naTIVES are the ones "initiating the violence"

[@TheSarahJane33]

Why can’t they?

[@FindTheFun]

This was a dope episode PBS. Y'all always been chill af.

[@goco4697]

As a native Coahuilteco, one of my long term goals is to work to educate and inform the community and all peoples of our rich food traditions which form modern Tex-Mex today. I’ve broken down our cuisine into 4 distinct periods including pre-contact, post-contact with/Canary islanders and Tlaxcalans, post-contact w/ Anglos, and modern Tex-Mex. Each period gives truly distinct insights to our culture and resourcefulness.

[@aaronbennack714]

Tlax-Mex

[@k.a.u.4599]

I love this! I moved from Colorado to San Francisco where half of my coworkers are from Guatemala with a few from Southern Mexico and it's so hard to explain to them how the Mexican food there is sooo different but it's not bc it's less authentic. It's different because it's different! It's food that has been made there for hundreds of years. The southwest was established part of Mexico until really relatively recently in history, and also so many native tribes were forcibly located there - the region has a distinct food culture that is often looked down on because it's different from other Mexican food and so it's thought the difference is white washing. A good example that is the corn husk wrapped tamales that I've had in this city have been dry and bland while the banana leaf wrapped ones are always very tender and rich flavored but when I go home to have corn husk wrapped tamales in Colorado they're richly flavored, dryer than the Guatemalan style sure - but they hold together and have a wonderful texture. Maybe the masa commonly available here is made slightly different with the more moisture retaining banana leaves in mind? But people in the southwest have been making tamale with corn husks for soooo long and they have their technique down and they have a signature style that is irreplaceable.

[@Wildman-lc3ur]

Must say when I've learned about indigenous food it really helped build a curiosity for what my ancestors must've eaten the Pembina Anishinaabe (plains ojibwe) I experimented and read multiple cook books from the sioux chef to retro cook books that utilized more common house hold ingredients. I even visited owamni in Minneapolis twice and was blown away at what delicious high quality meals were made from ingredients found in North America

[@jessicapayne8622]

I’m in England and watching this has just made me realise majority of what I’m growing in my little garden are actually south/north American! Next spring I plan to grow Iron Age (uk) beans and other uk ancient food as well as what I’m already planning to grow. People stop as they walk past, as im working in the garden and ask so many questions. They even stop and admire the plants when I’m at work! So thankyou for your ancient Methods, ways and plants that I am now growing in my garden. It’s given me a reason to get out of bed every morning!

[@victoriaeads6126]

The ABSOLUTE BEST spot on the National Mall, IMHO, to get fantastic food at a reasonable price, is the cafeteria at The National Museum of the American Indian. The food hall is separated into geographic 'regions' featuring classic indigenous dishes from all over the continent. It is WONDERFUL. Ever since the museum opened I've been recommending it to anyone who will listen. The whole place is lovely.

[@Kaltag2278]

Government cheeeeeeeeese 😭😭😭

[@1victim27]

LMFAOAOAOAO My favorite 🤤 😂😂

[@GeckoHiker]

It's really good to see programs that highlight Native American traditional foods. My family continues to pactice traditional Cherokee farming methods with native heirloom seeds, no-till companion planting, permaculture, and dispersion of foraged plants. Our homestead has stands of perennial sunchokes, groundnuts/potato beans (Apios americana), and more. We nixtamalize and prepare parched corn. Our "fry bread" is flatbread made from parched cornmeal. I know how to soak acorns in a stream and turn them into a survival meal, or harvest and process the inner bark of pine trees for meal. I still make nut soup like my grandmother taught me. Of course we have access to and use modern foods and domestic livestock. My grandmother kept a huge flock of free range, self-perpetuating chickens in the early 1900s. It was called "the Columbian Exchange", after all.

[@disneyprincessintraining2725]

I’ll put it this way, I am so white I likely have less native heritage than the average white American. My husband’s grandfather has native heritage though, like enough he remembers his native grandmother (or great grandmother, I can’t remember which). It was a family secret for a long time since natives rights were not recognized at the time. With how much the US government did to attempt to extetminate native Americans, I think it would not be fair to put the exact same amount of time and energy to revisit what they attempted to erase. I’m so glad there’s channels like yours talking about this. I hope in my lifetime to learn a native language, I think that would be so wonderful!

[@spicylemons8557]

I want more indigenous content 😊 I love learning about their culture. I’m studying ecology and we have so much to learn from them in this field.

[@NellieKAdaba]

I feel the same about Native/Indigenous culture.

[@user-xsn5ozskwg]

The food practices of Native Americans are incredibly cool and equally important. I hate that it has to be a battle, but I am endlessly proud of the indigenous peoples of the US working hard to revive their practices and secure their rights.

[@stephanie8167]

This just made me cry for good and for sadness. Good that this popped up in my feed, and seems to echo what my soul drives me towards in life. Happy to see an accurate reflection of what has been happening, as sad as those happenings are. Sad because of how much of our traditions, languages, and lands have been lossed and polluted. Thank you for being a strong voice ❤

[@ljbpresti]

The last couple years I’ve included a three sisters bed in my home garden. I love learning about the ways plants can help each other. Thank you for aharing

[@ShadowRoadX]

I hope things can still improve, especially with the given climate concerns.

[@Beryllahawk]

I would personally love to learn as much as I can about what Native Americans knew about the lands they cared for, about the foods they grew and foraged and hunted for... Especially with everything being, well, like it is. I'm told that spider-wort (a "weed" that grows in huge abundance in my yard in spring and summer) is edible. Except - I've got no idea how to prepare it, and most of what I've found online has to do with making the flowers into a drink (or into dye). Which is nice but NOT the use I was told about by an older neighbor of mine. I obviously don't want to disrespect or appropriate anybody's culture. But even ONE food item that I can consistently get my hands on, that isn't full of preservatives, that *I* can grow and care for... I'm a rotten gardener, native plants are the only way I'll ever manage to grow any of my own food, y'all.

[@Eloraurora]

I'm in the Southwest, and so much of our agriculture is wholly dependent on irrigation. Meanwhile, plants that were part of indigenous food traditions (mesquite, prickly pear, etc.) either grow wild or are used in landscaping, and people choosing between rent and groceries walk right past them, because none of us know how to use what's right in front of us. (The mining history doesn't help, either. Harder to trust the plants in your backyard with a Sunperfund site in the next town over.)

[@b1oh1]

Native American culture is so fascinating and sad at the same time. Thanks for the great videos Tai

[@beitheleaf8221]

Thank you for teaching me about the food apartheid and the systemic issues surrounding food scarcity. Very curious to learn and understand more 😊

[@MateoQuixote]

This is such a fascinating topic that I'm shocked I haven't heard talked about before. I have always wondered about the relocated indigenous people and how they adapted. Imagine the people from the New England region or the Seminole people in Florida getting relocated to Oklahoma. It's a totally different place different climate different locally accessible food. Also food etymology is such an interesting topic to me. Everything is so global now but so many foods came from so far away and weren't introduced until as recent as 300 years ago. Tomatoes in Italy, potatoes in Ireland and Russia, capsicum in... well everywhere!

[@ToniAllen]

We're doing alright, considering. We got free healthcare, unlike the rest of the US, cuz our tribal government is civilized enough to know to take care of its people. kzbin.info/www/bejne/o3vEooGeqZh-bdEsi=rTnNAgM1tswsACrd

[@SarahRsache6644]

This video NEEDS to have more views. It is important for all US citizens to know this information.

[@XavierGranville]

I majored in Indigenous Environmental Studies in university, and thought that this was a perfect video for someone to get an idea of what Indigenous Food Sovereignty is. Great work!

[@88349]

Thanks for bringing this out great vid strength honor and protection be with you family !

[@beth12svist]

What gets me about the Three Sisters as a Czech is that I was reading some letters from 19th century (I am pretty sure it was Božena Němcová, one of our most prominent 19th century writers, though I'm not 100% sure) describing fields in Southern Slovakia or Hungary... somewhere where corn fields are likely to be a thing... and it was the Three Sisters. They were growing the crops together. We picked that up together with picking up the crops. It's a great system of raising them. Then I guess mechanisation rolled in and we completely forgot that we had learned that.

[@ZemplinTemplar]

South Slovakia calling... It's still practiced over here, though likely mainly at a garden or domestic field level. (Personally, I'm all for getting rid of big monoculture fields.)

[@beth12svist]

@@ZemplinTemplar Yay! Good to know.

[@Andrea-rw9tf]

My late aunt was Cherokee, and would give my mom or any commodities so I’ve had that cheese and it was a lot like the boxes they used to give low income families.

[@monicaluketich6913]

Or Senior Citizens. We get that 'cheese,' and I'm trying to find ways to use it and not mess with my diabetes or high cholesterol. I have NO IDEA what it is made from - there usually are no lists of ingredients on the package.

[@scriptorpaulina]

I’m a reconnecting Sac-Fox, and this is all so real. I wish we could also talk about how the generational trauma of surviving all of this has turned into cycles of alcoholism and addiction, even for those of us who don’t live near our homelands or relatives

[@PanEtRosa]

@@blake8510 where do you think the genetics of it started? there wasn't as much alcohol available before the colonists arrived, because there weren't as many crops that were suited to it. it was colonists who made it easily accessible and encouraged alcoholism and addiction among Native populations, specifically as an attack and oppressing tactic, much like Columbus spreading diseases that indigenous people on these continents didn't have immunity to. and yes, the impact of that lasts for generations and centuries. there are Irish people in these comments as well talking about the continued health impacts of the potato "famine", which is also better understand as intentional starvation imposed by the British.

[@scriptorpaulina]

@@blake8510 it is not genetic. I’m sorry that you’ve been lied to. Like all mental illness, alcoholism has biological, psychological, and sociological factors in its development. And in the case of my family, it wasn’t until my children’s generation that the psychological chain was completely broken. The sociological chain started to break down in my parents’ generation. But the biological risk factors for other diseases-borderline, bipolar, schizoaffective, psychotic depression, severe anxiety-are all still there, and perfectly capable of being root causes of alcoholism as well.

[@arecestravi]

In the kitchen of my people, there are many plants that we owe to the indigenous peoples of the Americas. Your people have experienced terrible things, and that is while you basically saved thousands of poor people around the world from starvation, and bring them joy of delicious food. World owe you so much.

[@sharoneicher7895]

I was raised on harvesting, gathering, and eating wild meat. I am connected to my food and to Earth. It’s totally weird to me to think that anyone could live otherwise.

[@roeileen2148]

This is what I am doing today on July 4th. Watching this and Native American on PBS. Is it truly human to believe that one group of people has more rights to life and liberty than others. I don't think so. Some religious beliefs make some people believe they are more entitled and superior to others, having every right to dominate and look down on other people unless they "join" them. The diversity of the world and all of its varied living beings, plants, animals, people, was created by God in order for us all to truly live.

[@abigailchaffin1502]

“Land is part of public health” 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@Useraccount85]

I love this series, keep up the great work!

[@notebeans3134]

I've always wondered about what traditional recipes indigenous North Americans ate. We learned what crops they ate in a few different regions when I was in school (northern Virginia isn't great on history, but my elementary school social science classes went over local history in far more depth than I think most places ever teach in schools). A lot of how the tribes in Virginia lived is very well documented because of collaboration and trade with early English settlers, but one of the things I never really learned is about *how* they used the crops that they traded over to Europe!

[@cynamun467]

We learn our diets from our parents and when they lived on commodities, that is what they pass down. A few years ago I tried to find Native American recipes; all I could find was fry bread.

[@greyecologyst4694]

Imagine the health of the human population being linked to the health of the environment 😂 wish this knowledge was as instinctual for others as it was for me.

[@mikaeelmalik1724]

There is also a reservation in maine lines up well with the food desert map

[@terereynolds698]

My grandma and my aunt taught me how to make a lot of different foods, we had a vegetable garden, fruit trees, and we would let other tribal members take what they needed for their families and in return, they would give us deer meat, rabbit, pork, beef. I was about 10 when I had my first bologna sandwich. I never saw the difference but she had both laying hens and chickens for frying or baking. Even as a little girl I didn't like rabbit, pork, cheese or egg yolks they always make me gag.

[@sasentaiko]

Let’s never stop talking about this

[@JDoe-gf5oz]

Or let's do.

[@justineb]

I really like this series with Tai, learning so much about indigenous cultures!

[@permabroeelco8155]

A very good teacher.

[@Mienarrr]

This is so interesting, i dejectedly have to say that i watch a lot of videos about history, but mostly from europe, where i am from. I am very excited to broaden my knowledge with this channel, thank you!! :)

[@huitzilinf_art]

I love the videos you host, man!

[@Appdbxjishevvdbncjjfikrkrbxbbn]

Unrelated to the video but I love when KZbin added the changing comments but I wish it would bring up the one it’s showing when you clicked on it

[@dreamcastor1934]

No seriously like why show a snippet of a good comment if u can't click it

[@Katy_living_simply]

Great Video! For those in the Southwest there is a book called The Pueblo Food Experience Cookbook. Its a great read and talks about the challenge they did to go back to native foods and how their health was revitalized even reversing diabetic symptoms.❤

[@Eloraurora]

I've read a similar anecdote about an Australian Aboriginal man, who dealt with diabetes symptoms in town, but was able to function without insulin when he went into the bush and hunted and gathered traditional foods.

[@Katy_living_simply]

@@Eloraurora Yes! There was a great short documentary on coca-cola and the town people. And how diet changed everything. I can't remember the name.

[@Katy_living_simply]

@@Eloraurora Our family is the typical half Spanish half Pueblo here in New Mexico and I haven't figured out how we can go to a natural diet when we're split right down the middle. Like how do you incorporate both?? I'm going to have to study more on the Spanish natural foods.

[@rocketpsyence]

This is probably another good reason to support land back huh

[@hagengamradt8275]

Thank you so much for making this video. Every day I fight for native shorelines, yards, and woodland habitat. Habitat restoration and healthy edible gardens! ❤️

[@rorqualdesertico8193]

Conection to the land is so important! I highly recommend gardening, and if your local law allows, foraging for invasive species! What we have done in a lot of the US is turn it into a mediterranean microclimate, theres a lot of european and middle-eastern plants that ADORE human development like cheese-weed, stinging nettle, raspberries, fennel and nasturtium. In a way these plants have followed our european ancestors and settled right alongside us. We could eat them not only as a way to conserve the native wild habitats (hopefully we'll gently exteripate their invasive population without needing excessive herbicides) but to make them safe to eat we would be FORCED to take care of our local land, better waste management, stricter rules around herbicides and pesticides. Again, its a pipe dream, and the restoration of wild habitats should be prioritized. But I think that conscious observation of what our local ecosystem even contains with the possible treat of free leafy greens is a good starting point.

[@PokhrajRoy.]

Thank you for this cooking show! 👏🏽

[@S.Stamos]

Hello from Greece, i am sad about your experience....we are lucky Mediterranean people that food exchange with asia and africa was peaceful process, famous bazaars with products were something spectacular! Today we consume a lot of your agricultural products and i would to thank you for this ❤

[@MrSpazbomb]

My struggles with my lactose intolerance ended up being the driving force in reconnecting me to my mestizo ancestry and my current exploration of my grandmother’s native cuisine.

[@afishcalledjuan]

I live in Eastern South Dakota. It is sad that early settlers decimated the bison population in an effort to take the land from indigenous people. Today even if you want to hunt and fish we can't hardly find any game in the state and no one wants to live in this "fly-over" part of the country. If we had left this land to the people who knew the natural ecosystems I think we would have been better off as a species. Now we have the industrial farm nonsense that will ruin the land for generations if not forever.

[@Sondergarden]

Superb video! I find it incredible how you keep such a kind and friendly demeanor while going over such dark horrible subjects. Kudos to you!

[@sameaston9587]

2:07 I grew up in the Central Valley, a place where a lot of produce is grown. Even surrounded by agerculture, many locals are ignorant to how all it all works. They compain about rain in the winter, and heat in the summer, oblivious it's good for the plants, thus more affordable food.

[@HelenCamile63]

I love that the background graphics is ledger paper. We called commodity food “line cheese” because you gotta stand in line to get in.

[@ikeekieeki]

indigenous food systems contributed so much

[@StringsCrusader]

Keep making videos like this!! Thank you so much for the information!!

[@wishingonthemoon1]

I remember learning so much about indigenous cultures in elementary school, and I didn’t know any of my Cherokee heritage beyond singing Jesus loves me in the language. I remember telling my mom we should stop buying flour and just use acorns, they’re literally everywhere on our property, bountiful and healthy.

[@Simsim3e]

I’ve been wondering what Native American food was like before European settlers took over. Like why aren’t there any special dishes or restaurants that have native American cuisine?

[@Rugged-Mongol]

As a Mongol, I feel at my best when I stick mostly to my ancestral diet of meat and dairy.

[@obsidianjane4413]

Enjoy those rickets.

[@Rugged-Mongol]

@@obsidianjane4413 Ah yes, Inuit and other Indigenous Nations of the Polar north live and have lived perfectly just fine subsisting off of seal meat and fat for literally thousands of years in a climate where little to no plants grow or exist :)

[@obsidianjane4413]

@@Rugged-Mongol As a Mongol, you should realize that you decedents didn't live at the pole. Feel free to look up and educate yourself on the health problems that came with that diet.

[@samuelaccorso2129]

I’m half Italian American and I grew up with pasta and tomato sauce. It blows my mind that the quintessential Italian sauce ingredient didn’t originate with the Romans, but with indigenous Americans. It’s poetic. The dish itself is like me. I’m neither indigenous to America but not born and raised European either.

[@Bodiggle465]

Ha, that intro was wonderful!

[@mjean6762]

I can not even fathom the hardships that Native peoples went through. What it must have been like to be a mother, a father. The fear that must have been involved in daily life. The injustice is sickening. 😢 (Yes, I know it exists to this day, but I'm referring to the time when those people were initially pushed from their homelands and their entire way of life was upended.)

[@brewskimckilgore6796]

can i buy a full book by tai plz? where can we get that PBS

[@randolphholy-day6400]

Growing up, I ate muskrat, deer, fish, dandelion greens, duck, rabbit, and corn. Never milk. Non-Native people were shocked that I ate dog meat during certain ceremonies. My grandparents tried to keep a traditional diet. But, moving to the city changed all that.

[@bigdawgpelchee5413]

Thank you for talking about this!!!! We need to return to our FOOD along with the rest of our culture ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@deanhodgson8219]

I am SO glad this came up in my algorithm.

[@kendobunny]

We desperately need more Native American law and policy makers. Even on a level of complete detachment from human lives being at stake, it is logical to replace commodities with agricultural support. It would save so much money and cut through so much expensive red tape to just give every penny earmarked for commodities directly to the community to be spent on the production of food for the tribe. Job production! Lower taxpayer spending! Government butting out of people's pantries! Removing thousands of pages of onerous legal wrangling! You'd think powers that be would be in favor.

[@grovermartin6874]

Years ago a group of anthropologists visiting the Pima tribe [I think it was] noted that HALF of the tribe were diabetic. One of them wondered if that owed something to their eating the white man's food that they had not lived with for thoussnds of years. A group of them were persuaded to live for a while on the diet of their tribe before the white man came. I don't remember all of the substitutions, but one sticks in my brain. Instead of wheat, they ate seeds of a goosefoot plant, like amaranth, maybe. Amaranth seed is much harder to digest, so slower and lower in sugars, than wheat. No sugar, instead of salt, they used the ash of certain foraged herbs that were burned, no dairy. As I recall, every participant in the experiment not only became free of diabetes, but were no longer obese.

[@eriktroske6405]

I was recently on a trip abroad with several French friends, and one of them asked me “what are truly American foods, that aren’t just adaptations of different European dishes?” Honestly, it’s so difficult to imagine what food was like on either side of the Atlantic before colonization, because so many things have become extremely widespread even among the poor that didn’t exist there or here before 1500. But I did immediately think of grits

[@Nekorook]

i'm glad that across cultures being lactose intolerant is seen more as a challenge and not a hinderance.

[@dhesyca4471]

Thank you for this educational video!

[@StunkoBungusJrIII-j4y]

I didn't know about those forced onto the Trail of Tears sewing seeds into their clothing... What a sobering notion. Even when being pushed towards a precipice, they were thinking of where they would land, and how to make that place sustainable for them and their children. Really can't think of a better illustration of Tai's (excellent) point about the centrality of agriculture than that small, immensely practical gesture.

[@melissachase1649]

They are right. The health of the earth is the health of the people.