Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. What’s not to love about a holiday focused on eating and being thankful?!? Sadly, the Thanksgiving holiday that we learned about in school, is a whitewashed version of the actual historical record. While researching the holiday, I ran across this Time Magazine article, and took this excerpt to heart, “We do not need that illusion of past unity to actually unite people today. Instead, we can focus simply on values that apply to everybody: togetherness, generosity and gratitude.”
As the article is written by Sean Sherman, founder and CEO of The Sioux Chef and the author of “The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen”, it inspired me to do more research on indigenous recipes and indigenous-owned businesses located in the Midwest. I’m hoping to incorporate some of these ingredients and recipes inspired by Native communities into our upcoming holiday meal.
Find more tips and activities this season, check out our Holiday Fun Guide and Calendar.
Here are a few indigenous-owned food businesses to check out in the Midwest:
Ioway Bee Farms
The Ioway Bee Farm, owned and operated by the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, offers a variety of products such as raw honey, creamed honey, lotion bars, lip balms and beeswax candles. Located in Northeast Kansas, Southeast Nebraska, and Northwest Missouri, their honeybees have access to a diverse plant life that includes sweet clover, wildflowers and a variety of tree species. This diversity gives their honey a unique, sweet flavor. You can purchase their honey products from their online store.
Native Harvest
A subsidiary of the White Earth Land Recovery their mission is to facilitate recovery of the original land base of the White Earth Indian Reservation, while preserving and restoring traditional practices of sound land stewardship, language fluency, community development, and strengthening their spiritual and cultural heritage. Find organic wild rice harvested in Minnesota, maple syrup, hominy, tea, butters, gift baskets and much more to purchase on Native Harvest’s website.
Red Lake Nation Fishery
Red Lake Nation Fishery’s mission is to sustainably manage, harvest, and prepare superior quality wild fish products, inspired by their Native American culture, and deliver them directly to your doorstep. Products are shipped daily, so their customers can enjoy the highest-quality fish products. Browse their wild-caught Walleye for sale, as well as Yellow Perch, Crappie, and Smoked Whitefish.
Red Lake Nation Foods
The only American Indian tribe in the U.S. that grows and harvests their own wild rice (MN Cultivated) on local lands. The Red Lake Nation Reservation in northern Minnesota, pack, and ship their wild rice to many countries. They also have a natural foods line with unique hand harvested wild fruit jellies, jams, syrups, handcrafted gift items, all-natural batter mixes, popcorn and herbal tea.
Spirit Lake Native Farms
Spirit Lake’s mission is to promote sustainable living and support small business development. Maple syrup, wild rice, heirloom produce, meats, fruits, maple coated pecans, and Native American beadwork are sold through a number of retail channels including local businesses, Duluth, MN farmers’ markets, and online.
Sweetgrass Trading Company
Sweetgrass Trading Company offers a unique selection of traditional Native American food products and handcrafted items. Items can be purchased online. SweetGrass Trading Company is a subsidiary of the Ho-Chunk Trading Group, a division of Ho-Chunk, Inc., the economic development corporation of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska.
Do you know of an Indigenous-owned food business in the Midwest? We’d love to hear about it!
