Cooking Up History: Nourish Your Body, Nourish Your Soul w/ Ancestral Foods

Fri, November 4, 2022, 12:00 PM – 1:15 PM EDT | Register 

Mother-daughter duo Elena Terry and Zoe Fess address the health and well-being of their community, the Ho-Chunk Nation, by reviving and sustaining ancestral foods. During this program, which is geared toward youth audiences, guest chefs Terry and Fess will speak about the work of their non-profit Wild Bearies, a seed to table organization, that shares indigenous food cultures and traditions within the Ho-Chunk Nation and beyond.

They will speak about their roles as community mentors but also their commitment to being life-long leaners, which has proven key to Wild Bearies’ success. They will also discuss the impact that their advocacy work has on their own relationship to one another as mother and daughter, as women, and as future ancestors to the Ho-Chunk people. Honoring the Woodland region of the Ho-Chunk Nation, Terry and Fess will prepare Seedy SassSquash, a seed crust with squash custard, topped with wild rice or apple dust and cranberry sauce.

This dish features Ho-Chunk ancestral squash, lost to their community for generations until recently when the Wild Bearies team returned and revived the life of this sacred ingredient in their ancestral homelands. This program is produced in collaboration with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s North American Office. Tags