Details:
The lunch exploring indigenous foodways will be served at 11:50 a.m. on October 18th in UVA’s Newcomb Hall Ballroom. The lunch is free and open to the public, though RSVP is required.
“It’s so much more than just a tasting of delicious Native foods,” says Food & Community director Lilia Fuquen. “It’ll be a substantial meal that illustrates the stories of what food sovereignty used to look like here, why Native American foodways changed so dramatically, and how indigenous communities are building healthy, just, food systems today. Every bite will have so many stories woven into it.” Victoria Ferguson, a Virginia Monacan tradition keeper, will collaborate with I-Collective chefs Hillel Echo-Hawk (Pawnee), Iaonhawinon (Haudenosaunee), and Indigenous Foods Activist M. Karlos Baca (Tewa/Dinè/Nuche) to create the meal based on precolonial ancestral foodways for 200 symposium attendees.
During the meal, the chefs will speak about their work in food sovereignty within their communities and teach about indigenous foods and foodways of the Americas. A photo essay of the foraging, gathering, processing and cooking of the food being served will be on display throughout the event.
While the symposium’s focus is to reflect on the legacy of slavery in today’s food system and to map out a path toward food sovereignty, Ferguson says, “It’s vital that we take a look at what food sovereignty looked like in the past, and recognize that it is possible right here, right now, even if it’s just a few bites. We can all go outside, stand in a forest, and be surrounded by a feast that we might not even realize is there. It’s about connecting with the natural world and its rhythms, and the balance of give and take. Virginia Indians taught the newcomers about which foods could be gathered from the forest and we shared our growing practices to provide food throughout the winter. We’ve been doing this a long time.”
Much of the food for the lunch will be harvested and gathered in Central Virginia just days or hours before being consumed. Keeping with the tradition of trade routes, various Native American tribes will contribute heritage squash, beans, corn, maple syrup, and wild rice, while wild edibles will be foraged by the chefs and local experts. The food will be cooked using traditional methods—over fire, using natural ingredients and tools.
“It’s so much more than just a tasting of delicious Native foods,” says Food & Community director Lilia Fuquen. “It’ll be a substantial meal that illustrates the stories of what food sovereignty used to look like here, why Native American foodways changed so dramatically, and how indigenous communities are building healthy, just, food systems today. Every bite will have so many stories woven into it.” Victoria Ferguson, a Virginia Monacan tradition keeper, will collaborate with I-Collective chefs Hillel Echo-Hawk (Pawnee), Iaonhawinon (Haudenosaunee), and Indigenous Foods Activist M. Karlos Baca (Tewa/Dinè/Nuche) to create the meal based on precolonial ancestral foodways for 200 symposium attendees.
During the meal, the chefs will speak about their work in food sovereignty within their communities and teach about indigenous foods and foodways of the Americas. A photo essay of the foraging, gathering, processing and cooking of the food being served will be on display throughout the event.
While the symposium’s focus is to reflect on the legacy of slavery in today’s food system and to map out a path toward food sovereignty, Ferguson says, “It’s vital that we take a look at what food sovereignty looked like in the past, and recognize that it is possible right here, right now, even if it’s just a few bites. We can all go outside, stand in a forest, and be surrounded by a feast that we might not even realize is there. It’s about connecting with the natural world and its rhythms, and the balance of give and take. Virginia Indians taught the newcomers about which foods could be gathered from the forest and we shared our growing practices to provide food throughout the winter. We’ve been doing this a long time.”
Much of the food for the lunch will be harvested and gathered in Central Virginia just days or hours before being consumed. Keeping with the tradition of trade routes, various Native American tribes will contribute heritage squash, beans, corn, maple syrup, and wild rice, while wild edibles will be foraged by the chefs and local experts. The food will be cooked using traditional methods—over fire, using natural ingredients and tools.
Meet the Chefs
Indigenous, Inspired, Innovative, and Independent.
The I-Collective is an autonomous group of Indigenous chefs, activists, herbalists, seed, and knowledge keepers.
M. Karlos BacaI-Collective Chef
M. Karlos Baca (Tewa/Diné/Nuche) is an Indigenous Foods Activist and the founder of Taste of Native Cuisine, an Indigenous food cooperative based out of Southern Ute in Southwestern Colorado, and focusing on pre-colonial Indigenous Foodways. His work has been featured in the Zagat Foodways series, AJ+ and most recently in Edible Southwest Colorado. Although cooking is his passion, the majority of his time is spent teaching traditional foraging methods, Indigenous agriculture, seed saving, and cooking technologies to youth groups, teaching in schools, and working to help decolonize the food systems within those communities, while pushing forward with Indigenous Food Sovereignty initiatives on the tribal level, and is currently engaging in creating racial and food justice frameworks in the Four Corners region. He is foremost a son, a brother, father to six amazing children, and a grandfather. Follow his Instagram here.
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IaonhawinonI-Collective Member
Iaonhawinon (Kaienkehaka/Mohawk) is a dedicated hardworking chef-in-training from Akwesanse, Ontario, Canada. She learned meat cutting skills right out of high school and moved to Toronto to attend George Brown College for her certification in culinary management and is currently honing her skills in upscale Toronto restaurants featuring Mexican, Asian and fusion Cuisine.
She also honours the traditional food of the Mohawk people by cooking traditional family dishes. Iaonhawinon enjoyed sharing her knowledge with community members by recently teaching groups of adult students in the Akwesasne Culture Restoration program, high school graduates preparing to leave home and younger students at the Akwesasne Freedom School. |
Hillel Echo-HawkI-Collective Chef
Hillel Echo-Hawk (Pawnee and Athabaskan) was born and raised in the interior of Alaska, around the Athabaskan village of Mentasta-home to the matriarchal chief and subsistence rights activist, Katie John. Watching John and other Indigenous Peoples fight for food sovereignty, as well as seeing her mother strive to make healthy, home-cooked meals for her and her six siblings has given Hillel a unique and important perspective on diet and wellness.
Hillel has a passion for local, ethically sourced and sustainable foods, all through an Indigenous lens and perspective. Echo-Hawk is dedicated to the food sovereignty of Native peoples and is committed to empowering all Indigenous Peoples by increasing knowledge of an access to traditional diets and foods. Hillel believes that food should feed not only the body, but the spirit and midshipmen's of the community. Her unique positioning and experience as an Indigenous person is making Chef Echo-Hawk a bright and rising voice in the culinary landscape. After receiving her Bachelor's degree in Culinary Arts from Seattle Central College, Echo-Hawk has been working as a chef in some of Seattle's most innovated and popular restaurants for several years. She has also worked as a private chef, catering various events form the local Native non-profits and Native community events with pre-colonial, Indigenous meals. Hillel is a sister, aunt, daughter, and active member of her community. |
with
Victoria Ferguson
Victoria Ferguson is an enrolled member of the Monacan Nation of Virginia. She graduated from Marshall University in 1980 with a degree in Dietetics and minor in Chemistry. She has been involved with the Monacan Exhibit, at Virginia’s Natural Bridge Park, since its inception in 1999 and currently serves at the Exhibit Manager responsible for staffing, developing programs and presentations, and exhibit structures, while researching scientific, historical, archaeological data and oral traditions. Vicky is an unparalleled Historical Interpreter having been under the tutelage of her parents to learn about natural resources and gardening practices. She is also tasked with making the period appropriate clothing for the staff in addition to teaching such aboriginal technologies as rope making, ceramic technologies, cooking, weaving, and construction methodologies as part of the preservation of the culture.
For more information about the i-Collective visit: https://www.icollectiveinc.org
Photo Credit to Ink and Paper, 2017
Photo Credit to Ink and Paper, 2017