Gifts of the People: A Lesson in Indigenous Foodways

Norway resident and President of the Board of Trustees, Aubrey Lyn Bell, will present a program, Gifts of the People: A Lesson in Indigenous Foodways, Thursday, October 23, 6:30 pm at Norway Memorial Library, 258 Main Street, Norway. He is bringing foods including  traditional wild rice, squash, beans, hominy, and a bison molé for attendees to sample. His talk will reference Indigenous food books that he will have on display books that he will have on display.

Lyn is a member of the Shawnee Nation and has Indigenous roots in the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, and Muskogee Peoples of the Southeast. Born on the Gulf Coast of Alabama, he grew up with a love for cooking in a family and tribe that ate communally. He spent his earlier years exploring many of the Indigenous Foodways of the Americas while traveling through Indian Country. Through the display of native foods integral to his People, he hopes to offer a lesson in land stewardship, and the importance of recognizing the contributions of Native America to the tables of the world.

He writes, “In the traditions of my People, Star Woman came down, and brought the seeds to impregnate the Earth, to give purpose to the land. She passed down a tradition of stewardship to the soil, and to the life that springs from it. Before Europeans came here, we were gardeners, wild harvesters, and travelers. Citizen scientists cultivated crops and nurtured the best qualities of corn, beans, and squash. As those elements traveled from stationary tribes in the pouches of migrating clans, and nomadic travelers, they eventually found themselves together – and became a metaphor for harmonious mutualism in the gardens across Native America. Likewise, communities curated wild rice, tubers, and greens that presented each season, ripe for harvesting, and for sharing along the routes that ran across the continents. In the hubs where these paths crossed, our culinary traditions swirled into a nourishing stew, and like the three sisters of corn, bean, and squash, the generosity of wild rice, potatoes, herbs and greens swirled into our mythology. After contact with Europe, we were changed, but so too have we changed the world. While we have welcomed many of the new plants that have taken root in our gardens, today, we celebrate those elements and traditions that have always called this place their home.”

For more information on this program, please call 743-5309 ext. 1, stop by the information desk, or e-mail norcat@norwaymemoriallibrary.org. Registration by Thursday, October 16 is helpful but not required. The program is free and open to the public.