Indigenous foodways talks; Acorn Mush cooked in basket

Incredibly, the steam was from a rock heated in a fire, then stirred in the Wiiwish... IN a basket. The pounded acorns and water eventually thickened and the basket was not burned.

The 40th Annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 2006 included Native American basket makers from around the country. One group from California demonstrated preparing Wiiwish (acorn mush) in a family heirloom basket.

Acorn mush was made from black acorns pounded or as flour/meal and water. Soapstones were heated in a fire and transferred by two poles acting as tongs. 

After being quickly dumped in water to clean off the ash, the rock was lowered into the acorn mixture and constantly moved on the stick stirrers so not to burn the basket. A new rock replaced the old until the mixture thickened. Winnowing basket -

Past posts on acorns (Medieval) HERE. Links to info on grinding holes rock, 1933 movie, photos 1908, 1919, 1923 HERE

Ancient mortar holes, California 1919

Acorn shucking 1908

Acorn mash in basket and heating rocks 1908

Acorn caches 1908

Upcoming virtual food history talks calendar HERE

Indigenous foodways talks - 31 Oct-Dec

Oct 5 Mon 1-2 European Views on Indigenous American Foods Food and the Book: 1300-1800. Folger and Newberry libraries. Register HERE TAPE HERE

Oct 6 Indigenous Food Sovereignties. Miijim: Food as Relations. Environmental & Urban Change. York University HERE. TAPES HERE

Oct 12 Indigenous Foodways: Public Program in celebration of Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Food and the Book: 1300-1800. Newberry and Folger libraries. HERE. TAPES HERE

Oct 18 Sun 4pm Manoomin: The Story of Wild Rice in Michigan. Barbara Barton. Culinary Historians of Ann Arbor HERE TAPES will be HERE or HERE

Oct 20 Tue 2:30-4:30 Indigenous and Black Food Relations. Miijim: Food as Relations. Environmental & Urban Change. York University. Canada HERE. TAPES HERE

Oct 22 Thur 3-5 Indigenous perspectives: The place of Canada in Canadian Food Studies. Canadian Association for Food Studies (CAFS) HERE

Oct 27 Tue 2:30-4:30 Learning from Manoomin (Wild Rice). Miijim: Food as Relations. Environmental & Urban Change. York University. Canada POSTPONED HERE. CANCELLED

Oct 29 Thurs 10pm Conversation with the Director of the movie Gather: The Fight to Revitalize Our Native Foodways. Panel discussion. Autry Museum in LA TAPE HERE

Nov 5 Thurs 1:30-2 Nixtamalization and cultural importance of corn in the Americas. Adriana Azcarate-Ferbel from Three Sisters Nixtamal demo tortilla, sope, and gordita making and.. .nutritional benefits of nixtamalization. Grains & Revolution. Chatham University. PA HERE TAPE HERE

Nov 5 Thurs 4:00 Ancestral knowledge and the use of natural indicators for quinoa growing in the Pomani community in Bolivia.Indigenous Seed Saving. Dora Tambo Laime. Grains & Revolution. Chatham University. PA HERE TAPE HERE

Nov 5 Thurs 4:40 Seed Saving & Food Sovereignty. Indigenous communities across the globe. Grains & Revolution. Chatham University. PA HERE TAPE HERE

Nov 5 Thurs 5-6 pm This Land Is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiving. David Silverman. History Book Festival. Delaware libraries. HERE TAPE HERE

Nov 9 Mon 6pm Indigenous Plants for Food, Fibre and Medicine. Indigenous Australians. Richard Rowe from Sustainable Gardening Australia. Frankston City CouncilHERE

Nov 10 Tue 12-1 Where has our Wild Rice Gone? [Manoomin] Dr. Marie Schaefer. MSU Extension Conservation Stewards Program. Michigan State U. HERE no tape

Nov 10 Tue 2:30-4:30 Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee Food Systems Miijim: Food as Relations. Environmental & Urban Change. York University. Canada HERE. TAPES HERE

Nov 10 Tue 7-8:30 Traditional Pueblo Bread Making in Ah-cutoo (horno, adobe oven). Sage Andrew Romero, member of the Tovowahamatu Nuumu/Tuah-Tahi (Big Pine Paiute/Taos Pueblo) tribes, will tell about oven and the histories of bread making. Dancing Earth. HERE

Horno, adobe oven post of early 1900s pic of ovens on ground, on building, inside… with list of bread, flour, and oven talks HERE

Nov 12 Thur 7-8 Native American Heritage Month Cooking Demonstration. Grayhawk Perkins. The Division of Diversity Equity and Inclusion, The University of Alabama HERE TAPE HERE

Nov 13 Fri 4 Rethinking the Tablescape: Indigenous Origins of New England Cuisine. Rachel Beth Sayet, Mohegan educator's talk & demo. American Antiquarian Society. $15 Indigenous people no charge. HERE TAPE may be HERE

Nov 18 Wed 3-4pm The American Discovery of Europe. 17th cen Native Americans to Europe – Henry VIII met a Brazilian king, Mayan nobles made chocolate for Spanish king; potatoes, tomatoes, peppers. Dr. Pennock author On Savage Shores. U. of Sheffield. Being Human Festival. UK HERE

Nov 19 Thurs 6-6:45AM Let’s Talk about Food. “new film [about]… the food adventures of European settler colonists in the Americas.” Dr. Winchcombe talks on impact of new food and encounters between colonists and indigenous peoples. John Rylands Research Institute and Library. Being Human Festival. UK HERE TAPE HERE

Nov 20 Fri 6-7:15pm Intersections of Indigenous and African Foodways. Alex Jimerson, Yusuf Bin-Rella, Chef Sherry Pocknett. Scott Barton. Food Studies Grad Society at NYU TAPE HERE

Nov 21 Sat 4-5 Thanks be to the Plants. “the history of Native American tribes in San Jose and their uses of native plants.” Our City Forest HERE

Nov 24 Tue 6-7 A Fusion of Corn and Thanksgiving. “what ‘corn’ is to the Wampanoag, the Lenape, and the English, the types of 'corn', archaeological evidence of 'corn' in the 1600’s… connection between the Wampanoag’s harvest of corn, the 1621 harvest feast… and Thanksgiving.” Susan McLellan Plaisted. Highland Park, NJ Historical Commission. No tape HERE

Nov 25 Wed 6-8PM Indigenous Foodways Skillshare: Prickly Pear Cactus Fruit. M. Karlos Baca. Hopi Tutskwa Permaculture Institute HERE

Nov 24 Tue 7-9:30 GATHER: The Fight to Revitalize Our Native Foodways: A Film Screening and Conversation MOFAD $15 HERE

Nov 27 Fri 1-3 Masinaadesjigan - Indigenous Film Day – SEED: The Untold Story. Screening. Vandana Shiva, Dr. Jane Goodall, Andrew Kimbrell, Winona Laduke and Raj Patel. Paterson Library Commons HERE

Nov 27 Fri 7pm– Gather: The Fight to revitalize our native foodways. Film screening viewable for 24 hours starting at 7pm. Food Share Toronto, Canada HERE

Dec 8 Tue 8pm Indigenous Seed-saving. Beth Roach of Alliance of Native Seedkeepers. Virginia. Women's Earth Alliance HERE
Past talk TAPES - Sharing Seeds: our first treaty. Haudenosaunee Story of Creation HERE

Hominy and Posole: The Science of Native American Cooking. Freddie Bitsoie. Science and Cooking. Harvard. TAPE HERE

Culinary Ash in Contemporary Native American Cuisine. Lois Ellen Frank. Science and Cooking Public Lecture Series. Harvard TAPE HERE start at 17 min./ 1 hr talk

May 8 The History of Native American Cuisine with Dr. Lois Ellen Frank HERE and demo HERE

Once I find the tapes of talks after they are given, this post (and other topic posts) will only keep the talks with tapes.

©2020 Patricia Bixler Reber
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