Native American Foods

A History of American Cuisine, Part II

(Jan. 24, 2008) For nine weeks during the summer of 1962 I was in northern New Mexico, on a fellowship to the Santa Fe Opera. In Santa Fe I was introduced to a new kind of Mexican-American food; it was the first since my childhood in Southern Arizona, which had been limited to the tapatio cuisine of Sonora. I also had my first and only direct exposure to American aboriginal cooking.

It was customary for the local Indians to hitchhike along Hwy. 25, and one day I gave a lift to a young man who insisted that I come to Tesuque Pueblo for supper with his family. It was one of the memorable meals of my life.

Young Zuni woman with jar.

GALLERY >

First was bread, fresh from a clay oven, made entirely without salt. Intoxicating to the nose, in the mouth it became cardboard paste. Then a whole baked pumpkin was cut open, scooped out and served, including pith and seeds — again, nearly impossible to eat. And finally, “chile con carne,” tough jerked meat that had been stewing for hours in chile puree. The texture was like a wet dog chew, and it was fiery beyond anything I have ever tasted. If this sounds like a complaint, it is not. I felt privileged to be there. It was a chance to taste food that may have predated the conquistadors. Still, when na√Øve souls romanticize the foods of Native Americans, I am reminded that I have actually eaten it.¬†

Lo, the poor Indian! whose untutor’d mind

Sees God in clouds, or hears him in the wind…

—Alexander Pope, Essay On Man(1734)

Pope was referring to spirituality, but just as he invidiously compared his “superior” Christian mythology to one that worshiped nature, whites have always chosen to believe that Indians lived in a state of perpetual misery before the arrival of the colonists.

First, it is as absurd to lump together all “Indian food,” as it would be to dump all “European food” into one basket. Some Indians lived on verdant land, or had easy hunting or fishing; the Northwest coastal tribes grew wealthy trading dried fish. Others lived in desolate areas, and struggled.

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Fuente Nueva's Third Annual Fiesta Ball Gala Benefit

music, dance, food / 6 p.m. Portuguese Hall, 1185 11th St., Arcata. Music by Huayllipacha and West African Dance and Drum Collective. Food by Brett Schuler. Silent auction and raffle. Proceeds benefit Fuente Nueva Charter School. $40. E-mail fuente.carnival@gmail.com. 825-9682.