Cherokee Prayer Blessing
May the Warm Winds of Heaven Blow softly upon your house.
May the Great Spirit Bless all who enter there.
May your Mocassins Make happy tracks in many snows,
and may the Rainbow Always touch your shoulder.
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I am traveling home, and will try to add to this post during the week, so please check back. UPDATE: November 21/22 (we made it hope safely, thankfully, and have enjoyed the holiday with our family. I hope you did, too.)
I have called this post Real Remberance because I think the Native Americans are continually being short-changed, even today, and we will discuss this more, in the future, especially seeing their forced-change to a Western-style life-style has caused them so much misery and they are the largest single group of diabetics, ethnically, in America, that I know of, because of this.
We continually reap the benefit of their ecologically-sound principles and herbal knowledge to help our own Health, and it is time that more of the Americans of “other” heritages make sure that the Hospitality and life-saving skills that the Native American tribes extended to the First European settlers is truly “paid back” by making sure that:
___ the First Nations’ sovereignty is continued to be protected by Law
___ that their “official” designation of “Native American” is not manipulated by our Government (as it is now) to disenfranchise those whose ethnicity percentage does not meet the Government’s constantly revised standards. Tribal standards, which vary by individual tribe, is all that should “count”.
With intermarriage, the Government is hoping, soon, that there will be no “qualifying” Native Americans anymore, and then the final land-grab can begin. Unbelievable, but true practice. I found this out 10 years ago on the Makah Reservation from a responsible community leader. That is one reason they have fought the US Government so hard to keep their rights to hunt whales, their main traditional, staple, animal food.
It’s a complex issue, so I’ll return when I have more time, but meanwhile, I hope that you will add some Native American recipes to your Thanksgiving Feast, as I always do. Here are a couple to start you off.
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Hidatsa Stuffed Sugar Pumpkin
1 sugar pumpkin, 4 to 5 pounds
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
2 tablespoons rendered fat
1 pound ground buffalo, venison or beef
(use buffalo or grass-fed beef: from Whole Foods + good Health stores)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup cooked wild rice
3 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon crushed, dried sage
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cut the top off the pumpkin and remove strings and seeds. Reserve seeds for another use. Prick the cavity with a fork and rub with 1 teaspoon salt and the mustard.
Heat fat in a large skillet; add meat and the onion and sautéé over medium-high heat until browned. Off the heat, stir in wild rice, eggs, remaining salt, sage and pepper. Stuff the pumpkin with the meat mixture.
Place 1/2-inch water in the bottom of a shallow baking pan. Put pumpkin in the pan and bake for 1-1/2 hours, or until tender. Add more water to the pan as necessary to avoid sticking.
To serve, cut pumpkin into wedges, giving each person pumpkin and stuffing.
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Cherokee Spiced Jerusalem Artichokes
1 pound Jerusalem artichokes or “sunchokes”
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon mustard seed
1/4 teaspoon dill seed
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
Salad greens, for serving
Scrub artichokes and cut into 1/4-inch slices. (Scrub to remove any sand or dirt particles sticking to the skin, and they DO stick there). Blanch slices in boiling water for 1 minute; drain and set aside.
Pour remaining ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Pour mixture over artichokes and marinate for several hours, refrigerated. Serve as a salad, on a bed of greens.
NOTE – Jerusalem Artichoke is an ancient, popular Native-American food. It is an indigenous North American tuber, which grows from the roots of the perennial sunflower. It was misnamed “Jerusalem” from a variation of “Girasole”, an Italian word for ‘following the sun’.
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As time goes by, I’ll try to put on more Native American recipes, many of which use indigenous American foods, as I have an extensive Native-American recipe library at home …. and I will recommend some cookbooks, too.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and as you sit at the table, take the time to really enjoy and articulate all your Blessings. They are all around you, every moment, every day. Your Life will be enriched when you start to truly notice them.
With Love,
Em
Reference:
http://lynnescountrykitchen.net/ethnic/amind/index.html
(c)2007 Em http://diabetesdietdialogue.wordpress.com
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