In her 2023 cookbook “Seed to Plate, Soil to Sky,” New Mexico-based chef and historian Lois Ellen Frank emphasizes a pivotal shift in Indigenous cuisine: contemporary chefs reconnecting with the ingredients and agricultural practices of their ancestors.
“It’s now up to each Native American community and each Native American chef to decide what the New Native American Cuisine is and what they are going to serve on their plates,” Frank writes in her introduction, reflecting a growing movement among Indigenous chefs.
This culinary renaissance is vividly taking shape in the Denver area, where many young women chefs are establishing food enterprises and cultivating gardens.
By honoring the land and reviving traditional practices, they are actively defining the essence of New Native American Cuisine, from cultivation to culinary creation.
Such efforts resonate against the backdrop of a historical struggle for food sovereignty, particularly following the forced relocations of Native peoples in the 19th century and detrimental food distribution policies in the 20th century.
Frank characterizes this period as “the most painful and most difficult in terms of health and wellness in Native American Cuisine history,” highlighting a crucial turning point.
Before European exploration, Indigenous diets in the Southwest, including the Four Corners region, thrived on farmed staples such as corn, beans, and squash—collectively known as “the three sisters.”
However, the relocation of Native Americans to reservations marked a significant dietary shift, as government-issued rations often consisted of mass-produced foods, distinct from traditional diets.
Frank poignantly describes this transition as “nutritional genocide,” underscoring its lasting impact on Indigenous health and culinary traditions.
In Denver, Tocabe has been a staple of Native American cuisine since its inception in 2008.
Known for its fry bread tacos featuring shredded bison, hominy, and roasted green chiles, Tocabe is a pioneering establishment, recognized as “the only American Indian-owned and -operated restaurant in metro Denver specializing in Native American cuisine.”
Micaela Iron Shell-Dominguez, a passionate environmental and Indigenous activist, was inspired by Tocabe’s mission and went on to work there, driven by her desire to honor her Lakota heritage and reconnect with her roots.
“I remember after working there for a while, I told Ben and Matt I was so inspired by everything they did that one day I wanted to open and own an Indigenous restaurant just like them,” she expressed in an email to The Denver Post.
Today, as a mother of two and worker-owner of Moonshell Pizza Cooperative, Iron Shell-Dominguez is advancing her vision of an Indigenous food business.
Moonshell Pizza is a roving pizza venture that leverages indigenous ingredients such as corn, berries, and sage in its unique recipes.
One of their standout dishes is the buffalo chokecherry pizza, featuring chokecherries, a native plant in Colorado.
Iron Shell-Dominguez’s holistic connection to her culture aligns with broader Indigenous culinary perspectives, resonating with experiences beyond North America.
Andrea Condes, a 39-year-old native of Caracas, Venezuela, embodies this connection through her approach to cooking and her catering company, Four Directions Cuisine.
Her journey, rooted in the culinary landscape of Colorado, allows her to draw parallels between the ancestral experiences in pre-colonial America and the food culture she cherishes.
Condes emphasizes the interconnectedness of land, animals, and plants as an integral part of her Indigenous heritage.
She sources root vegetables like potatoes from the Andes and hosts communal meals twice a month as The Rooted Andina.
Through her journey of reconnecting with Indigenous foods, she has navigated the cultural gaps of her past, discovering a path back to her identity.
“Reconnecting with those foods, I didn’t realize then, but I do now: It was me reconnecting with myself,” Condes reflects on her culinary journey.
Several chefs, including Narissa Ribera, are also reviving traditional agricultural practices as part of what Frank describes as “food sovereignty.”
Ribera, a member of the Navajo Nation, began gardening out of necessity and transformed her passion into Ch’il Indigenous Foods, a meal pickup service she started three years ago.
Working out of a commercial kitchen, she creates delightful treats like blue corn ice cream and baked goods using ingredients sourced from local Indigenous harvesters.
Her passion for cultivation led her to secure two commercial plots donated by the city of Wheat Ridge, focusing on growing native crops such as Apache gourds, Lakota squash, corn, beans, and sunflowers.
Although it will take years for these crops to mature, Ribera is eager to share her creations and is developing a Native cookie and tea business, with ingredients sourced directly from her gardens.
Through her work, Ribera aims for wider representation of Indigenous foods, aspiring to see her products in supermarkets one day.
“I want representation,” she declares, emphasizing the importance of reconnecting Native communities with their ancestral diets.
Ribera actively engages with her audience through social media, encouraging community involvement in tending the gardens and educating the youth about Indigenous culinary traditions.
At local markets, she has created thoughtful cookie gift boxes that include descriptions of each cookie’s ingredients and their historical context, aiming to provide genuine Indigenous options for gifting.
“So much was taken from us, including so much of our food,” she acknowledges, worried about the dwindling interest in cooking among Native people.
Through her outreach, Ribera seeks to inspire a renewed interest in cooking and cultural reconnection among Indigenous communities.
In this vibrant landscape of New Native American Cuisine, these chefs are redefining Indigenous culinary traditions and fostering connections to the land, culture, and history.
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