Throughout my lifetime, my mom has been sharing stories and bits and pieces of memories from her childhood in Los Angeles with me. From her youthful, innocent, perspective, east LA was a vibrant and safe place for her to grow up. She mentioned eating tacos on Olvera Street and that caught my attention because I had just read about Olvera Street in “American Tacos: A History and Guide” by José R. Ralat. Olvera Street is a pretty significant place in the history of Mexican food in LA and the United States; a bit of a controversial history, but an interesting history nonetheless.

My mom’s memory of Olvera Street helped me form an itinerary for an adventure: to go back to Olvera Street to have those same tacos and to learn about Mexican and Indigenous food there, and back to downtown Los Angeles to learn more about the generations of Native people who moved to the city—by way of the Urban Relocation program—and created an urban Native community with its own vibe and culture.

Heard:

Kathy Murphy, my mom

Dr. Alisha Murphy, my little sister

Dr. Enrique Ochoa, professor of history and Latin American Studies at California State University Los Angeles

Dr. Sarah Portnoy, producer of “Abuelita’s Kitchen” and professor in the Departments of Latin American and Iberian Studies and American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California specializing in Latinx food culture and food justice

Pamela Peters, Diné multimedia documentarian. Her film and video project is called the “Legacy of Exiled Ndnz”

Mentioned:

Las Anitas

Un Solo Sol

United American Indian Involvement

King Taco

El Tepeyac Café

Credits:

Production, hosting, engineering by Andi Murphy

Podcast intro and outro music by CW Ayon

Episode music by Blue Dot Sessions

“Cornicob”-Sugartree, “Sienna’s Regression”-Heringbone, “Sharp Lapel”-Transistor Radio, “The Queen of Cones”-Tarana, “Caravan 9”-The Caravan

Leah Prisque is responsible for Indigenous and community relations at Growcer, a cool Canadian company that turns shipping containers into farms. She helps expand this idea to Indigenous communities, some of which are extremely remote and located in food deserts. In this episode, Leah talks with economist for the Navajo Nation, Dr. Alisha Murphy, about how these farms work.

Mentioned in the show:

Growcer: https://www.thegrowcer.ca/

Bidii Baby Foods: https://www.bidiibabyfoods.org/

The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation: https://nctr.ca/

“The Knowing” by Tanya Talaga: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-knowing-tanya-talaga?variant=43103131074594

Native America Calling: https://www.nativeamericacalling.com/

I met Lamar Minthorn (Umatilla) of Tutuilla True during my first trip to Portland at the Northwestern Native Economic Summit. He’s an incredibly positive person and an obvious hard worker. In this episode you’ll learn about how one tribal fisherman found his way into the Columbia River to carve out a salmon fish business for himself.

In this episode, I talk with Ojibwe chef Bryce Stevenson who is also the owner of Miijim in La Pointe, Wisconsin, an island in Lake Superior. He’s also a pretty talented poet whose work is included in the zine “Heart Rations: Indigenous Food Poetry.” Bryce is a creative guy who also takes up carpentry work during the off season, a necessity for folks who work on an island like La Pointe.

Nininjiin

A poem by Bryce Stevenson

as a bowl, hysterically

holding juice squeezed

fresh from flesh, burnt

festered, boiled

weathered, leathered

skin until muscles

cooked within. Bones

split, flavors grown no

modifier nor amplifier

in need. Too hot

my hands to carry

blistering dish, gravity

given gift - re-room

the hecatomb - a day

minus the hours

sleep & work spent

in the only room

in the house where

existence is ensured

through the destruction

of life - the results of

which, wasted.

The “Heart Rations: Indigenous Food Poetry” zine is out (has been out)! It’s a collection of poems about… you guessed it… Indigenous food. In this episode, I talk with a couple of folks whose work appears in the zine; Cliff Taylor (Ponca Tribe of Nebraska) poet, author and creator of “The Ponca Poet’s Podcast,” Rebecca Kinkade-Black (Diné), Albuquerque book seller, and Vicente Telles, an artist from the South Valley of Albuquerque.

Other authors in the zine:

Teresa Peterson (Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota/citizen of the Upper Sioux Community)

Bryce Stevenson (Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa)

Esper Rodriquez-Gaspardi (Chichimeca Mexican)

Gabe Tegoseak (Iñupiaq)

Geremy Clarion (Suqpiat American from the Native Village of Ouzinkie)

Tina Deschenie (Diné and Tewa Hopi)

MKirby-Nectar Nomad (Tortuga Pueblo and Mestiza)

Alice Qannik Glenn (Iñupiaq)

Venaya Yazzie (Diné)

Nobian Henan (Shoshone, Cherokee and Diné)

Other artists in the zine:

Jonathan Thunder (Red Lake Nation)

Coen LaFever (Navajo, Santa Clara Pueblo and Northern Cheyenne)

I'm pretty glad I found out about Nikki Tsabetsaye (Zuni) and her knife sharpening skills via a post/ad that was shared across my way. She's a pretty awesome person and her family owns Major Market grocery store in Zuni, New Mexico. In this episode (recorded while she sharpens my knives), we talk about sharp knives, knife stories and injuries.

Also, we hear a preview of a special episode by the Unpacked podcast by AFAR that's about Native tourism. Here's the link to that episode: https://link.chtbl.com/mlOXPdeX

In this episode I talk with Natalie Benally (Diné) about her film, “Indigenize the Plate” at a screening hosted by Tiny Grocer ABQ in Old Town Albuquerque. We talk about her journey to Peru for the film and how that inspired her to remember and revitalize traditional family ways of growing and eating. She’s the founder of Tse’Nato’, a digital storytelling company.

Cherokee chef Nico Albert Williams is just trying to make some corn soup. She’s the executive director of the Burning Cedar Sovereign Wellness in Tulsa (grand opening Sept. 14) and the vocalist for a badass doom/sludge metal band, Medicine Horse (debut album drop Sept. 8). In this music-filled episode, Nico and I talk about storytelling in music, religious horror and how she pivoted from the restaurant chef life to community leader.

From the big city of Chicago, I bring you this episode featuring 2023 James Beard Award Best Chef of the Northeast, Sherry Pocknett (Wampanoag). We talk about her win, her battle with cancer and how her past shaped the chef she is today. Photo by Huge Galdones courtesy of the James Beard Foundation.

Things get a little switched up in this episode. This time, my sister, Alisha Murphy, economist for the Navajo Nation Division of Economic Development, takes over an interview with Victoria Largo, new owner of Victoria’s Pizza brick-and-mortar restaurant in Crownpoint, New Mexico, our Navajo Nation hometown. She talks about the real struggles and triumphs of operating a food business on the Navajo Nation. It’s inspiring to hear from this enthusiastic and strong entrepreneurial spirit!