Toasted Sister Podcast

Do you know how much money you spend on food? If you’re like me, finding out that triple-digit number will make you sick. In this episode, Monica Braine (Natives on a Budget, Native America Calling) and I take a 31 Day No Eating Out Challenge that give us perspective into our spending and eating habits.

Chef Lawrence Garcia (Acoma and Navajo), executive chef at Sky City Casino, in New Mexico is skilled at making odd ingredients taste good together, which is a skill he needed for 505 Food Fights, a charitable event that brings together all kinds of chefs from Albuquerque. In this episode, I follow him and Diné chef Josh Nez through the tournament.

In this special episode I catch up with some awesome women at the 2nd Native Women’s Business Summit, a powerful event for Native women entrepreneurs to lift each other up, network and encourage business growth in Native America. The women in this episode see the importance of food in business and Native traditions.

I speak with:

Addie Lucero (Taos) — Dancing Butterfly Naturals

Percilla Frizzell (Diné) — Sacred Generations

Reyna Benteah (Zuni) — Ts’uyya Farm

Kathy Sanchez (San Ildefonso) — Tewa Women United

Shayai Lucero (Laguna and Acoma) — Earth and Sky Flora Designs and Gallery

No one really likes to be told what to do especially when it comes to food. Food is culture and to be told that that’s not good enough by outsiders, well, that makes us angry. In this episode Lynn Lane (Diné), community health nutritionist, and Felicia Cocotzin Ruiz (Tewa and Chicana), chef and holistic healer, are no longer gentle Indians.

The 2018 Southwest Native American Workshop on Bats gathered a couple dozen bat researchers and biologists from federal, state and tribal entities to talk about bat conservation ahead of the spread of white-nose syndrome (WNS) in the Southwest. They also focused on where bats fit into Native culture.

Voices in the episode:

Lawrence Abeita (Isleta), wildlife biologist for the Bureau of Indian Affairs

Dr. Ernie Valdez, research wildlife biologist for the U.S. Geological Survey

Dr. Mike Medrano, chief of resource stewardship and science for the Guadalupe Mountains National Park

Nelson Luna (Zuni), director of biology for the Pueblo of Zuni

Timothy Smith (Mescalero Apache), biological technician for the Pueblo of Sandia

Taylor Silva (Diné), Navajo Nation Department of Fish & Wildlife

Roger Rodriguez, regional bat monitoring research assistant at Oregon State University

In this episode I talk with Brian Tatsukawa, culinary instructor at the Navajo Technical University in Crownpoint, New Mexico, and a few of his students about why a career in culinary arts is important and what challenges young students have cooking on the reservation.

I partnered up with Eater magazine to include Pueblo bread in their Guide to the Southwest. In the process of writing this article, I took a journey through some of the Pueblos in New Mexico to learn about Pueblo bread. This episode includes voices from bakers from Jemez, Taos, Zuni and Laguna Pueblos.

Link to "The Wondrous Bread of the Pueblo Nations" article: https://www.eater.com/2019/1/23/18183970/zuni-bread-pueblos-new-mexico

Visit the episode at ToastedSisterPodcast.com for more photos

In this episode, I talk with Curtis Basina (Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians), owner of the Copper Crow Distillery in Wisconsin about stereotypes, vodka drinks and what repeal of prohibition could mean for tribes. Yes, I said “prohibition.” Did you know that up until December 2018 tribes were banned from operating distilleries on reservations? A law changed that so tribes are able to open distilleries if they want to.

For this special episode I take a road trip to El Paso, Texas where I learn more about Mexican food and the Indigenous food culture at this stretch of the border. You’ll hear from Rick Quezada, cultural preservation director at Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, Lorena Andrade, director of La Mujer Obrera and Rubi Orozco Santos, poet and public health educator.

Photo: “The Equis” monument that stands over Cuidad Juárez near the border was made by Mexican sculpture Enrique Carbajal González. It symbolizes the intersection of Indigenous people of Mexico and the Spanish.

Native American Natural Foods makes Tanka Bars, the first brand of bison meat bars, experienced a couple of ups and downs in business since it started in 2006. But since competition from non-Native companies swept up all the investments and money in the last couple of years, Tanka Bar is left to restructure its brand. In this episode, I talk with Mark Tilsen, president and co-founder of Native American Natural Foods.

The New Food Economy article: “Bison bars were supposed to restore Native communities and grass-based ranches. Then came Epic Provisions.”