A Gathering Basket- Issue 12

A Gathering Basket

FROM THE I-COLLECTIVE A MULTI-MEDIA COOK BOOK

Issue 12

Ash. Yep, that’s right, ash!

You know, the leftover remnants of burned wood from within your fireplace or what is left behind after burning the fall leaves that you gather when raking up the lawn before the upcoming winter. You may probably be thinking to yourself, “What exactly does that have to do with food or Indignous cuisine or even the Indigenous culture of Turtle Island for that matter?” Well as it turns out, quite a bit actually. Something that this chef never really gave too much thought until 2017 and yet, it's really struck a cord of fascinating interest for me.

So what do we really know about ash? For me, all I knew up until 2017 was that ash was used by Inidigeous people as a natural levenar for bannock back in the day. And nowadays, you could throw some ash in your garden to help make your garden grow better or if you go to a restaurant that cooks with wood, you can order a Dirty Steak. A piece of meat that is cooked directly on a charred piece of wood, giving it that unique flavor that one would get when cooking over an open fire when camping.

A quick search online shows the following: Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fire. Specifically, ash refers to all non-aqueous, non-gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyze the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash is the non-gaseous, non-liquid residue after complete combustion.

Ashes as the end product of incomplete combustion are mostly mineral, but usually still contain an amount of combustible organic or other oxidizable residues. The best-known type of ash is wood ash, as a product of wood combustion in campfires, fireplaces, etc. The darker the wood ashes, the higher the content of remaining charcoal from incomplete combustion. The ashes are of different types. Some ashes contain natural compounds that make soil fertile.

Others have chemical compounds that can be toxic but may break up in soil from chemical changes and microorganism activity.

Thank you, Internet! Ya, there is some vocabulary in the last couple of paragraphs that may not make sense. But it does help to give you a little better idea and does confirm what I mentioned about the addition of ash to your garden. Ash + soil = more fertile soil for growing plants, and that is great. Now, what about the use of ash regarding Inidigneous culture and its cuisine?

Traveling back to November 2017, Brooklyn, New York. A number of Indiegous chef from all over Turtle Island have all gathered in one location to bring awareness about Thanksgiving and its dark history. But this is where my first, yes my very first culinary introduction to ash comes to light. In the kitchen, I volunteered to assist with prep and to have the chance to meet fellow Indigenous chefs. I see on the other side of the kitchen, a couple chefs gathered around a bag of blue corn, a pot of water, a corn cob and a torch in hand. Ok, ok, just to give some background, I am from Alberta, Canada and a member of the Frog Lake Cree First Nations. Where I am from, a lot of corn is

grown in the area and we do enjoy eating corn just as much but historically, corn is not so much nor, to the best of my studies, a part of our culture. Ok, now continuing. For me, this is all new and being the curious person that I am, I walked over, said hello to the two chefs that were working with the corn and torch.

The two chefs, one being Karlos M. Baca, look up from their work, give me the traditional Indigeous greeting of a head nod and a “What’s Up?” I politely introduce myself and share my quick background and ask the question, “Why are you doing what you are doing?” To many of you who are reading this, may already know what was going on when I mentioned blue corn, pot of water, corn cob and a torch. In short, Nixtamalization! The process of simmering dried corn in an alkaline solution of water and wood ash until tender. But here, Karlos explained to me that they were using the torch to char the corn - hence producing ash - adding it to the dried blue corn and

water to start the process of nixtamalization.

My culinary sponge started absorbing this information. After several minutes of conversation on the topic, Karlos pointed to the pot of simmering blue corn to show me how the process was working. The hull - known taxonomically as the pericarp - was starting to come off the corn. That night when I returned home, all I could think about was ash and, “What have I been missing out on?”

In the months to come, I sat down from time to time and did a little digging online and came across some interesting things. For example, I discovered that one gram of juniper ash has the equivalent amount of calcium found in a single 280ml serving of milk! This blows my mind! Why? Well let’s think about it. Calcium is something that our bodies need for growth and healthy bone development. And growing up, the majority of us as children were taught that milk is a great source of calcium. Well the last time I checked, cows are not an indigenous species to Turtle Island but were brought over with the colonials. But our people knew that juniper ash was a great source of calcium. At the same time, it also has its culinary advantages as well as for its unique flavor that it adds to food.

Over the past couple of years, I have had the pleasure of speaking with Karlos on a number of subjects, and ash always comes back around in many of our conversations.

As always, with all those conversations, there are always many questions. For instance, can the entire juniper bush be used for ash? Is it particular to one species of juniper or can the juniper that grows in the Canadian north be used as well? Looking past juniper, how about the use of other ashes such as sweetgrass, sunflowers, corn, cedar (other woods) and anything else that could have been used and what was the purpose for using that particular ash? How do they differ in color, nutritional value, FLAVOR, and as a part of our Indigenous culture? With this issue, we take a look at a number of these questions in conversation and explore the world of ash.

-Quentin Glabus

In response to Quentin’s query about ash I think we should start by acknowledging the INDIGINUITY of our ancestors!!! Their knowledge of ash’s ability to not only kill mycotoxins* and fungi but its ability to add to the nutritional value of everyday foods is amazing. For an example if you look at the colonizers history with maize you’ll see that without this Indigenous knowledge they suffered, in the colonies, Europe, and the american South in the early to mid 1900’s, from the disease Pellagra. This affliction is caused by low levels of vitamin B-3 (niacin) with symptoms of dementia, diarrhea, and dermatitis, and if untreated can be fatal. This epidemic was easily avoidable had the colonizer simply watched the Indigenous process of nixtamalization. (I would like to note here that pellagra has also been an issue in South Africa, from the early 1900’s to the current date, mostly showing up in “food aid dependent countries”, code for colonially disrupted, and affecting primarily those in forced diaspora.)

Now to get to questions 1&2, “Can the entire juniper bush be used for ash?” and “Can the Northern Canadian juniper be used?”. In the region that utilizes juniper ash, the american Southwest, the type of tree is the Juniperus osteosperma, Wa’ad in Ute and G’ad in Dine, but most commonly known as the Utah Juniper. This tree makes up half of the pinyon/juniper ecosystem of the high desert, including some of the last old growth in existence, and doesn’t grow in the north. To explain the process of making the ash (G’ad bit’eezh) itself we’re honored to have had the students and faculty of the Dził Ditł'oó School of Empowerment, Action, and Perseverance (DEAP) create a short picture video of the process.

Click fo

or video

Tooshchiin (Blue Corn Mush) Now we have to be honest here and say that if we asked grandma for a blue corn mush recipe she would probably look at us all somehow and say, “I don’t use a recipe I just do what my grandma taught me.” We know, we know it sounds kinda personal, like it really happened, and we’re here to tell you YES IT DID!!! With that being said here is what we came up with!

First let’s say for the already chef minded that the ratio here is 3:1:1for a four serving batch and for the rest of us….

3C Water (divided into 2C and 1C) 1C Toasted Blue Corn Meal 1T Juniper Ash (if you need extra calcium feel free to add another T!) Now for the Indigenous alchemy!

-Bring 2C of water to a boil -In a bowl combine 1C water, 1T juniper ash, and 1C toasted blue corn and whisk until thoroughly mixed -Slowly pour your corn mixture into boiling water while stirring (if you skip this step and just pour your corn meal into the boiling water you will end up with uncooked clumps!)

-Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 15-30 minutes while whisking regularly (We’ve seen it cooked anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour and understand this is really a textural and consistency preference but, we recommend cooking until the corn meal is softened and becomes smooth) -Remove from heat and serve Of course this is just the beginning!!! Toppings range from berries, pinon nuts, 3 leaf sumac, to popped amaranth and sweeteners from yucca fruit to Ts’ááłbéí (toasted sweet corn flour). While we recognize most of these things are region specific you can add whatever you want! Maple sugar or syrup and agave for instance.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE! What do you do with the leftovers? Here are a couple hints! After you take the mush out of the fridge it will have a “skin” on top and if you dry that out into a “blue corn crisp” you’ll thank us later.

Feeling even more creative? Reheat it and follow your favorite polenta recipe. And lastly, but most importantly, BLUE CORN MUSH POPSICLES ARE MAGIC!!!

Looking past blue corn mush let us take a minute to another juniper ash “recipe” shared by our relative Josh Nez. (We used the parentheses on the word recipe to acknowledge that these things are not broken down into pieces in our cultures but reflected as a living being.)

I remember cooking with my Náálí adzáán. (Paternal Grandmother). We were making bááh dóó klíízh (Blue Corn Ash Bread). We had already gathered juniper ash (gád bitéésh) months before. And if you don’t know, every diné already has juniper ash in their homes..

Making blue corn ash bread is very simple with the ingredients already provided from our mother earth.

Juniper branches, to burn and set aside to make ash, and then sifted to get any bigger particles out such as the branch, cuz all we want is the ashes from the junipers.

Blue corn to grind and also sifted to get any larger chunks out. And this could be roasted or used as is. Roasted is recommended but that’s just me.

Tó’eí’náá (water is life).

The water is boiled with the ash, maybe a cup or 2, depending on how much you want to make.

Then a tablespoon or two of ash added to the water. As it’s boiling. Using a yéédítsín (stirring stick) to slowly mix the grounded and sifted Blue corn with the water making a dough. And depending on the consistency you want you will know..

Then you will make small balls and flatten it out making like a 4 inch round dough. Like making mud pies my grandma would say. (Haha) Put that dough on your cooking pan 2 to 3 minutes on both sides and have a cup of salted water to dip after it’s done cooking, this will keep it from drying out and add a salted flavor with moisture.

My grandma laughed when I asked for this recipe in tablespoons, cups, or teaspoons. Making this medicine has to do with your mood, your songs, your thoughts, and prayers. Food is Medicine and this is Medicine. There are songs and prayers for gathering each of these ingredients. Respect it. Food is Medicine.

-Josh Nez yéédítsín

Now before we get back to what we can do with ashes let's look at what not to do! Please don’t burn treated wood, add gasoline or other combustible chemicals to start your fire, or use paper treated with colored ink (most newspaper ink is plant based but if you’re unsure just say no!) Also not all wood is safe!! Some woods have developed protections against insects, fungus, microbes, and you.

So what are some safe culinary ashes and what are their cultural significance and uses? Let’s start with communal ash. The communal project of collecting 4 Wing Saltbush to make ash for Pwiki in some of the Pueblos is one such instance.

With the village collecting the saltbush it is then taken to the plaza and burned in one massive pile. Once the pile has been reduced to ashes families bring their jars and fill them up for use throughout the year. Let us also note that saltbush ash definitely has a salty taste and can also be used as a seasoning.

Using saltbush in place of salt in stews is commonplace.

We can contrast that with bean plant and corn cob/stalk ash by looking at a more lineal way of connecting to ash. It can be said that with clan or

CLICK FOR CORN

familial obligation to our plant relatives comes the blessing of connectivity and deeper understanding. By cultivating these ways of being it brings forth the responsibility to nurture the circular nature of both their, and our, lifeways by harnessing all of the energies from seed to death. Both of these forms of ash can be used to nixtamal corn.

Now what about outside of the Southwestern Tribes? What does ash use look like on the West Coast? We are honored to share a video and piece written by our friend Marva Sii~xuutesna Jones (Nii~lii~chvndvn Tolowa Yurok/Karuk/Wintu) entitled “Soul Food Sustenance” as they take us on a journey into making Acorn Stew and Ash Bread!!!

An early morning fire is built before daybreak with hot seasoned madrone and alder, six (6) to eight (8) black stones that are selectively gathered fresh from the riverbank and buried beneath the fire. These stones are chosen based on quality and size to make the perfect basket full of soup. Steady devotion of tending the fire makes for some very, very hot cooking rocks. These scorching cooking rocks brand the very distinctive flavor of Ke-goh or San-chvn tuu-'i'

N COB ASH VIDEO!

(Acorn Soup), a staple food source for many Indigenous peoples along the west coast throughout California.

Preparing a nice meal of ke-goh is truly a skilled form of art. When you taste the robust flavor of acorns you cannot only taste, but feel the magic and the love of the acorn which is derived from the person who uses our natural elements to bring alive this distinctive taste.

When I taste this specific soup it brings about the name of a Yurok Matriarch who’s been making this soup for decades. She has refined and defined this art in a way where one can feel her love and magic. Her name is Bertha Peters.

Being a good acorn cooker speaks for itself. You very well-know with certainty they’re going to taste good, Bertha, who lives at Ke'pel along the Klamath River in the downriver community is one of the best

cookers around. Bertha is an ancestral practitioner who offers lots of traditional knowledge and practices. Bertha has spent her life living in balance within her homelands and leading with her ancestral worldview intact. Bertha is not only a teacher but she’s also a healer, in many senses of the definition. Bertha offers so much strength and responsibility to not just living as a strong Yurok woman but a true model to many, many young people. Bertha is a community-builder who has spent her life caring for and offering service within our communities. Sharing herself with others has helped many people connect and reconnect with our most sacred parts of ourselves, our identity, as Earth Protectors living in balance with Mother Nature. Bertha is an experienced basket weaver and an inspiration of engaging in our most precious and beautiful elements so readily offered by Mother Nature and acorns are one of these outlets.

Many steps of achieving and preparing our tasty ancestral nutrition are used.

It's one of our most common ancestral staple foods throughout California and which I describe is of Northern California. The Yurok, Tolowa, Karuk, Hupa, Wiyot and other neighboring local Indigenous peoples eat acorns regularly throughout the year. Acorns served along with fish provides the perfect balanced protein. Some of us eat acorns more than others and with the "food sovereignty' initiatives to reclaim our ancestral foods it appears to be intentionally making its way back to the dinner table more readily. The pandemic has also increased many to connect within our homelands for harvesting practices for all sorts of foods including acorns.

CLICK HERE FOR SHACNVN WOOMEHI VIDEO! You've never truly eaten acorns unless you've had them prepared with traditional methods where scorching hot cooking rocks are submerged into the leached acorn meal for cooking. The fire is made five hours before the cooking begins. The cooking rocks are placed in the fire where only the rocks are heated. Nothing else is allowed into a cooking fire except cooking rocks. The cook stays with the rocks throughout that time as they heat up to be used for cooking. These rocks are gathered on our river bars and must be of a certain type of rock. Black rocks, specifically, they must be black in color. If they're not the correct rock then they will break during the cooking process and ruin your batch of soup. There are many mindful steps and actions for achieving a tasty batch of acorns.

Prayer and love are the two main ingredients along with the perfectly leached acorns and fresh spring water. The art of cooking acorns uses highly skilled techniques and precision application. The process begins a year earlier when last year’s acorns are harvested. Harvesting occurs within the tan oak forests.

The Tolowa also eat white oak acorns as well. This nutrition has very distinct flavors and preparing them with ancestral practices even more so. The acorns are then dried, cracked, husked, ground and leeched before the cooking process takes place. You’re a very blessed person to be able to experience fire-rock cooked acorns.

None of these steps can be left out in achieving a scrumptious batch of soup.

Consistency and taste are all a direct result of very detailed-attention and amazing know-how skill. Leeching the acorn removes the tannic acid from the acorns, otherwise they would not be edible. Leaching takes time and cannot be rushed. Multiple days of constant, slow spring water flow over the acorn meal is one of the key event elements in creating your flavor. If you do not leech your acorns long enough they will taste very bitter. The bitterness has varying levels of taste and you never want to serve bitter acorns. Our ancestors would leave acorns soaking in a creek for several months to make a dessert.

But as an acorn cooker, you never want to be known for bitter acorns.

Once the acorn meal is leached it is ready to cook. A cooking basket is used during the cooking of the acorns. Constant attention is used as you do not want to burn your basket so constant movement of the rocks are a must. The ash from the sterile fire is dusted on the cooking rock and placed in the meal with the spring water. You don't want to over stir your rocks or it will make for lumpy soup. The best part of eating acorns comes from the crusted rocks themselves. Scratching off the meal from rocks supplies some of the tastiest bites of acorns and is always looked forward to by the cooks after the meal is served. Much time and effort is required for this perfect meal, so we cannot be rushed. Acorn mush is also preserved into canning jars for later meals and readily available to grab off the shelf. We are ever so thankful for fire rock roasted acorns, it's truly the best way to eat acorn mush.

-Marva Sii~xuutesna Jones As we can see the use of culinary ashes is broad and varied! From the prayer that goes into making it to nixtamalization of maize to use as a seasoning ash plays a major part in most traditional diets. What are some other uses that your Tribe have for ash? Are there ways it was used in the past that you can research and bring back to the people? How can you bring ash usage into your home and diet? And last but not least remember that

Today’s Empires Are Tomorrow’s Ashes.

A Gathering Basket A Gathering Basket GRATITUDES:

Marva Sii~xuutesna Jones: Written and Video Quentin Glabus: Written and Photo, Photo Credit to Vivian Hung Josh Nez : Photo and Written, Photo Credit to Crank McNeil

A Gathering Basket Staff:

Written Content Curator, Image Curator, Creative Director, Video Curator, Program Director,

M. Karlos Baca Britt Reed Trennie Burch Quentin Glabus Kristina Stanley

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