Cooking Up History: Nourish Your Body, Nourish Your Spirit with Ancestral Foods

Guest Chefs Elena Terry and Zoe Fess Recorded November 4, 2022 Mother-daughter duo Elena Terry and Zoe Fess address the health and well-being of their community, the Ho-Chunk Nation, by reviving and sustaining ancestral foods. During this program, which is geared toward youth audiences, guest chefs Terry and Fess speak about the work of their non-profit Wild Bearies, a seed to table organization, that shares indigenous food cultures and traditions within the Ho-Chunk Nation and beyond. They speak about their roles as community mentors but also their commitment to being life-long learners, which has proven key to Wild Bearies’ success. They also discuss the impact that their advocacy work has on their own relationship to one another as mother and daughter, as women, and as future ancestors to the Ho-Chunk people. Honoring the Woodland region of the Ho-Chunk Nation, Terry and Fess prepare Seedy SassSquash, a seed crust with squash custard, topped with wild rice or apple dust and cranberry sauce. This dish features Ho-Chunk ancestral squash, lost to their community for generations until recently when the Wild Bearies team returned and revived the life of this sacred ingredient in their ancestral homelands. For the recipe, visit the Cooking Up History page: https://americanhistory.si.edu/explore/topics/food/cooking-up-history#Nourish This program was produced in collaboration with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s North American Office. The recipe and content of the program is geared toward the National Museum of the American Indian’s Youth in Action audience while also holding a broader appeal for SI museum and UN-FAO audiences.