21 Native American Foods You Should Try At Least Once

All too often, Native Americans and other Indigenous groups and cultures are written about in the past tense rather than in the present. While it is essential that the violent colonialism by the American government is acknowledged and understood, it is equally important to realize that these are not just cultures of the past but vibrant, resilient, and ever-modernizing and adapting cultures of the present and future.

Over the last twenty years or so, there has been a growing movement of Indigenous people within the culinary landscape who are working to showcase the ingredients and foodways the U.S. was built upon while also helping to increase access to Native foods within a wide variety of Native communities. Sustainable eating has long been a central value within Indigenous cuisines, such as regenerative agricultural practices like intercropping (aka growing several crops together) and using the whole plant or animal for waste-free cooking.  

Here are just some of the delicious Native American dishes worth trying. 

Banahas are described by Kansas City Magazine food writer Natalie Torres Gallagher as being "similar to tamales but without the filling," Choctaw bananas are cooked and consumed much in the same way as tamales. The cornmeal is mixed with water and the option of salt and baking soda before being wrapped in pre-softened corn husks and boiled until soft — approximately 30-45 minutes. The Choctaw Nation, considered to be the third largest nationally recognized Nation in the U.S., is located in the Southern regions of Oklahoma.

Unlike most tamales, traditional banahas are eaten just as is without meat or vegetable fillings. That said, no rule says you need to eat them plain to appreciate their Indigenous origins. Other options can include adding salsa, beans, or other flavorful garnishes. You can also slice each banaha into individual slivers and fry before serving. 

Dried meats are a staple product of many cultures around the globe. Jerkies, salt-cured meats, and similar products are so universal for many reasons, such as the seasonal availability of animals, long winters without plant-based foods, and the abundance of perishable meat needed to be preserved once an animal has been killed.

In Native American communities, wild animals like venison, bison, salmon, and turkey have been dried and preserved in such a manner. This includes wasna or pemmican, which are two different names for the same kind of food. Wasna is a term from the Lakota Sioux community and pemmican is used by the Cree. 

Patties are made from dried game mixed with other locally sourced vegetation like ground chokecherries. The meat, whether using deer, elk, or bison is first dried and shredded, then mixed with the wild berries. Animal fat is used as a binding agent to create patties that pack a punch of energy and nutrition, plus are easy to eat while on the move.

While there is much discussion around the tea from England and the coffee from Central and South America, the Indigenous source of caffeine in the U.S. was consumed long before either beverage made its way into our mugs. Cassina or Yaupon, as it's now called, gets its name from the Siouan language, Catawban. This caffeinated plant is indigenous to the U.S. and has been consumed as a strong tea by many Native American communities long before European contact. 

Originally found wild in the South and Southeast areas of the country, the tea was believed to have been used in ceremonial rituals. A cousin of Yerba mate, it has a sweet-meets-herbaceous flavor. Though known for having originally been brewed to be a dark black liquid, it is now consumed more frequently as a gentler caffeinated beverage, sold loose leaf and in tea bags.

Hopi piki bread is made from dried Hopi blue corn and is traditionally a celebratory dish within the Hopi community. Blue corn is grown in the southwest, including Arizona where the Hopi Reservation is located. Piki dough comes from a mixture of finely ground blue cornmeal, juniper ash (a nutritious and calcium-rich component), and water before being spread thinly over a cooking stone and briefly grilled. The result is a paper-thin bread or flatbread of sorts that can be as delicate as it is labor-intensive.  

Blue corn is significant to the Southwest region and to several other southwestern tribal communities and pueblos. Hopi use piki bread for celebratory dishes, wedding ceremonies, and rituals with spiritual significance, in addition to using blue corn as a daily food. Piki is unique to the Hopi community and its paper-thin, almost translucent texture takes dedication to the craft to execute well. 

Fry bread and bannock, though often present at feast days and celebrations within Native American and First Nations communities, is a bread born out of conflict, displacement, and separation from culture. This complexity means people can have mixed feelings associated with the bread also called bannock.

Fry bread came from the Diné or Navajo community during a period known as Hwéeldi or The Long Walk. The U.S. government forcefully removed the tribe from their homelands and the displaced people survived on government rations of lard, flour, and sugar. This became the base of ingredients that we now know as fry bread. Eventually, the Diné were allowed to return to a portion of their land when the U.S. government realized the land and the rations were not sustainable. The bread went with them.

Today you can find fry bread and bannock topped with taco fillings at fairs as well as being sold on its own. Indigenous chefs like Shawn Adler have chosen to reclaim the food, while others like Sean Sherman have decided that it does not belong in their diet. No matter your stance, it is vital to recognize the bread's significance within U.S. history.

Cherokee Candy Roaster Squash is shaped like a thinner, longer butternut and is known for its candy-like sweetness. Its long shelf life helped the variety make its way into many non-Native American kitchens as well. It became a popular substitution for harder-to-store items like pumpkin and other squash varieties, making for the perfect pie-filling alternative to pumpkin for those who could access it.

Candy Roaster Squash is a unique variety that sweetens as it ages. Records link the variety to the Cherokee Nation, who began growing it, at least on record, in the 19th century in the regions of Tennessee, North Carolina, and Georgia. Not long after, the violent displacement of the Cherokee Nation, known as the Trail of Tears, attempted to divorce Native Americans from their traditions and community, which may be why this variety remains so sparsely known or used.

This squash is one variety of Indigenous seed that is being kept in seed banks by the Cherokee Nation in hopes of ensuring its continued existence for future generations. Given the impact the Trail of Tears had on the Cherokee community, seed saving has become an important means of cultural preservation within many Indigenous communities.

Sofkee is a deliciously sour and fermented corn-based drink that is traditional to the Muskogee and Seminole communities across Oklahoma and Florida. Depending on the thickness preference, it can be served warm or cold and thin as a drink or thick as a porridge.

There are many varieties of the drink or soup, including the type of corn used. One of the most common varieties includes corn that has gone through the process of nixtamalization then is typically roasted, ground, and mixed with ash to make a nutritious, easy-to-digest, and filling product. Known by many different names and variations, sofkee can also be made with the addition of fruits or by using rice instead of corn.

The process involved in making sofkee is intensive and can take an entire day to complete, making it a special food. Typically it is consumed as a savory rather than sweet drink and is often served in a communal setting or celebration; drinking it becomes part of a wider experience.

Salmon is an indigenous, highly nutritious, and important ingredient for Native American communities living in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S. Wood cooking and smoking are also a part of Indigenous cooking, as it considers a variety of regenerative and sustainable resources, such as native wood varieties. This kind of cooking also works to infuse the fish with the sweet, smoky flavors of the land. 

There are several ways in the wood can be used in conjunction with salmon and other meatier fish. Smoking is often used as part of a preserving process to create travel-friendly, protein-rich foods like jerky. Using wood-based skewers for quick and efficient cooking, and cooking salmon over cedar wood planks or logs, laid over open coals, deliver incredibly delicious results.

Squash with maple combines two wonderful and naturally sweet Indigenous ingredients into one delicious and easy-to-make dish. Squash and all of its winter and summer varietals are considered one of the three sisters, three vital and staple crops throughout Native American communities that are traditionally grown together and eaten together in various ways. 

Maple trees and their naturally sweet and caramelized sap are also an Indigenous ingredient in areas of the U.S. and Canada, including the Great Lakes region. Maple syrup has been used as a natural and unrefined sweetener in Native American and First Nations pre-contact cuisine. Harvesting the sap generally takes place in the winter months, when the tree is dormant, thus making this dish perfect during the colder months. A roasted winter squash, drizzled with fresh maple syrup is seasonal, delicious, and Indigenous. 

Succotash is another iteration that includes using one or more of the three sisters — corn, beans, and squash. Though we may be more familiar with the summery version of this dish using fresh corn and summer squash, the original is thought to have been more of a year-round stew, utilizing either fresh summer corn or dried corn from the winter.

The first written reference to the dish and the base of its name, which has since transformed, appeared in 1751 under the name "misckquatash," meaning boiled corn. However, archaeologists point to records of corn and beans being grown together that date back to the 1200s, a variety of succotash made and served throughout the year by the Wampanoag community. 

Original versions of the dish also included other Indigenous ingredients, including wild game and foraged foods, depending on the season and available food sources, which have been downplayed, overwritten, or erased over time through colonization.