Yadao Inong, Traditional Foods

November 5, 2018 at 11:05 pm (fish, Native American, salmon)
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Eel is one of my favorite foods from our region — but I wasn’t always a fan.  If you’ve ever seen lamprey eel you will know it is isn’t one of the most glamorous looking foods — in fact I’m sure there have been many horror movies that have used the idea of the lamprey to create a monster that would terrify us.  It has a mouth that seems like just a sucking hole lined with teeth — and really…does it have eyeballs?  I never got past the mouth.

Lucky for me one of the Humboldt Del Norte County Master Food Preservers brought some smoked and canned eel to one of our meetings to share.  What I discovered for myself is that eel is a comfort food for me.  With that smoky flavor and oily delicious flesh, I think eel hits a part of me that is satisfied no other way.  If you ever get a chance to taste eel, I suggest you do yourself a favor and try it.  I’ve also had it deep fried and, well — I’ve never met a deep fried food I didn’t like…but still smoked is my favorite.

I was very happy to have the opportunity to talk with a young man who grew up along the river and fished for eel and has been enjoying it all his life — Yadao Inong. I learned about fishing for eel and also about other traditional foods he grew up with.

Part 1 listen here, Part 2 listen here

This program was supported in part by the Northwest California Tribal Communities Extension Program, a USDA funded project through UC Cooperative Extension of Humboldt and Del Norte Counties

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Klamath Salmon Festival

November 5, 2018 at 10:02 pm (Native American, salmon, seafood)
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For the 56th year the Yurok people in Klamath are celebrating the life blood of the region — the salmon that come charging up the river!  This year the festival was very successful because the salmon were plentiful enough to be caught for this event — and were cooked in the traditional way making a very special lunch for many of us.  The streets were lined with vendors and stores in the community were open and celebrating as well.  Lena Hurd was busy weaving a basket in the booth that she was sharing with several others, many vendors were selling clothing with native designs, and I bought a beautiful fused glass dish with a raven design (and sure enough I called raven to my house with that bowl because he is visiting constantly and has lots to say!).  There was some fantastic music with a live band and a parade down the main street.

Listen here to the interview with Penny Gensaw while she and her family prepare the salmon barbeque to feed the hungry crowds.

This program was supported in part by the Northwest California Tribal Communities Extension Program, a USDA funded project through UC Cooperative Extension of Humboldt and Del Norte Counties

 

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Del Norte and Tribal Lands Community Food Council

November 5, 2018 at 9:46 pm (Native American, Uncategorized)
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Brittany Reimer is the Food Program Director and Connor Caldwell is the Food Program Coordinator of the Del Norte and Tribal Lands Community Food Council.  With the Tolowa Nation they are implementing a USDA Grant to address food security in Northern Humboldt and throughout Del Norte Counties.  One of the projects they are working on is the development of Food Forests to demonstrate how food can be grown in this region.

Erika Partee is the Food and Garden Coordinator with the Tolowa Dee-Ni Nation and Ben Zemeda is the Site Developer for the Food Forest

Listen to Part 1 and Part 2 of the interview with Brittany and Connor, and Listen to the interview with Erika and Ben.

For more information about the Tolowa Dee-ni Nation

To learn more about the Community Food Council

This program was supported in part by the Northwest California Tribal Communities Extension Program, a USDA funded project through UC Cooperative Extension of Humboldt and Del Norte Counties

 

 

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