​Indigenous foodways gaining interest in Fargo-Moorhead

By Rick Gion

rickgion@gmail.com

Photo by Rick Gion

The recent opening of Tee’s Tacos just off of 1st Avenue North on the edge of downtown Fargo is a continued sign of an emerging dining option in the metro. This Indigenous-owned restaurant is operated by Tanya “Tee” RedRoad. I’m going to make an educated guess and say it’s the first of its kind in Fargo-Moorhead. It’s also being welcomed by many.

Tee’s Tacos features items like fry bread tacos, Indigi bowls and desserts featuring berries and more frybread. It’s a fun little place located right next to ThaiKota. There is also prominent artwork in the restaurant created by Anna Johnson, a local Indigenous artist. You’ve definitely seen Johnson’s mural artwork on various buildings around the metro. She’s well-known in the local art scene.

Interestingly enough, Tee’s Tacos got its start by helping out with events and fundraisers at the Indigenous Association in downtown Fargo. The mission statement of that organization is “connecting, uniting and strengthening the Fargo-Moorhead Indigenous community.” Creating food for those community and fundraising events has now developed into a full-fledged restaurant for RedRoad.

News of this restaurant is great, but it’s not the only example of an expanding genre here. Let’s explore this topic a bit further. I do need to preface the rest of this column by saying that I’m definitely not an expert when it comes to Indigenous foods. It’s a strong interest of mine, but please look to other sources for more in-depth information. Also, much respect goes to those leading this movement.

A recent visit to a farm to table event called “Our Local Plate: Farm Fest & Market” at Doubting Thomas Farms north of Moorhead was another good showcase of Indigenous foodways. Chef Candace Stock led a cooking demonstration in front of a large crowd at that event. Stock is of Indigenous heritage and managed the former BernBaum’s in downtown Fargo. She is a strong promoter of natural foods. Some of the ingredients she discussed at the cooking demo were actually foraged from around the farm.

At BernBaum’s, she and Chef Edward Rodriguez hosted two dinners featuring Indigenous foods. I attended one of those special dinners last fall. I’m highly encouraging these talented local chefs to continue hosting food events featuring Indigenous foods, even if BernBaum’s is now closed.

As background, my interest in this topic comes from a few key pieces of literature and many informative videos on the internet. I’ve read the James Beard Award-winning cookbook “The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen” by Sean Sherman and Beth Dooley about three times now. I’ve also interviewed both of those authors for different media projects.

If you have interest regarding Indigenous foods, I would definitely recommend reading this book. Not only does it feature recipes from Sherman’s popular Minneapolis restaurant called Owamni, it discusses historically significant foods and foraging techniques. Many traditional Indigenous ingredients include varieties of beans and squash, but many can simply be found along the local Red River bike trails. Delicious wild rice is harvested not too far away from here in western Minnesota lakes country. Many of these ingredients are featured at Owamni. The restaurant serves up a great experience and has won many national accolades because of it.

Sherman is blunt in his presentations about foods derived from European settler colonization of America. These foods include dairy items and products made with wheat flours. He does not like frybread and such. His opinions are strong and worth listening to. I’m not going to go down a political road for this column though. I’ll leave that up to experts like Sherman.

Obviously, there’s growing interest in Indigenous foodways here in our region. Some of that has definitely come from the popularity of Sherman’s efforts. However, much interest has developed locally here. It’s a welcome addition to the F-M food scene.

Rick Gion administers a Facebook food group called “Fargo-Moorhead Eats” that’s dedicated to the area’s great cooks and cuisine. The page now has over 41,000 followers. Check it out, join, and feel free to post items about your local culinary adventures and home cooking. And, while you’re at it, also join the Instagram and TikTok pages. Rick is also a featured guest on Prairie Public Radio’s “Main Street.” His weekly segment about food called “Prairie Plates” airs between 3 and 4 p.m. every Wednesday.