(upbeat music) (participants laughing) - The table's set, we're all here, and you just made it complete!

It's Thanksgiving on "Inspire."

On today's show, we're going to sample some delicious holiday foods.

Please stay tuned.

(upbeat music intensifies) (airy music) (graphics swishing) - [Narrator] "Inspire" is sponsored by Kansas Furniture Mart, using furniture to inspire conversation.

And by the Blanche Bryden Foundation.

- [Narrator] The friends of KTWU, honored to support programs and services that enrich the lives of our viewers.

- [Narrator] And the Raymond C. and Marguerite Gibson Foundation.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) - Hello, and welcome to "Inspire."

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

And to all these wonderful co-hosts up here, Amber, Leslie, Amy.

We also have Danielle, (Danielle laughing) and we have a new sister down here.

This is the amazing Melissa.

Now, on today's program, we're going to learn about indigenous foods, and how you can include them in your Thanksgiving feast!

- Courtesy of Melissa Garrett, owner of Care Free Creations in Kansas City, Melissa, welcome to "Inspire!"

- [All] Yay.

(all clapping) - Thank you for having me.

(hosts laughing) - We are so happy to have you here.

And we wanna talk about the tradition of Thanksgiving 'cause we've heard a lot of stories about the first Thanksgiving.

What are your takes on Thanksgiving?

- Well, I think a lot of people know that it's not as happy as it was originally portrayed.

I like to use the term, "We don't like to throw the baby out with the bath water."

A lot of us are already culturally off during that day.

A lot of places are closed, so we look at it as a good time to get together and celebrate with family.

I also take it as a time to teach my kids about giving thanks, because that's always a good thing.

I think you can never teach enough thankfulness.

(laughing) And then, I also take this time to teach them about the story.

And I try to teach it in an age-appropriate way that we take a moment of silence for all those lives that have been lost since then.

And we also want to encourage future traditions and things, and encourage them in our tradition, so we always have some kind of sample, some kind of food, or something like that out there, and some kinda lesson or story that we share on Thanksgiving Day.

- I'm so curious!

Because you are very skilled, and food is obviously important to you.

What is your favorite food to serve on Thanksgiving?

- I, of course still love fry bread.

Even though there's a million things that I can pick.

I think that it's a comfort food like mashed potatoes for Native Americans in that sense.

(laughing) - So, when you were growing up, what was happening at the table when you were young?

- My grandmother and my aunt, my great aunt spoke Cherokee fluently, and they did a lot of the cooking when I was younger and stuff.

And so, they would be talking in the kitchen, and you could hear the language being spoken, and they would be fixing other dishes than what you would have typically for your Thanksgiving dinner.

They would have grape dumplings, which would be made with wild grapes, and stuff like that, and they would've spent the summer and stuff foraging for that 'cause it's not something you can just go get at your grocery store.

(laughing) (all laughing) And so, they would take a lot of time and effort to do all of these things.

And there was always laughter, and Native American families and stuff, there's just this humor that you kind of learn, and there's just such a laughter and a joy at the time of holidays no matter what we're doing as a family.

- Which is amazing.

And that gets right into your elders.

And we were talking before we went on air about how important that is.

Will you describe the tribes that you're made up of?

And then, you've gotta go into those earrings!

(all laughing) - So, I am Cherokee Kwapa and Seneca Cayuga, and all of those are from the northeastern half of Oklahoma.

My grandmother was full-blooded Cherokee, and my grandfather was born in 1900, so he passed away long before my birth.

And he was Seneca Cayuga and Kwapa.

And so, that's where my family kind of comes from.

My earrings are made for me by a friend, Keen Eye Creations.

And she made 'em for me after my dad passed away, so that I could have a piece to carry with me of my elders, because elders are such a huge part of Native American culture, and we have such a high respect.

Like, they always eat first, they go first at every meal.

One of the things that my grandmother used to say when we'd be doing like family functions and stuff was, "If an elder is standing, you better not be sitting."

And so.

(laughing) - [All] Oh.

- But these, I carry with me because they are blue, like my dad's favorite color, and they have the Bigfoot and Sasquatch in them that carry a lot of our lore of a lot of the tribes in the northeastern half of Oklahoma.

- Yeah, we need to learn more about that too, (hosts chuckling) but I know you have a question.

- Yeah, I'm just curious.

I mean, do you know much about the original Thanksgiving and the Native American tribes that celebrated it, what we think was the original Thanksgiving?

And tell us about that.

- The Wampanoag people, from what I understand, they were very skilled in fishing, but fishing would've been something that you would've had to get a good catch, and things like that, so they also would farm the land.

And one of the things that is common amongst all tribes is corns, beans, and squash, so they would've had some kind of dish with that, and that we call those our three sisters because the squash covers the ground, so that the insects and the weeds don't get on the plants and stuff.

The corn grows as a big stalk for the beans to grow up as a support.

So, those are our three sisters.

And so, almost every tribe grows them in the North America area- - Do you incorporate that into Thanksgiving now?

Or, like an everyday- - Yes!

Yeah, we do.

We always have corn, beans, and squash normally on the table.

- Wonderful.

You were talking about your children and how important it is to pass on those traditions to them.

Tell us about the ages of your children and what you're doing to pass on those traditions to them.

- I have a 9-year-old and I have a 13-year-old, both are girls.

And we actually do a thing every November.

I go and talk to their schools because they have a diversity counselor or something like that.

So, then I always offer to their schools that we can go in and tell stories, and share the Native American culture, and things like that.

I also teach them how to do bead work or teaching them how to dance.

And every night, I sing a Cherokee lullaby that was passed down from my grandmother to them- - [Co-Host] Aww.

- [Co-Host] That's beautiful, love it.

- Dare we ask you to share that with us?

(co-host laughing) - Yeah, I can.

(all laughing) So, the song that we sing is "Jesus My All" 'cause my grandmother used to say that "One drop of blood got us through the trail of tears," and "Jesus My All" has gotten us through ever since.

And so, it goes like this.

"“Jesus my lord, my God my all"” "“How can I love thee as I ought"” "“And how revere this wondrous gift"” "“So far surpassing hope or thought"” "“Had I but Mary's sinless heart"” "“to love thee with, thy dearest King"” "“O with what bursts of fervent praise"” "“they goodness Jesus would I sing"”.

(hosts chattering) - Wow.

(hosts clapping softly) - Thank you for doing that- - And so, what's some of the meaning of that?

- Well, it is based off of an old hymnal that is called "Jesus My All," and it basically is saying that Jesus is my everything, (hosts chattering) (Melissa chuckling) Yeah.

And a lot of the Oklahoma tribes, we still stick very closely to Christianity, and faith, and stuff.

Now, there is some debate about colonial, like that being very colonialistic, and stuff like that.

But my grandmother has always said, well, those are the traditions that she's had growing up.

And that she wanted to pass down to us because her faith has gotten her through.

And I can remember throughout my entire childhood, my grandmother, all day long, would have a cup of black coffee sitting there, and she would drink it all day, and she would have her Bible, and then her Cherokee Bible, which was written in Cherokee, sitting out.

- [Co-Host] Wow.

- [Co-Host] That's nice.

(hosts chattering) - And so, that faith was always huge for her, and everything.

And it never took away from her culture, it was just a part of that.

And she carried on all of those songs and stuff with us that she wanted to pass down to us.

- Right, beautiful- - Because she wasn't allowed to share a lot of that, but that was one of the songs that she kept through the boarding schools and stuff.

(upbeat music) - So, we are gonna take a short dumpling break, and we'll be right back!

(upbeat music intensifies) (atmosphere humming) - What the heck is a dumpling?

Well, the sorority sisters of Kappa Kappa Beta Sigma Phi were gonna show us how it's done.

(people chattering distantly) Okay, so this is the first step in the process?

(component clinking distantly) - Yes, this is the first thing.

Buy the apples, or sometimes we've gotten 'em from trees, (soft country music) but we buy 'em from Reese's usually, and get 'em peeled, get 'em in the freezer.

And we found that it's easier to work with them frozen, the apples.

Then otherwise, they're not quite so juicy.

- This is our dumpling dough recipe.

And we doubled it, so that we can make it in our bread dough mixer here at the church.

So, I'm gonna add the milk to get it kinda stirred up here (ingredients shuffling) a little bit.

(machine buzzing) To get the right consistency that we want.

Sometimes, we get a little fussy about our dough.

(ingredients shuffling) (machine humming) And we'll see how this works!

If we've got a good consistency, we like it a little wetter than usual, just because the girls, when they're rollin' 'em out there, they use more flour, so it works out better.

(machine clinking) And here we go!

Here's the dough.

It's just right.

Perfect for everyone to use!

Good deal!

We'll have great apple dumplings now, here we go!

- [Betty Lou] Okay, Jeanette, you have the very important job of what?

- Makin' dough balls for our rollers!

So that they can cover those apples.

(chuckling) - [Betty Lou] Now, it looks like they're a pretty consistent size here.

- [Jeanette] Right, I try to get 'em very consistent.

They're pretty picky, they want 'em a certain size and think they need 'em to cover the apples.

(soft country music) - Okay, so next we have, we're taking from the dough ball, and what happens in the bowl?

- And then, I take them out and kind of work 'em a little.

Get some flour on 'em, so they don't stick to the board.

(people chattering distantly) And then, I take my roller and pin and just start rolling.

- Tell me your routine here.

(objects thudding softly) - Well, I like to get a big glob.

And then, you roll it, you flip it, you roll it again, and then you flip it again until you get a nice circle.

- Okay, so now, will you tell me what your step of the process is?

- Well, because I'm not a pie baker or a roller outer, (sister laughing) I get to put the dough around the apple.

And so, I take one of the doughs that have been rolled out, I put an apple in it.

And then, we have a mixture of sugar and cinnamon, (objects shuffle distantly) kind of fill it up, mmm, three-fourths full.

And then, you just start the art of stickin' the dough together.

(laughing) - That is quite the art though.

Why do you think this is a fun thing to do?

- Because we all get to get together, and we have fun doing it, we really do.

And it's a good product.

So.

You don't mind telling somebody they're good, you'll like 'em.

- [Sister] Yeah, yeah.

(upbeat music) - Welcome back!

We're visiting with Melissa Garrett about indigenous foods and how you can include them in your Thanksgiving dinner.

All right, so we have to know, what was the inspiration for your business?

- Well, it actually started when the Heart of America Indian Center called me and wanted to know if I could do indigenous foods.

And I was raised with my grandmother cooking these in her kitchen all the time.

And so, it was a great way for me to start things off.

And well, I'll be honest, it started in July, and my phone has not quit ringing since.

- [Co-Hosts] Aww.

(all laughing) - [Co-Host] Wow!

- [Co-Host] Please explain the soup.

- Okay, so the soup was given to me by a friend who's Kickapoo.

And it is got pumpkin and cream corn, and garlic, and onion, and a vegetable stock that I make myself.

And.

- Is there cinnamon?

Am I tasting cinnamon?

- Yes, there is a small taste of cinnamon - [Co-Host] Wow.

- And stuff in there too.

- It's beautiful!

- And a little bit of nutmeg.

(hosts chattering) - Oh, yes, wonderful.

So, I'm very curious about the types of spices that are used in dishes.

If you could kind of talk to us a little bit about some of the traditional or sort of your go-to spices.

- Okay.

So, I do things a little bit more contemporary 'cause a lot of Native Americans actually didn't spice a whole lot of their foods.

A lot of things were just basically what the food has.

Now, with your buffalo hash that you see here with the sweet potato, and stuff like that.

(co-host's voice drowns) Yeah.

(laughing) That will have, it's naturally sweetened with maple syrup.

Because it was something- - [Co-Host] Oh.

- That we would've found there, and honey.

So, some maple syrup, some honey.

They also would've had like things like sage, natural herbs, and stuff that would've grown nearby.

I don't have any of like the juniper berries or things like that.

That would've been another thing that we would've used to season things with.

Now, in this, I use a seasoning called The Complete Seasoning, which has some basic herbs, and stuff that are kind of from around here, a little bit of garlic and onion, and stuff.

I do things a little contemporary 'cause I really love garlic and onion.

(laughing) - [Co-Hosts] Oh.

- And I like the way that they kind of elevate the food.

And a lot of our dishes that are traditional are also used for ceremonies.

So, I try to be careful to change things just a little bit, so that I don't offend or upset anybody that way- - What ceremonies?

- Well, there's a lot of different ceremonies based on your tribe.

So, and my tribe's, one of the things would be like a sweat lodge or a Peyote ceremony, or that kind of thing.

They would have a big widespread for that, and there would be certain dishes that would be served at that ceremony.

- Ah-huh.

- [Melissa] So.

- So, fried bread.

I mean, I hadn't expected that, I hadn't thought about that.

I would think that would be natural, it would just be baked bread.

How did we get to fried bread?

- Well, Native Americans come from a lot of like humbler regions most of the time.

And a lot of times, we would have to make things stretch based on what was in our commodities.

So, it was given to us.

So, flour, oil, or lard would've been used back then.

They would have had to find ways to make your food go as far as you possibly could.

So, especially in larger families, fry bread came from cooking a lot on like an open stove, and then cast iron, and that kinda stuff.

And so, it is one of my favorite.

(all laughing) (co-hosts chattering) - It's really good.

I'm lovin' it.

I've been pickin' at it since before we started.

(all laughing) It's like, I'm lovin' this.

- She hid her bite, but that's okay.

(all laughing) - Okay.

We've got the three sisters going here.

- Yes.

So, we have the corns, beans, the squash, and like I said, I come from like a mixed background.

So, my mom, her family is German, Dutch, and English, and stuff.

So, I try to incorporate some of my other family things into this as well.

So, I have some French green beans, and things like that in here as well.

And that's just something per household and per tribes and stuff, we will have lots of different dishes.

So like, one of the favorite dishes of the Navajo or the Dine tribe, which is what they prefer to be called, would be blue corn mush.

That's something that they kind of have- - Ooh.

- Which is almost kinda like a soup kind of thing.

- [Co-Host] Oh, I love it.

- And it's really, really good.

And then, the wojapi is actually made by the Lakota tribe, is where it started.

And it's kind of gone all over the plains area, it's something that we all kind of share.

And then, the pumpkin soup is something that would be also served down in Cherokee tribes, and things like that.

We might call it like a squash soup or something else.

Something similar to that.

So, these are all kind of what I would consider plains tribe dishes that are all indigenous to this area.

And everything would be kind of changing depending on the region that you live in.

- So if there are non-Native American families that wanna honor the traditions, understanding how it's been misunderstood over the years, and we wanna be respectful of that, what kinds of dishes can we bring to our own tables that might be easy for us (chuckling) to do.

And find commercially available.

I mean, how can we find these things?

- One of the things you might actually have on your table that you don't even know that is indigenous is a pumpkin pie, because it would be considered a squash.

You probably have some kind of corn dish or some kind of bean dish that is already on your table.

But another thing would be the buffalo hash, would be very easily accessible because you would be able to get sweet potatoes, and you would be able to find buffalo, ground buffalo, and then the three sisters hash, you can make it several different ways.

So, I like to use kidney beans, black beans, and northern white beans.

And those are the three favorites that I like to put, I like to have three different kinds of beans also.

'Cause we have, I think over 13 indigenous, just to Missouri.

And I don't even know how many different beans we have in Kansas.

(all laughing) - Wow.

- So, (laughing).

I think it's great to show that they would've had several different kinds of beans, and you can always add whatever flavorings, you can have the hominy or not have the hominy.

And I always like to add fresh, sweet corn, and but yeah.

- Oh, it's fabulous- - Wonderful.

- I've been incorporating squash and sausage soup as part of my Thanksgiving meal for the past couple of years, because I went to a cooking class where they had it and fell in love with it.

So, I'm all down with the pumpkin soup.

(co-hosts chuckling) I wanna know about the day of mourning.

That's something that we haven't talked about as of yet.

Tell us about that particular ceremony and tradition.

- I know that the Wampanoag people, they have, every Thanksgiving, at noon, at Plymouth Rock, they do a day of mourning celebration, or a day of mourning.

- Commemoration.

- Commemoration, yeah.

And so, I always try to take that time.

Like at home with my family and stuff to also join in on that.

Because it is a way to honor what their tribe name means, the people of the first light.

And so, it is a way to honor them and everything that they've gone through.

- So, what does that consist of?

- We just take a moment of silence.

I know that they have like, they'll actually have like drummers and songs, and we are really big on like prayer songs, honor songs.

So, we have actual songs set aside for honoring ancestors and things like that per tribe.

So, they will have their tribal dancers and singers, and things like that out there too.

- So, when you say day of mourning, this means that you are Indians or the Native Americans who were killed during what period of time, over what period of time?

- I think they try to start somewhere around the time that like, Columbus landed is about what we do.

And I recently did the research, and was actually like astounded at how many we've lost since then.

It is around 15 billion that we have lost since- - [Co-Host] Wow.

- Billion?

- Billion, since Columbus landed.

The only numbers that come close is the Holocaust.

- [Co-Host] Wow.

- So, it is a genocide of our people.

So, we try to take that moment to recognize all of that we've lost.

And we also take that moment to realize that we are still here, and to celebrate that.

And so, we take that time to carry on those, tell stories to our kids, and teach them about what we've gone through.

And I always like to tell my kids that you're made of such strength.

- Absolutely.

(co-hosts chattering) - Look at everything that your people have been through.

You come from strong people.

And so, I think that that's, I don't want to just focus on the trauma, but the resiliency.

When I talk to my kids at Thanksgiving.

- I'm really struck by how simple these ingredients are, but how rich this flavor is.

And what that tells me is that you're cooking with love.

Do you feel that way?

(all laughing) - Yes.

- It's beautiful.

I wish that everyone at home could taste this!

Because it's incredible!

(co-hosts laughing) And it really is.

I'm looking at this buffalo and the sweet potato, and I can taste the maple, but there's just a complexity of flavors here that I think is really honoring these ingredients.

Is that a big part of your cooking, is honoring what is given to you without doctoring it too much?

(all laughing) - Yes, exactly.

And we really want those natural flavors to shine through.

So, we don't want to overpower it with seasoning or anything like that, because we believe that these ingredients are the stars in a lot of senses.

- Well, they are, this is remarkable.

- Absolutely.

(co-hosts chuckling) - Wonderful.

- But before we like finish up, what is this?

'Cause we didn't highlight the dessert.

- Okay, so this is a called a wojapi shortbread.

And a wojapi is kinda made up of whatever seasonal berries you have.

And the seasonal berries will be like choke berries or choke cherries.

And like I said, I will forage for those and then freeze them.

And then, we'll have blackberries and strawberries, and raspberries, and all the berries.

(all laughing) - All the berries, all the- - All the berries.

And I normally, it doesn't take very much to sweeten it.

So, you reduce it down, and then you kind of, you do it by taste is the best way, because each berries and each season is different as to how sweet they are.

- This has been such a wonderful show, like a little cornucopia (co-host laughing) of vegetables and meat.

And it's just been, like my mouth is just dancing.

(co-hosts laughing) So, thank you for bein' here.

'Cause this is, we have too little time to spend with you today, but you have to come back.

(co-hosts laughing) Because I want to learn more, I want to eat more.

(co-hosts laughing) Just enjoy your company.

And we hope that you and your families will definitely incorporate more of these items into not just your Thanksgiving Day feast, but into your everyday meals as well.

So, thank you so much for (co-hosts chattering) joining us today on "Inspire."

(Melissa laughing) - I have enjoyed it thoroughly, and thank you for this opportunity.

(upbeat music) - That's all we have time for today, and we hope that you and your families have a wonderful Thanksgiving, however you choose to celebrate.

As a reminder, you can watch this program again at watch.ktwu.org.

- And if you are so inspired to learn more about our guests and find out what's coming up on future shows, be sure to visit our website at www.ktwu.org/inspire!

- Inspiring women, inspiring you, inspiring Thanksgiving traditions on KTWU, thank you for watching!

(upbeat music intensifies) (upbeat music intensifies) - [Narrator] "Inspire" is sponsored by Kansas Furniture Mart, using furniture to inspire conversation.

And by the Blanche Bryden Foundation.

- [Narrator] The friends of KTWU, honored to support programs and services that enrich the lives of our viewers.

- [Narrator] And the Raymond C. and Marguerite Gibson Foundation.