We're very proud of this continuing tradition with our host NAIA (North American Indian Association) in Detroit as we prepare for our THIRD annual manoomin (wild rice) soup cook-off. Last year was an amazing hit! NAIA was packed with community members and over a dozen contestants with their excellent manoomin soups. Check it out!
Manoomin is the name for wild rice in Anishinaabemowin and the Anishinabek Confederacy of the Three Fires located in Michigan continues to have a significant relationship to wild rice. It is a central part of the diet for the people of the land, as well as a part of the Migration Story:
“In the Third Fire, the Anishinaabe will find the path to their chosen ground, a land in the west to which they must move their families. This will be the land where food grows on water.”
Every year, we have been honored to welcome an Indigenous guest speaker to share their work with us. We are very excited to have Tera John with us this year!
Kchi Wiikwedong Anishinaabekwe/Indigenous Femme of Grand Traverse Region and enrolled member in The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. A social and cultural activist, ecological advocate, and eternal knowledge seeker, Tera has filled many roles within and on behalf of Indigenous communities all over Turtle Island, known as North America. While researching, working with, and implementing Indigenous Land Management Techniques she has most recently found herself serving in the capacity of Traditional Agriculture Educator & Ceremonial Foodways Instructor in her ancestral homelands of the Three Fires Confederacy, modern day Michigan. In carrying the focus of global sustainability and the knowledge of environmental abundance she values the reclamation of Indigenous responsibilities as elemental caretakers, and the reestablishment of Native communities in their intended role as full stewards of these lands entrusted to them.
In true Indigenous style, we will be having fabulous raffle drawings throughout the day, leading up to the exciting announcement of this year’s winners! Below we have our top three from the 2024 Cook-Off and the lucky raffle winner of a quilt handmade by our own Grandmother Jessie Collins:
Our three 2024 cook-off winners! (L-R): First place, Kaela Wabanimkee Harris, Odawa/Ojibwe (who also won first place in 2023); Second place was Andrea Pierce, Little Travis Bay Odawa; and third place was Alex Annette (Burgess), Sault Saint Marie Chippewa.
Grandmother Jessie’s quilts are absolute mastercrafts, you don’t want to miss out on the chance to win one!
