Mitji — Let’s Eat! Mi’kmaq Recipes from Sikniktuk spotlights 30 recipes
CBC Indigenous: Two authors from L’nui Menuikuk, also known as Indian Island First Nation, hope readers will find more than just recipes in the pages of their new book.
Margaret Augustine and Lauren Beck say historical information and traditional knowledge are just as important as the recipes in Mitji — Let’s Eat! Mi’kmaq Recipes from Sikniktuk.
The book was launched Tuesday amid the aroma of traditional bread, rice sausage casserole, seafood chowder, and more at a potluck hosted by Red Teepee Creations.
“Mitji” is a Mi’kmaw word used to welcome meal time, said the authors in the book’s description,
Potluck feast marks launch of Mi’kmaw cookbook
WATCH | ‘This is an endeavour of love’: 7 days ago, Duration 2:01
The community of L’nui Menuikuk, also known as Indian Island First Nation, gathers to celebrate the launch of Mitji—Let’s Eat!: Mi’kmaq Recipes from Sikniktuk, a cookbook featuring 30 traditional Mi’kmaw recipes.
Click on the following link to view the video:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/lets-eat-mikmaq-recipes-1.7193328
Augustine said the idea for the book came over tea and a meal in the Elsipogtog school and community garden, where children and elders would gather to share knowledge about food preparation.
“As we started losing elders, I realized the priority — that we needed to capture some of the recipes and the stories of food,” she said.
“We interviewed quite a number of people. So it’s not just stories of food, it’s stories of resilience. It’s stories of being with the family on the land.”
The community cuisine has changed since settlers first arrived in L’nui Menuikuk, Augustine said.
She called that phenomenon “gastrocolonialism” or the way colonial policies restricting access to food changed Indigenous recipes to what they are now.
“Traditionally, it used to be, you know, the food you get from the land and the sea, the berries, the nuts, the moose, the deer,” Augustine said.
By focusing the cookbook on present-day favourites, Beck said the pair created something they didn’t expect.
“At a very early stage, we thought we were collecting recipes, writing recipes, cooking recipes, sharing recipes,” Beck said. “Quickly it became quite evident that we had a larger body of knowledge that was becoming a part of this project.”
While some recipes like bread might appear simple, Augustine said each holds a subtle marker of community resilience.
“When the Indian agent, gave you rations, and you had to survive on those rations, and you were discouraged from leaving the reserve, and you made bread … you shared that bread with your family and the community, and that kept your family going,” she said.
“Those are stories of determination and resilience against those colonial genocidal policies, what they did to First Nations across North America.”
Augustine said all proceeds from the book will go to the Elsipogtog elders centre to help fund community programming.
“This is an endeavour of love,” Augustine said at the potluck. “We put this together as a gift to all our communities, and to settlers who are allies of the Mi’kmaw Nation.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Savannah Awde, Reporter
Savannah Awde is a reporter with CBC New Brunswick. You can contact her with story ideas at savannah.awde@cbc.ca.
With files from Information Morning Moncton and Alexandre Silberman