On March 19 and 20, Kenyon hosted representatives from Minnesota-based nonprofit North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NATIFS). Over the course of two days, the Kenyon community engaged with NATIFS’ work through community-building events facilitated by Associate Professor of History Patrick Bottiger, including a lunch social, campus talk, Indigenous dinner and nature walk.
NATIFS fosters both multicultural and cross-tribal connections through various educational and culinary experiences, including the Indigenous restaurant Owamni in Minneapolis. NATIFS representatives Linda and Luke Black Elk shared their experiences and the importance of their work with students during Thursday and Friday’s events.
On March 19, students joined Bottiger and the NATIFS representatives for lunch in Peirce Pub to discuss Indigenous food systems. Students enjoyed pizza while Linda and Luke Black Elk explained the importance of NATIFS and how they got involved. Additionally, Linda Black Elk demonstrated how plants she found around campus can be used for culinary and medicinal purposes. For example, she showed students how pine needles can be brewed into tea to treat colds and congestion.
Later in the evening, select students rejoined for an Indigenous dinner at the Parish House. The meal included a Three Sisters chili, including a vegetarian and non-vegetarian option with Bison meat, corn salad, roasted sweet potatoes and a wild rice dessert. Naomi Polanski ’27 arrived at the Parish House early to help prepare the evening’s meal. “Students don’t have the opportunity to cook a lot at Kenyon,” she said. “While I knew I missed it, I didn’t realize how much until I was in the space with the spices, smiles and laughs.” Quinn Washburn ’29 enjoyed learning about where his meal came from. “I learned some particularities of some dishes, how they’re harvested, how they’re made. Altogether I would say it was fun,” he wrote in a message to the Collegian.
On March 20, students gathered for an Indigenous Knowledge Nature Walk at the Brown Family Environmental Center. Students congregated in the morning to hike a portion of the Observatory Trail. “The highlight of my experience was definitely the amount of interaction we had with plants during the walk itself,” Abby Potter ’29 said in an interview with the Collegian. “We were taught how to identify an invasive plant called garlic mustard and got to try some during the hike. I have since eaten quite a few.”
Of the attendees interviewed, many believe cross-cultural experiences like last week’s events are crucial to a liberal arts education. “It’s important to be thinking outside of our circles at Kenyon. This place is very white,” Washburn said. “It’s good to try new things and think about different things, and this experience prompted that for me.”
Potter echoed Washburn’s sentiments while also noting that the College’s rural environment invites students to connect with the outdoors. “These connections are extremely important to create at a place like Kenyon, mainly because the campus is surrounded by nature,” she said. “Teaching students how to interact with plants on a more knowledgeable level fosters engagement with the Kenyon campus and the surrounding environment in a way most colleges can’t do.”