Featuring an array of tempting traditional Native recipes and no-nonsense practical advice about health and fitness, Recovering Our Ancestors' Gardens, by the acclaimed Choctaw author and scholar Devon Abbott Mihesuah, draws on the rich indigenous heritages of this continent to offer a helpful guide to a healthier life. The first half of the book consists of clear and often pointed discussions about the generally poor state of indigenous health today and how and why many Natives have become separated from their traditional diets, sports, and other activities. Poor health, Mihesuah contends, is a pervasive consequence of colonialism. Indigenous foods and activities can be reclaimed, however, and made relevant for a healthier lifestyle today. By planting gardens, engaging in more exercise and sport, and eating traditional foods, Native peoples can emulate the health and fitness of their ancestors.

 

The second half of the book is a collection of indigenous recipes, including Summer Salsa, Poke Salat Salad, Dakota Waskuya Soup, Osage Pounded Meat, Chickasaw Pashofa, Elk Steak, Choctaw Banaha, Comanche Ata-Kwasa, Stewed Fruit Dessert, and a one-week diet chart. Savory, natural, and steeped in the Native traditions of this land, these recipes are sure to delight and satisfy.

Devon Abbott Mihesuah is the Cora Lee Beers Price Teaching Professor in International Cultural Understanding in the Center for Indigenous Nations Studies at the University of Kansas. She is the author of numerous books, most recently, So You Want to Write about American Indians? A Guide for Writers, Students, and Scholars and Indigenous American Women: Decolonization, Empowerment, Activism, as well as the editor of American Indian Quarterly.

“The political goal of empowerment through dietary change is certainly worthy and most likely to be translated into action when generated from within by such a prominent member of a tribal nation as Devon Mihesuah.”—Linda Murray Berzok, Gastronomica

"The book brims with information. . . . This well-researched book will be most useful to launch discussions or perhaps to read chapter by chapter."—Publishers Weekly