Native American fare on the menu at next ROAR class

Sharing cultures through food.

That is the theme of recent cooking classes hosted by Waconia ROAR (Residents Organized Against Racism). Next Thursday, May 23, the group is hosting a Native American cooking class taught by Waconia resident Don Crofut.

Crofut is a full citizen in the tribe of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. His mother’s family has a long history of healing and midwifing on the tribe, and he recalls as a boy fetching items for his grandmother who did much of the cooking in the camp house at tribal church services and gatherings.

The Creek Nation descends from indigenous peoples in the southeast woodlands of northern Florida, Alabama, and Georgia, who were forced by the U.S. government to relocate from their ancestral homes to Oklahoma in the 1830s during the Trail of Tears long march, Crofut explains.

He did work for tribal communities in Oklahoma before coming north. Crofut was one of the original leadership team in the opening of Mystic Lake Casino, and recently retired as president/CEO of South Metro Federal Credit Union based in Prior Lake.

He also volunteers as a board member of the Native American Community Clinic and the indigenous Peoples Task Force in furthering native services and issues. His passions include, golf, outdoor activities, ceramic art, and cooking.

Native American cuisine is somewhat trending now in culinary circles. The opening of Minneapolis restaurant Owamni with celebrated Sioux Chef Sean Sherman, 2022 James Beard winner and Julia Child award recipient, might be one reason. Another may be the hunter-gather or forager lifestyle growing in popularity that involves obtaining food from naturally occurring sources.

Crofut explains that hunting and gathering were fundamental to human existence among indigenous peoples and that diversity of food among tribal nations was dependent on where they were located and what gifts came from the “master breath” or creator to be picked, harvested, hunted, then dried or prepared.

The “three sisters” – corn, beans, and squash – and venison were fundamental to the Creek Nation diet, he said. Among northern tribes it was wild rice, berries, and bison.

Crofut will introduce both in the cooking class he is leading next week.

Participants can expect to prepare and sample a roasted corn dish, wild rice dishes, maybe a wild game dish, Dakota style dipping sauce, fry bread, and other foods, and probably sip some sassafras and sumac teas.

Sassafras tea thins the blood to cope in the summer heat, said Crofut, who will also share insights into other foods on the menu.

Everybody eats, he adds, and the sharing of food is a way to learn more about other people and their cultures.

The upcoming Native American cooking class begins next Thursday, May 23, at 6:30 p.m. at Waconia Moravian Church. Cost is $20. Registration is required at facebook.com/ROARWaconia