









































< Berton-Reilly, Elizabeth Ann. “Our Corn Is Still Standing: Indigenous Foodways and Identity in 
New England.” Digest: a Journal of Foodways and Culture 5:1 (2016): n. pag.> © American Folklore Society 2016

Our Corn Is Still Standing: Indigenous 
Foodways and Identity in New England

By: Elizabeth Ann Berton-Reilly

In the late spring we plant the corn and beans and squash. They’re not just 
plants- we call them the three Sisters. We plant them together, three kinds of 
seed in one hill. They want to be together with each other, just as we Indians 
want to be together with each other. So long as the three sisters are with us, 
we know we will never starve. The creator sends them to us each year. We 
celebrate them now – Onondaga Chief Louis Farmer (LaDuke 2005:153).

In the very beginning of time, according to the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, Sky 
Woman came down from the heavens and carried with her the seeds of corn, beans, 
and squash, known as the Three Sisters (Mann 1997). As corn grows tall, it serves 
as a pole for the beans to climb. The beans fix nitrogen into the soil and the large 
squash leaves shade the ground. The Three Sisters represent cooperation, and each 
plant nourishes our bodies in different ways and nourishes the earth together.

Introduction

In this age of processed foods and processed cultures, how can we make 
food culturally empowering? Can the act of growing our own food and eating 
what our ancestors ate nourish us in ways we never thought possible? Food 
is literally what sustains us—how can we make it more sustainable? By going 
back to their ancestors’ traditional foods, Indigenous peoples today are 
rediscovering a healthier way of eating. Through tapping into how their 
ancestors grew specific foods and how they prepared them, old ceremonies 
return. Food sovereignty also equates to tribal self-sufficiency (Goad 2014). 
When Indigenous peoples grow their own food, they do not need to rely 
completely on outside sources for nourishment. This alone is empowering.

Through the exploration of food sovereignty and security, this research note 



< Berton-Reilly, Elizabeth Ann. “Our Corn Is Still Standing: Indigenous Foodways and Identity in 
New England.” Digest: a Journal of Foodways and Culture 5:1 (2016): n. pag.> © American Folklore Society 2016

demonstrates how traditional foods and foodways are empowering to Indigenous 
peoples and their communities in northern New England. My perspective here is 
largely etic; I am originally from Los Angeles and I am not a member of an Indigenous 
New England Nation as the three individuals I interviewed are. My interest in the 
topic grew out of my graduate studies at Plymouth State University. I was working 
on my master’s in education in heritage studies where I took courses in foodways, 
ethnography and Indigenous Studies. Specifically, this research note is based 
on a paper I wrote for an independent study course in Indigenous New England 
Foodways. It also builds on work I did prior to this research when I interned at the 
Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum in Warner, New Hampshire. That internship consisted 
of an oral history project—interviewing Indigenous veterans. The project posed the 
challenges of not only finding veterans who wished to talk to me, but also raising 
subject matter that was very difficult. When I began to embark on foodways, I 
discovered that discussing food opened the door to other issues. The question, “What 
do you eat?” led to talk of food sovereignty and how governments and corporations 
are poisoning us. Discussing food also prompted meaningful self-reflections such 
as “I was raised white,” “I let go of my Indianess years ago; it was too painful,” 
and the most common response, “Well, I know nothing about Native foods at all.” 
Time and time again conversations about food triggered issues of identity.

This research note is based on three oral history interviews I conducted with 
individuals of the Abenaki Nation in northern New England who are active 
members of their communities and who have an intense interest in issues such 
as food sovereignty and traditional foods. In sharing their views on how food 
sovereignty, foodways, and food traditions affect the Indigenous communities 
of northern New England, the interviewees reveal how food connects to 
memory, culture and identity. Topics such as food sovereignty, childhood diet, 
and traditional foods bring up strong feelings, yet the individuals I interviewed 
all agree that eating a healthy diet of Indigenous food is vitally important.

Indigenous Foodways in New England

Although the Indigenous population in northern New England is relatively small, it 
represents an integral and important part of the region. According to the 2010 US 
Census, 10,524 people in the state of New Hampshire claim Indigenous ancestry 
(Norris, Vines, and Hoeffel 2012). While this is up 33.5% from the 2000 census 
(Norris, Vines, and Hoeffel 2012), Indigenous peoples still comprise only .3% of 



< Berton-Reilly, Elizabeth Ann. “Our Corn Is Still Standing: Indigenous Foodways and Identity in 
New England.” Digest: a Journal of Foodways and Culture 5:1 (2016): n. pag.> © American Folklore Society 2016

the state’s population and there are no federally or state recognized Indigenous 
nations. The nation of Abenaki people residing in Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, 
and Quebec, Canada, are affiliated with the Wabanaki Confederacy (the other four 
nations include the Penobscot, the Micmac, the Passamaquoddy and the Maliseet 
peoples) (Toensing 2008). The Abenaki speak an Algonquin language and there 
are only a handful of speakers left (Bruchac n.d.). In Vermont, there are also no 
federally recognized Indigenous nations, but there are a few state recognized 
ones: the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation, the Elnu Abenaki Tribe, 
the Traditional Koasek Abenaki Nation of the Koas, and the St. Francis/Sokoki band 
of the Abenaki Nation. The Sovereign Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi founded the 
Abenaki Self-Help Association, Inc. located in Swanson, Vermont, working towards 
improving the economic and educational lives of the Abenaki people (Abenaki 
Tribal Council n.d.). Finally, in northern Maine, there are four federally recognized 
Indigenous nations: the Aroostook Band of Micmacs, the Houlton Band of Maliseet 
Indians, the Passamaquoddy Tribe of Maine, and the Penobscot Indian Nation.

While it may first appear that Indigenous communities in northern New 
England are scattered and fractured, they come together in community 
powwows and other events. David M. Lacy and Donna Roberts Moody, an 
Abenaki elder and the Abenaki Repatriation Coordinator for the Abenaki 
Nation, discuss the sharing of Abenaki heritage through foodways:

Much of what we need to sustain our lives we find in the mountains. As children 
we learned how to hunt, gather medicines and foods, harvest trees and the bark, 
and tap the maples for syrup. We have ceremonies for all of these activities to 
honor what we take. And we have teachings in stewardship to ensure that there 
will be enough for the next seven generations (Lacy and Moody 2006:153).

These foodways traditions go back thousands of years. According to Julia 
Clark and George Neptune, since the Archaic Period (9,500–3,000 years ago) 
Indigenous peoples of New England have had a varied diet consisting of 
animals, seafood, plants, fruits and vegetables (Clark and Neptune 2014). They 
also utilized a seasonal cyclical format, migrating with the animals, thereby 
allowing them to harvest foods at their peak times (Clark and Neptune 2014). 
This rhythm also allowed them to be at the seacoast during peak fishing 
times and then migrate inland to hunt game (McBride and Prins 2009).



< Berton-Reilly, Elizabeth Ann. “Our Corn Is Still Standing: Indigenous Foodways and Identity in 
New England.” Digest: a Journal of Foodways and Culture 5:1 (2016): n. pag.> © American Folklore Society 2016

Between 1300 and 1400 CE, corn was integrated into the already complex diet of 
Indigenous peoples living in New England (Baker 2004). Planting and harvesting 
corn led to a more agricultural sedentary lifestyle (Baker 2004). Corn was also 
used in trade when the Europeans arrived in New England. Bruchac writes that “In 
one dramatic instance, in 1638, the Indians at Pocumtuck accepted payment of 
300 fathoms (six-foot lengths) of wampum for 500 bushels of corn, and delivered it 
by canoe to supply the starving English settlements below Hartford” (2004:24).

Food Sovereignty and Security

Food sovereignty and security means that individuals have control over what they 
eat. According to the United States Food Sovereignty Alliance, food sovereignty 
is “the right of people to determine their own food and agriculture policies; 
the democratization of food and agriculture” (United States Food Sovereignty 
Alliance n.d.). Simply put, it is putting food sources back in the hands of the 
consumer instead of in the hands of big business. For Indigenous peoples, 
food sovereignty is sometimes achieved by going back to the basics of their 
ancestors through reclaiming traditional foods and gardening traditions.

Food insecurity is the lack of access to traditional and healthy foods; instead, 
people have to rely on fast food and other unhealthy foods (Lambden, Receveur, 
and Kuhnlein 2007). There are many factors that cause Indigenous peoples to 
experience food insecurity, such as no access to healthy foods on reservations 
(or any isolated area), the fact that healthy foods are often more expensive 
than processed foods, and the lack of knowledge of how to cultivate and/or 
hunt for one’s food. Additionally, according to Anthony Sutton, Micmac people 
in Maine suffer from food insecurity because they are located in a very isolated 
environment, and their collective unemployment rate is about 70% (Sutton 2012).

Food insecurity and poverty lead to diabetes, now rampant on many reservations. 
The culprit is primarily commodity foods that first began as rations to the 
Indigenous peoples during their forced removal and relocation to reservations. 
These foods consist mainly of white flour, salt, sugar, lard, highly processed 
cheese, and canned meat. Indigenous peoples were forced into eating these foods 
because nothing else was available (Echo Hawk Consulting 2015). Eventually these 
foods took their toll on the lives of the Indigenous peoples. In 1940, diabetes 
was virtually unknown in Indigenous populations but now “nearly every Native 



< Berton-Reilly, Elizabeth Ann. “Our Corn Is Still Standing: Indigenous Foodways and Identity in 
New England.” Digest: a Journal of Foodways and Culture 5:1 (2016): n. pag.> © American Folklore Society 2016

American is involved either personally with diabetes, or with family and friends with 
diabetes. It has been called the new smallpox” (Echo Hawk Consulting 2015:31).

Indigenous Peoples’ Movements toward Food 
Sovereignty in Northern New England

The food sovereignty movement in northern New England is growing slowly but 
surely, and several Indigenous nations are making great strides. For instance, the 
Passamaquoddy people are taking action towards a healthier diet. Currently on 
the Passamaquoddy Pleasant Point Reservation on the Canadian border, an old 
dairy farm has been converted into a community garden growing Indigenous foods 
using traditional methods (Goad 2014). They are attempting to be completely self-
sufficient within four years (Goad 2014). In Meredith Goad’s “Food Sovereignty 
Movement Grows Roots among Passamaquoddy” one Passamaquoddy woman 
stated succinctly, “It’s really brought everybody alive again” (Goad 2014).

Another organization striving to do more for Indigenous New England foodways 
is the Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum, located in Warner, New Hampshire. It 
is a Pan-Indian museum and gathering place offering workshops and a yearly 
powwow (Mt Kearsarge Indian Museum 2015). As part of honoring the Abenaki 
culture, the museum will host a variety of upcoming foodways programs 
including a cooking class using traditional Indigenous New England ingredients 
(Charlebois 2015; Clark 2015) and a harvest festival where they will be 
harvesting the vegetables they grew and giving different food demonstrations 
(Mt Kearsarge Indian Museum 2015). They also have for sale in their gift shop 
a self-published cookbook, Favorite Native American Foods and Recipes.

Seed Saving and Sharing

Another way to preserve food sovereignty is to grow and harvest Indigenous 
foods, starting by planting heirloom seeds. Although not based in New England, 
for the past 25 years Seeds of Change, located in Rancho Dominguez, California, 
has been preserving and selling heirloom and traditional seeds (Seeds of Change 
n.d.). This organization also provides grants, one of which was to the Sioux YMCA 
Learning Garden serving the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation located in Eagle 
Butte, South Dakota. The grant helped them establish their “Onspewicakiyapi 
Wojapi (Learning Garden)” (Sioux YMCA n.d.) helping them offer cooking classes 



< Berton-Reilly, Elizabeth Ann. “Our Corn Is Still Standing: Indigenous Foodways and Identity in 
New England.” Digest: a Journal of Foodways and Culture 5:1 (2016): n. pag.> © American Folklore Society 2016

and instruct Lakota youth in organic gardening methods (Seeds of Change 2015).

Vermont Abenaki scholar Dr. Fredrick Wiseman continued this idea with “Seeds 
of Renewal,” which locates Indigenous seeds and gives them to the corresponding 
nation. He does this through the Haven Project, which researches and celebrates 
Indigenous Vermont culture (Sched 2014). Wiseman and others have recovered over 
25 varieties of seeds all over the United States. He emphasizes the importance 
of growing these seeds correctly and avoiding cross-pollination in order to keep 
the plant from being modified. One of the many advantages to growing these 
Indigenous plants is that they are far more adaptable to their environment, 
thereby needing less pesticides (Sched 2014). This is a very important point. 
These plants are not only better for the environment; they are healthier for 
the consumer. This holistic perspective of gardening not only helps heal the 
specific Indigenous nation and the individual, it helps heal the land as well.

In “The Seeds of Renewal Project: Renewing Abenaki Agriculture, 
One Seed at a Time,” Wiseman recalls growing up Abenaki in Vermont 
while pointing out the nutrition needs of the Abenaki people:

I remember Abenaki families, who were often very poor, living off the waters 
and lands by hunting and fishing. I remember children and adults gathering edible 
plants: marsh marigolds, wild onions, and fiddleheads in the spring, wild herbs, 
roots, and nuts in the summer and fall. Today I live in Swanton, and it’s clear that 
this rigorous but ultimately healthy outdoor lifestyle has largely been replaced by 
the intake of commodity food, which is heavily reliant on refined carbohydrates, 
fats, and processed items. This fundamental change from a land-based to an 
industrial food system is most certainly contributing to our region’s childhood 
obesity problem, and I have found that Vermont’s Indigenous Abenaki communities 
have been particularly hard hit by this cultural transformation (Wiseman 2015:12).

Wiseman also states that by preserving and growing traditional seeds, other 
aspects of culture, such as singing and dancing, can come into play: “In 
talking with tribal elders, I quickly came to the conclusion that an agricultural 
calendar integrating ritual with agricultural technology was the keystone 
to the whole program (2015:25).” Wiseman presented a holistic look at 
diet—food not only nourishes the body, it also nourishes the culture.

 



< Berton-Reilly, Elizabeth Ann. “Our Corn Is Still Standing: Indigenous Foodways and Identity in 
New England.” Digest: a Journal of Foodways and Culture 5:1 (2016): n. pag.> © American Folklore Society 2016

Liz Charlebois

I interviewed Missisquoi Abenaki Liz Charlebois, Chairperson for the New 
Hampshire Commission on Native American Affairs and the Educational Director 
at the Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum, to learn about her foodways traditions and 
her thoughts on food sovereignty. The interview, recorded on July 4, 2015, took 
place during an event held by the Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum. When it comes 
to Indigenous foodways, Charlebois sees herself as a beginner because she has 
been only studying Indigenous foodways for about two years. She explained 
just how important it was for Indigenous peoples to eat the Indigenous foods, 
as opposed to eating processed food: “. . . Native bodies are not meant to be 
processing the foods that are available to people” (Charlebois 2015; Clark 2015).

When I asked Charlebois about food sovereignty, she emphasized a non-purist 
approach. Instead of trying to recreate what their ancestors ate, Charlebois is 
more concerned about eating healthy food from this land and “focusing on the 
foods that we are supposed to be eating and having ownership . . . going out 
planting them, saving the seeds, keeping them pure” (Charlebois 2015; Clark 
2015). The goal here is health and empowerment, not a stringent requirement of 
what their ancestors ate. On the topic of food sovereignty and seed saving, she 
stated, “I think it’s just a movement towards having tribes protecting those foods 
we have always been in charge of protecting” (Charlebois 2015; Clark 2015).

Because Charlebois is in New England where Indigenous nations and groups are 
spread out and isolated, she occasionally travels to other locations across the 
US to attend food sovereignty and seed saving conferences. These conferences 
are devoted to sharing ideas, seeds and gardening techniques. Charlebois 
discussed how much she enjoys “. . . traveling to different Indigenous food 
conferences, and Indigenous seed conferences to meet with other people 
who are really passionate about saving our seeds” (Charlebois 2015; Clark 
2015). She also discussed how much she has learned from these conferences 
and how she is able to bring that knowledge back to the museum. For 
instance, she learned how to hand-pollinate from one of the conferences:

I went to a workshop at this conference at White Earth [White Earth Ojibwe tribe 
located in Minnesota] and somebody had been talking about it there, doing the Gete-
okosomin squash. . . . So they had talked about hand pollinating and I had come home 



< Berton-Reilly, Elizabeth Ann. “Our Corn Is Still Standing: Indigenous Foodways and Identity in 
New England.” Digest: a Journal of Foodways and Culture 5:1 (2016): n. pag.> © American Folklore Society 2016

with some information and then I basically taught myself. So it’s really interesting. I 
joked around all summer that I was impregnating squash (Charlebois and Clark 2015).

Throughout the foodways interview. Charlebois expressed hope for a better 
diet. She talked about the importance of reclaiming the foods of your 
ancestors, saving seeds and growing and eating the food for a healthy diet. 
She described the museum’s seed library where members can check out seeds 
to plant. When it is time for harvest, the growers will harvest some of the 
seeds to give back to the museum. Charlebois explained that this project is 
in its beginning stages and that they are working the kinks out right now.

Charlebois’ belief that the personal is the political is evidenced in her efforts to 
provide Indigenous food when the Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum had their yearly 
inter-tribal powwow featuring dancers from all over Indian Country on July 11, 
2015. Despite the fact that Indigenous food movements such as food sovereignty 
appear to be gaining ground, vendors at the event offered what has become the 
typical powwow food—fast food such as burgers, hot dogs and so-called ‘Indian 
Tacos’: fry bread with ground beef and red beans. However, the museum also 
provided healthy, traditional cuisine as an alternative for the dancers and singers. 
The museum staff served the singers and dancers corn soup, “wild rice with 
butternut squash and cranberries, boiled cornbread, sunflower seed cakes, Wojapi 
(Indigenous thick berry sauce), green salad and fruit salad” (Charlebois, 2015b).

Dana Benner

Penobscot, Pequawket and Micmac professor Dana Benner lives in Manchester, 
New Hampshire. A former member of the Inter-Tribal Council of New 
Hampshire, Benner is an author, professor, and a lecturer on Indigenous ways 
of life of New England Indigenous People. I interviewed him on August 6, 2015; 
because he was incredibly busy, the interview was conducted via email.

In his email, Benner revealed how rituals and beliefs about Indigenous 
foodways can be deeply personal. As a man who literally practices what he 
preaches, he estimated that about 60% of the food he and his family consumes 
he has either shot, fished, or grown, and that includes traditional food, 
fruits and vegetables (Benner 2015). However, he declined to answer the 
question about ceremony, stating that the question was inappropriate when 



< Berton-Reilly, Elizabeth Ann. “Our Corn Is Still Standing: Indigenous Foodways and Identity in 
New England.” Digest: a Journal of Foodways and Culture 5:1 (2016): n. pag.> © American Folklore Society 2016

interviewing Indigenous Peoples (Benner 2015). His point was well taken.

In reply to my last question, “Do you have any family stories concerning food?,” 
Benner simply stated, “Everything has a story attached to it in a Native family. 
Unless you hunted you could never understand” (Benner 2015). He emphasized 
that in order for me to understand Indigenous culture, I would have to live it. 
I would have to visit reservations and “. . . take in whatever is offered. The 
understanding doesn’t come in a book or from a professor” (Benner 2015). 
According to Benner’s worldview, obtaining food is deeply connected to culture—
what we hunt, fish and grow reflects our beliefs and who we are as individuals.

Paul Pouliot

I interviewed Paul Pouliot, Chief of the Abenaki Cowasuck Band located in Alton, 
New Hampshire on August 16, 2015. He also runs the social and cultural services 
organization group, COWASS North America (Cowasuck Band of the Pennacook-
Abenaki People n.d.). Pouliot is an Abenaki educator who lecturers extensively on 
Abenaki foodways throughout the region. He is dedicated to preserving traditional 
foodways, especially how his Abenaki people used to eat. He has given multiple 
lectures about this, in colleges as well as tourist attractions (such as Strawbery 
Banke, in Portsmouth, which interprets New Hampshire life from the late 1600s to the 
mid-1900s). His focus is learning about traditional foodways by studying the Abenaki 
language. He provided several instances where a word for a type of plant described 
the plant in a certain way, thereby giving us insight into its usages (Pouliot 2005).

Pouliot described another foodways tradition, fishing. He said the Abenaki fished 
a lot more than they hunted, emphasizing how fishing was (and is) incredibly 
important to their culture. Even after World War II when the Indigenous peoples were 
becoming more acculturated and losing their old ways, fishing remained strong in 
his family and that tradition was passed down to him. He discussed a wide variety 
of fishing traditions, including catching eels by trapping them and then immersing 
the herb jack-in-the-pulpit in the water, thus stunning them. Then they would kill 
the eels and sun-dry them to preserve them “like dried oysters” (Pouliot 2005). 
He then brought up beaching, which is driving the fish onto the shore. He also 
related that the Abenaki people used the swordfish bill to hunt swordfish. Pouliot’s 
main focus was that of opportunistic hunting and fishing in which the Abenaki 
people would migrate seasonally depending upon where the food was available.



< Berton-Reilly, Elizabeth Ann. “Our Corn Is Still Standing: Indigenous Foodways and Identity in 
New England.” Digest: a Journal of Foodways and Culture 5:1 (2016): n. pag.> © American Folklore Society 2016

Like Charlebois, Pouliot emphasized how it would be impossible to eat exactly 
what his ancestors ate no matter how hard he tried, just as it is for anyone 
to try to recreate aspects of the past. He mentions that some species that 
the earlier generations of Abenaki people ate are now extinct. “You can’t roll 
back your food sovereignty and say bring back the passenger pigeon” (Pouliot 
2005). Pouliot’s emphasis appears to be historically based; what was eaten 
then as opposed to trying to recreate that diet today. When I broached the 
subject of seed saving and sharing, he pointed out how unscientific it is. In 
his opinion, a person could claim a variety of corn came from Greenland, but 
this would need to be proven. Corn, he asserts, cross-pollinates too easily.

For Pouliot, food is indeed a complex and emotional subject. Perhaps because he 
is a retired mechanical engineer, he views Indigenous foodways and related topics 
from a scientific viewpoint. Although he did say that ceremony was important, 
throughout our interview he emphasized the need to study the Abenaki traditional 
ways as scientifically as possible. How can we prove that earlier generations ate 
this particular plant? Pouliot also comes from the perspective of a linguist. We 
discussed the different Abenaki names for the Jerusalem artichoke, and what 
each name tells us about not only the plant, but about the Abenaki language. 
For Pouliot, traditional foodways is also a story of a language and of a people.

Wampanoag Foodways

On the southeastern coast of New England live the Wampanoag people, also 
known as the People of the First Light. They have communities in Mashpee on 
Cape Cod, and Nantucket, Massachusetts, and as far south as Bristol and Warren, 
Rhode Island. The Aquinnah (Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head) are in Martha’s 
Vineyard, Gay Head Cliffs, and Aquinnah, Massachusetts (Eldredge n.d.).

Like the Abenaki people, the Wampanoag suffered a loss of 90% of their population 
through disease by the time the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth (Nanepashemet 
1990). As explained by Nanepashemet, the late director of Plimoth Plantation’s 
Wampanoag Indian Programs, the psychology of the Indigenous People who 
survived this epidemic was to find support where they could—through the 
Pilgrims. He stated that in order to fight off their rivals, they aligned themselves 
with the English hoping for their support (Nanepashemet 1990). In addition, like 
the Abenaki, the Wampanoag enjoyed a wide variety of foods, including fish, 



< Berton-Reilly, Elizabeth Ann. “Our Corn Is Still Standing: Indigenous Foodways and Identity in 
New England.” Digest: a Journal of Foodways and Culture 5:1 (2016): n. pag.> © American Folklore Society 2016

game and vegetables to eat, depending upon the season (Dempsey 2000).

A narrative told by Nanepashemet in the documentary Nani: A Native England 
Story illustrates how identity ties into feasting with the Wampanoag peoples. 
He discussed how a two-year war broke out simply because of what a tribe was 
fed during an intertribal feast. According to Nanepashemet, the Narragansett 
and the Nipmuc peoples had a feast, in which the Nipmuc fed the Narragansett 
people eels and fresh water fish, which was considered “too musky” for the 
Narragansett people who were used to ocean fish (Dempsey 2000). He pointed 
out how this food was considered an insult by the Narragansett people, so war 
broke out. Nanepashemet used this story to illustrate how these tribes were 
similar and yet at the same time, “uniquely different” (Dempsey 2000).

David Vanderhoop

In 2008, David Vanderhoop, an Aquinnah Wampanoag from Martha’s Vineyard, 
was interviewed by the Cultural Conservancy for the “Traditional Foodways of 
Native America—Oral Histories of Native Food Revitalization.” Vanderhoop is 
director of the Wampanoag Aquinnah Shellfish Hatchery and in charge of the 
Menemsha Pond, which has provided oysters for his ancestors for thousands of 
years (Cultural Conservancy 2008). His focus is making sure that the pond is 
healthy and can sustain the Wampanoag people, both now and in the future. 
Vanderhoop said that his father was the last person who was able to maintain a 
living year-round solely from growing oysters in this pond. By having both such a 
personal connection to this pond via his father, as well as a cultural connection, 
Vanderhoop acts as a catalyst by bringing together both the Wampanoag 
harvesting oyster traditions and his family traditions into the 21st century.

Vanderhoop also discussed a time when it was a lean year for him and his 
family of five. He had a gun, but only two bullets, and needed to feed his 
family (Vanderhoop 2008). He spent several weeks out hunting for a deer. 
Finally, he shot one and brought it home. He gathered his family around and 
they gave thanks, made a fire and cooked the heart and the liver immediately. 
In a traditional and respectful fashion, they ate the heart and liver first. He 
explained how thankful he was, being able to provide food for his family, 
and how this deer was a gift in such a tough time (Vanderhoop 2008).



< Berton-Reilly, Elizabeth Ann. “Our Corn Is Still Standing: Indigenous Foodways and Identity in 
New England.” Digest: a Journal of Foodways and Culture 5:1 (2016): n. pag.> © American Folklore Society 2016

Like Pouliot, Vanderhoop discussed gathering whatever foods are available, such 
as fish, game, nuts, fruits and vegetables, plus the concept of eating the food you 
are meant to eat: “. . . and the Creator has basically sent to us and said, ‘Yes this 
is for you, you take this bounty and be thankful for it . . . .’ The food the Creator 
has actually given you from your area to keep you healthy” (Vanderhoop 2008).

Conclusion: Our Corn Is Still Standing

In her TED Talk about the importance of seed saving and maintaining Indigenous 
varieties of food, Ojibwa activist Winona LaDuke began by discussing how the Ojibwa 
people, their culture, and their identity, is inextricably linked to their sacred wild 
rice. She said that spiritually, we have a relationship with our food and that they 
are “our relatives” (LaDuke 2012). LaDuke emphasized a need for a wider variety of 
Indigenous foods to counter GMOs (genetically modified plants). Her example was a 
special variety of corn, the Bear Island Flint Corn, from the Red Lake Reservation 
in northern Minnesota. She compared this traditional corn to the Monsanto Roundup 
Ready Corn, demonstrating how important Indigenous foods are for all of us:

. . . and that corn in itself, it came from Bear Island in the middle of Leech 
Lake, I got about this much from a seed grower. [Note: shows hands together 
indicating a small amount.] He gave it to me and now we have fields of it. Grows 
about this tall [Note: indicating about five feet tall] has big ears, doesn’t require 
irrigation, frost resistant. And when a sear wind comes through, Monsanto’s 
Roundup Ready Corn tips over, but our corn is still standing (LaDuke 2012).

LaDuke and the Indigenous people in New England give us a unique perspective into 
Indigenous foodways and how they are linked to Indigenous identity. All three people 
I interviewed—Liz Charlebois, Dana Benner and Paul Pouliot—had several things in 
common: they are all Abenaki who literally walk their talk. Each lives what they can 
of an Abenaki lifestyle. Liz Charlebois is not only a student of Abenaki foodways; 
she also is a traditional dancer and basket maker. Dana Benner and Paul Pouliot 
both lecture about the Abenaki way of life, and live it as well. They are not simply 
academics who live in so-called “ivory towers” and who look at the Abenaki way 
of life as an intellectual oddity, these three people live it and share its heritage.

Equally important is how Indigenous foodways start from seed, be it the seed 
of knowledge or the seeds being passed down. Within Indigenous communities, 
there is a deep sense of commitment in improving their lives and the traditions 



< Berton-Reilly, Elizabeth Ann. “Our Corn Is Still Standing: Indigenous Foodways and Identity in 
New England.” Digest: a Journal of Foodways and Culture 5:1 (2016): n. pag.> © American Folklore Society 2016

of their nations. Regardless of colonialism, capitalism, and the modern age 
filled with Monsanto GMO plants and pesticides, Indigenous peoples and 
many others are saying, “Enough!” Through going back to the roots of their 
ancestors, they are bringing to the rest of the world a new sense of hope that 
we can indeed nourish our bodies—and our culture—at the same time. 

References Cited

Abenaki Tribal Council. N.d. What is Abenaki Self Help Association, 
Inc.? The Abenaki Self Help Association, Inc. http://ashai.
abenakination.com/ (accessed on August 20, 2015).

Baker, Emerson W. 2004. Finding the Almouchiquois: Native American Families, 
Territories, and Land Sales in Southern Maine. Ethnohistory, 51 (1): 73-100.

Benner, Dana. 2015. Email message to author. August 6.

Bruchac, Jesse Bowman. N.d. Western Abenaki Language. http://
westernabenaki.com/ (accessed April 27, 2015).

Bruchac, Margaret. 2004. Native Presence in Nonotuck and Northampton. In Place 
Called Paradise: Culture and Community in Northampton, Massachusetts, 1654-2004, 
edited by Kerry W. Buckley, 19-38. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press.

Charlebois, Liz and Lynn Clark. 2015. Interview with author. July 4.

Charlebois, Liz. 2015b. Email message to author. July 13.

Clark Julia and George Neptune. 2014. People of the Dawnland: The 
Wabanaki and the Mount Desert Island Region before Colonization. Friends 
of Acadia Journal, Spring 2014. http://friendsofacadia.org/news-publications/
friends-of-acadia-journal/people-dawnland/ (accessed August 7, 2015).

Cowasuck Band of the Penacook-Abenaki People. N.d. Goals Statement. The 
Cowasuck Band of the Penacook-Abenaki People, the People of the White 
Pines. http://www.cowasuck.org/statement.cfm (accessed August 14, 2015).

Cultural Conservancy. 2008. Traditional Foodways of Native America – 
Oral Histories of Native Food Revitalization Audio Recording Project. 



< Berton-Reilly, Elizabeth Ann. “Our Corn Is Still Standing: Indigenous Foodways and Identity in 
New England.” Digest: a Journal of Foodways and Culture 5:1 (2016): n. pag.> © American Folklore Society 2016

Interview with David Vanderhoop. The Cultural Conservatory. http://www.
nativeland.org/raft/vanderhoop.html (accessed August 7, 2015).

Dempsey, Dr. Jack. 2000. Nani: A Native England Story. Eureka, CA: Shenandoah Films.

Echo Hawk Consulting. 2015. Feeding Ourselves: Food Access, 
Health Disparities, and the Pathways To Healthy Native American 
Communities, Longmont, CO: Echo Hawk Consulting.

Eldredge, Nancy. N.d. Who are the Wampanoag? Plimoth 
Plantation. http://www.plimoth.org/learn/just-kids/homework-
help/who-are-wampanoag (accessed August 13, 2015).

Goad, Meredith. 2014. Food Sovereignty Movement Grows Roots 
Among Passamaquoddy. Portland Press Herald. November 16. http://
www.pressherald.com/2014/11/16/food-sovereignty-movement-grows-
roots-among-passamaquoddy/ (accessed on October 12, 2015).

Lacy, David M. and Donna Roberts Moody. 2006. Green Mountain Stewardship 
One Landscape. Multiple Histories. In Cross-Cultural Collaboration: Native 
Peoples and Archaeology in the Northeastern United States, edited by 
Jordan E. Kerber, 150-164. Lincoln. NE: University of Nebraska Press.

LaDuke, Winona. 2005. Recovering the Sacred: The Power of 
Naming and Claiming. Cambridge, MA: South End Press.

———. 2012. TEDxTC - Winona LaDuke - Seeds of Our Ancestors, 
Seeds of Life. YouTube. Published March 4. https://www.youtube.
com/watch?v=pHNlel72eQc (accessed August 20, 2015).

Lambden, Jill, Olivier Receveur and Harriet V. Kuhnlein. 2007. Traditional 
Food Attributes Must Be Included in Studies of Food Security in the Canadian 
Artic. International Journal of Circumpolar Health 66 (4): 308-319.

Mann, Barbara A. 1997. The Lynx in Time: Haudenosaunee Women’s 
Traditions and History. American Indian Quarterly, 21 (3): 423-449.

McBride, Bunny and Harald E. L. Prins. 2009. Indians in Eden: 



< Berton-Reilly, Elizabeth Ann. “Our Corn Is Still Standing: Indigenous Foodways and Identity in 
New England.” Digest: a Journal of Foodways and Culture 5:1 (2016): n. pag.> © American Folklore Society 2016

Wabanakis and Rusticators on Maine’s Mount Desert Island, 
1840s-1920s. Camden, ME: Down East Books.

Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum. 2015. August 1 - October 31. http://
indianmuseum.org/wh/wh_events.html (accessed on August 20, 2015).

Nanepashemet. 1990. Interviewed by Dr. Jack Dempsey at Plimoth 
Plantation. Wampanoag Program, Hobbamock’s Homesite. https://www.
youtube.com/watch?v=9B7XmPw9pdQ (accessed October 12, 2015).

Norris, Tina Paula L. Vines, and Elizabeth M. Hoeffel. 2012. The American Indian and 
Alaska Native Population: 2010. 2010 Census Briefs. January. Lowell, MA: US Census.

Pouliot, Paul. 2015. Interview with author. August 16.

Sched. 2014. Convergence Permaculture, Fred Wiseman the 
Haven Project. Sched. http://convergence2014.sched.org/
speaker/wisem#.VYgfePlVhBc (accessed, June 22, 2015).

Seeds of Change. 2015. And the Grant Recipients Are. Seeds of Change Grant 
Program. http://www.seedsofchangegrant.com/ (accessed on August 22, 2015).

————. N.d. Our Story. http://www.seedsofchangefoods.com/
ourstory/default.aspx (accessed on August 22, 2015).

Sioux YMCA. Garden Project. Volunteer Sioux YMCA. N.d. http://volunteer.
siouxymca.org/?page_id=49 (accessed on August 22, 2015).

Sutton, Anthony. 2012. Supporting the Micmac Farms through Ethnographic 
Communication Research. Master’s thesis, the University of Maine.

Toensing, Gale Courey. 2008. Sacred Fire Lights the Wabanaki 
Confederacy. Indian Country Today Media Network. June 27. http://
indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2008/06/27/sacred-fire-lights-
wabanaki-confederacy-93141 (accessed on August 22, 2015).

United States Food Sovereignty Alliance. N.d. What is Food Sovereignty? 
US Food Sovereignty Alliance. http://usfoodsovereigntyalliance.
org/what-is-food-sovereignty/ (accessed July 1, 2015).



< Berton-Reilly, Elizabeth Ann. “Our Corn Is Still Standing: Indigenous Foodways and Identity in 
New England.” Digest: a Journal of Foodways and Culture 5:1 (2016): n. pag.> © American Folklore Society 2016

Vanderhoop, David. 2008. Interview by Cultural 
Conservancy. Martha’s Vineyard, MA. Audio.

Wiseman, Frederick Matthew. 2015. The Seeds of Renewal Project Renewing 
Abenaki Agriculture, One Seed at a Time. Vermont’s Local Banquet. 
February 12. http://localbanquet.com/stories/issues/2015/spring-2015-
issue-32/item/the-seeds-of-renewal-project (accessed July 1, 2015).


