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ETHNOBIOLOGY LETTERS                                                                                                                    Book Review 
 

45 

 

Feeding the People, Feeding the Spirit:  Revitalizing Northwest Coastal 
Indian Food  
Elise Krohn and Valerie Segrest. 2010. Northwest Indian College, Bellingham, WA.  Pp. x + 158, copiously 
illustrated, tables, bibliography.   
 

Reviewed by E. N. Anderson
1 

 
Reviewer Address:

 1
Department of Anthropology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, California 92521 

 
Received: April 29

th
 2011                                       Volume2:45 

Published: August 14
th
 2011                       © 2011 Society of Ethnobiology 

 
This beautifully produced book is a traditional food 
sourcebook for Native Americans, primarily of western 
Washington State.  Created by nutritionists working 
with the tribes there, it is part of a major food 
revitalization program that was featured at the 
Traditional Foods Summit at the recent Society for 
Applied Anthropology convention in Seattle. 

The book is divided into four chapters, covering 
traditional views and foods; their fate in the 
contemporary world of supermarkets and online 
grocery shopping; revitalization efforts; and traditional 
foods—basically an ethnobotany.  Many of the entries 
on traditional foods include myths, stories, and 
conservation knowledge.  This is followed by a long 
and quite mouthwatering section of recipes.  All parts 
of the book are useful and accessible.  Anthropologists 
will find notably valuable the long and detailed quotes 
and stories from elders.  Inez Bill of the Tulalip tribe 
contributes (on p. 42) some particularly good food 
rules, which from my experience seem general to the 
Northwest Coast and farther: 

“Taking and gathering only what you need so Mother 
Nature can regenerate her gifts to us.” 

“Remembering to not waste any of our traditional food.” 

“Sharing what you gather with family, friends and elders 
that are not able to go out and gather whenever possible.” 

“Including prayer and giving thanks when gathering.” 

“Preparing local native foods at gatherings.” 

“Preparing food with a good heart and mind so when you 
serve your meal, people will enjoy their meal.” 

“Providing nourishment for our people and their spirits, 
but also the spirit of our ancestors.  We will strive to 
continue this way of life.” 

The ethnobotany section includes not only the 
traditional foods that are still commonly used, but 
considerable food advice on how to deal with 
supermarket foods:  how to substitute for traditional 
foods, how to shop wisely, what to avoid, and so on.  
Some of this advice is of use only to educated urban 
people (e.g. advice to buy nut butters other than peanut 
butter, p. 115), but there are now, thank goodness, a 
great number of highly educated and urbanized Native 
Northwest Coasters.   

The recipes are also far from the stereotype of 
“hunter-gatherer” cuisine.  Thanks to the importance 
of feasts and potlatches, the Northwest Coast peoples 
had a genuine haute cuisine long before the Euro-
American world intruded.  This book moves on into 
fusion realms:  nettle pesto, wild berry crisp, balsamic 
blueberries with amaranth, and the like.  The recipes 
are wonderful, and I hope to try them out soon. 

In short, buy this book.  It supports a good cause. 

 

Northwest Coast food 
and medicine: grapevines 
and willow trees.  Photo 
by E. N. Anderson, 2010.