“Jöhehgöh” They Sustain Us 

Growing up in Shawnee, Oklahoma, among a host of grandmothers and aunties, Loretta Barrett Oden learned the lessons and lore of Potawatomi cooking, along with those of her father's family, whose ancestors arrived on the Mayflower. This rich cultural blend came to bear in the iconic restaurant she opened in Santa Fe, the Corn Dance Café, where many of the dishes in this book had their debut, setting Loretta on her path to fame as one of the most influential Native chefs in the nation, a leader in the new Indigenous food movement, and, with her Emmy Award-winning PBS series, Seasoned with Spirit: A Native Cook's Journey, a cross-cultural ambassador for First American cuisine.

A mother, scientist, decorated professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Robin Wall Kimmerer is the author of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants, which has earner her wide acclaim. Her first book, Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses, was awarded the John Burroughs Medal for outstanding nature writing, and her other work has appeared in Orion, Whole Terrain, and numerous scientific journals. In 2022, Braiding Sweetgrass was adapted for young adult by Monique Gray Smith. This new edition reinforces how wider ecological understanding stems from listening to the earth's oldest teachers: the plants around us. 

Angela Ferguson resides just off the Onondaga Nation lands in Central New York. Although much of her time is spent preserving and perpetuating Haudenosaunee ancestral foodways, Ange generously shares the techniques and tools of traditional cooking in a variety of spaces, including other Haudenosaunee communities, intertribal spaces, and sites of exchange. Angela is one of the original founders of Braiding the Sacred, an organization that coordinates gatherings in many different Indigenous communities to create relationships and knowledge sharing among traditional Indigenous corn growers throughout Turtle Island.

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Angel Jimerson is a queer individual who focuses on mental health while relating it to the work that they’ve done with Ganondagan’s White Corn Project. Angel is Heron clan of the Onödowá’ga:’ (Seneca) and grew up living at Ganondagan’s State Historic Site in Victor, NY. They started at the Corn Project as a young teen then took over as Production Manager at age 20, continuing to create a safe space for corn and education. After many years, Angel now presents about their experience with the corn, connecting it to self-respect and personal growth. 

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Andrea Cooke is presently an Instructional Coach for the Native American Curriculum Team (NACT) at the Salamanca City Central School District located on the Seneca Nation Territory. She has been a Seneca/Onondaga language & culture teacher/educator for 20 plus years in schools serving Indigenous youth. She has worked on the Seneca Nation Territories of Ohi:yo' and Cattaraugus as well as beginning her Language and culture teaching journey at the Onondaga Nation School in 1982. In addition, she has been active in the Seneca and Onondaga Nation communities her entire adult life.  Ms. Cooke, holds a wealth of knowledge about Hodinöhšö:ni:h culture and is dedicated to educating anyone willing to listen, learn and try! She presently holds 2 NYS certifications in TESOL (P-12), Elementary (K-6) along with a Montessori Certification, (3-6 years). She encourages all youth to balance between the various roads/worlds to find enjoyment, satisfaction, and purpose.

From a young age Ionawiienhawi found interest, nourishment, and comfort within seed sovereignty,  traditional foods, contemporary traditional foods and land based knowledge, through her family and community. As a teen, an auntie taught her about seeds and their deeply reciprocal nature of kinship within being a keeper of them that are deeply rooted in love, respect, and continuous growth and knowledge. Ionawiienhawi has worked for many agricultural ventures in and around Akwesasne such as Bare Bones Farms, Young Roots Farms, and many more. 

Veronica Reitter is an accomplished storyteller, seamstress, cornhusk artist, and beadworker who began her storytelling journey listening to Seneca elders. Ronnie grew up in a non-Native foster home in upstate New York. As an adult she re-connected with the Haudenosaunee community, found members of her family who still live on the Cattaraugus Reservation in western New York, and became deeply involved with learning and teaching Haudenosaunee traditional arts and storytelling. For nearly 20 years, Ronnie has used her storytelling skills regularly with school children while working at Ganondagan State Historic Site as a Seneca Interpreter. She has visited numerous schools, organizations and museums including the Smithsonian's Museum of the American Indian. 

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