Celebrate Thanksgiving the Native Way with Sup!

I remember learning the story of the first Thanksgiving when I was in Kindergarten.  My teacher told me about a peaceful feast between the Wampanoa Tribe and the Pilgrims.  We all know the story…the Indians taught the Pilgrims how to live off of the land and the Pilgrims thanked them with a great feast.  I was intrigued by this story and even drew a picture of the feast to show my mom.  I remember being very upset when I heard about how this peace did not last and how the Pilgrims betrayed the Wampanoa.  The reasons we celebrate Thanksgiving have evolved over time, and I enjoy the time with my family and friends, but I think it is important to remember and honor Native Americans, especially this time of year.   Sup! celebrated the Native American culture in our Thanksgiving Special during our first season and I would like to share this episode with you again.  In this show, Chef Ann taught Sammy and I how to make Pan Fried Cornbread.  Chef Ann is part of the Lumbee and Coharie Tribes of North Carolina (she lives in Baltimore now).  We also visited the Baltimore American Indian Center (BAIC) which was founded by Lumbee Indians in 1968 who had immigrated from North Carolina to Baltimore. Sammy and I have Lumbee heritage because our Great Great Grandmother was Lumbee. Her name was Lillian Sampson.  She was born on November 8, 1895.  My birthday is also November 8 so I feel a special connection with her.  I don’t know too much about her except that she was born and raised in Robeson County, North Carolina and was one of 10 children!  She had four of her own children. One was my Great Grandfather, she died when he was only 5 years old. Because we do not know much about the Lumbee Tribe or know any other Lumbee besides our own family, we were excited to find the BAIC.  We went to a Pow Wow sponsored by the BAIC (you can see footage of this in our episode below).  At the Pow Wow we learned about Native American artwork.  The Lumbee Tribe is known for making beautiful jewelry, woodworking and baskets.  We also watched Native dancing traditions. The regalia worn by the dancers was amazing, very colorful with intricate, meaningful designs. We learned that we should not call the regalia “costumes”.  If we say “costumes” that implies pretending, and Native Americans are not pretending, they are expressing their culture.  Of course, any Pow Wow would not be complete without delicious Native American food.  That is how we met Chef Ann.  We tried her food at the Pow Wow and asked her to come on our show.  Luckily for us she said yes! Chef Ann was very nice and taught us how to make pan fried cornbread (you can learn too below)!  She told us that pan fried cornbread was an easy and inexpensive way for Lumbee families to eat making it a food staple.  Most Lumbee were farmers who harvested corn, squash, beans and tobacco.  They used the corn they grew to make corn meal for the cornbread.  There are only 2 other ingredients, water and oil, making it a simple but delicious snack.  We learned that pan fried cornbread is not only made by The Lumbee Tribe, but other Native American tribes and that each tribe has their own unique way of making it. Please take some time today and watch our Thanksgiving special.  You could even add pan fried cornbread to your Thanksgiving menu to honor the Native Culture!  Comment below if you make it and we will feature you on our social media!  🙂  Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel to learn about food from around the world every week. Click here to sign up to cook with us! Happy Thanksgiving! Sara Co-host of Sup! P.S. Learn more about the real story of Thanksgiving here and more about the Lumbee Tribe here.