TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The aroma of hog meat, beans and hot water cornbread filled the room as community members gathered around tables to cook, visit and share stories during a Back to Basics traditional cooking class hosted by Echota Behavioral Health.
The Saturday, Aug. 1 class was part of a series offered throughout the year by the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians that focuses on traditional skills and cultural practices, giving participants an opportunity to learn techniques that have been passed down through generations.
Saturday’s class centered on traditional foods, with longtime cook and teacher Betty Holcomb guiding participants through a menu that featured hog meat, beans, grape dumplings, hot-water cornbread and watercress.
For Holcomb, preparing traditional foods is more than a cooking lesson. It is knowledge she has carried with her throughout her life.
“I’ve been cooking Native food my whole life,” Holcomb said. “I learned from my mother.”
Holcomb said some of the recipes reflect a time when families had fewer ingredients and conveniences available to them, and they had to rely on what they had on hand.
“This is real traditional food,” Holcomb said. “When we were growing up, we didn’t have baking powder. We had to make do with stone-ground cornmeal. We would stir it into a paste, put it in the pan and cook it.”
The class gave participants a chance to learn those techniques firsthand while also spending time together.
Lisa Atwell, who has attended Back to Basics classes since last year, said the series has helped her learn about different traditional practices while strengthening her connection to her own heritage.
“They’ve done several classes on different topics, and I really like them because they help me get in touch with my roots,” Atwell said. “They help me feel a connection to my ancestry.”
Barbra Foster, cultural outreach liaison at Echota Behavioral Health, said the Back to Basics program was created as a way to bring traditional practices into a community setting.
Throughout history, Foster said, traditional foods have provided an important reason for people to gather. The classes are intended to carry that tradition forward by bringing people together to cook, eat and share stories.
“Through traditional foods, our ancestors came together throughout history for gatherings, and we’re doing the same thing today,” Foster said. “It makes it fun to get together, visit, tell stories and enjoy great food.”
The program is sponsored through the Echota Behavioral Health TOR grant, which has allowed the organization to make the classes available to community members at no cost.
When the series began, participants paid $25 per class to help cover the cost of materials. Classes typically had 10-12 participants. After Echota Behavioral Health took over the program, the fee was eliminated, allowing more people to participate.
Foster said the classes are open to anyone interested in learning.
“I love that all of us can come together and celebrate our traditional ways, share our responsibilities, share stories and have a healthy traditional meal,” she said.
The Back to Basics series will continue with a class planned for the last Saturday in August. Holcomb will return to teach participants how to make corn soup and fry bread. The series will continue in September with two workshops focused on another cultural tradition: making stomp dance skirts.
While each class teaches a particular skill, organizers say the larger purpose is to create a place where traditional knowledge can be shared and community members can learn from one another.
For participants such as Atwell, that opportunity to connect with the past is one of the most meaningful parts of the program.
“As we worked together, we also shared conversation, stories and knowledge, continuing the same tradition of gathering around food that has brought communities together for generations,” said Atwell.
Check it out
Anyone interested in the Back to Basics series can contact Barbara Foster at 918-316-5352. Classes are held at the UKB Speedway, 15882 Old U.S. Highway 62 in Tahlequah.