Celebrating Indigenous Food and Traditions
Each October, when so many across the country celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day, the Ashland Food Co-op pauses to reflect on the land we call home, the people who've cared for it, and how food and connections to the land can help us return that inheritance in a positive way. This holiday isn’t just a request that we correct the record of history, but that we also plant a greater sense of home, appreciation, and responsibility. In southern Oregon, that means exploring the histories and teachings of the Shasta, Takelma, Latgawa, and other tribes whose ancestral lands include what is now Ashland.
Indigenous peoples in our region lived prior to Euro-American settlement in a deep relationship with food cycles and place. In the Rogue Valley and along the Table Rocks, the Takelma were sometimes called “Dagelma,” meaning “those who dwell by the river.” Life revolved around the waters and the changing seasons. Salmon filled their nets, while wild roots, berries, seeds, and game rounded out their meals. As the seasons changed, they followed the rhythms of the land, moving between elevations to fish, gather, hunt, and carefully store what they would need for the months ahead. Their activity wasn’t just for survival, but for reciprocity: farming soils, burning to maintain open meadows, incubating plant habitats, and honoring areas of ceremony. Their ways of tending the land remind us that we still have much to learn about balance, respect, and stewardship.
Deep disruption came in the mid-1800s: the Rogue River Wars of 1855–1856, when numerous Indigenous communities were forcibly relocated, treaties were violated, and war and disease devastated populations; the brief existence of the Table Rock Reservation was formed and abolished; and numerous descendants of these groups found themselves caught up in confederated treaties or relocated to other reservations. In spite of this break, Indigenous families still reside here, remember, revive language, and preserve cultural food traditions throughout Oregon today.
Food is one of the most powerful connections we have to memory, respect, and the planet itself. Here in Oregon, "first foods" like salmon, roots, berries, and game are still central to Indigenous food sovereignty.This work in southern Oregon centers on renewal: restoring native plants, rebuilding traditional harvesting, and restoring both cultural connections and care for the earth. By the fact that co-ops are community, we can be the change by learning about Indigenous foodways, finding Indigenous-grown produce when possible, and supporting organizations that uplift Native voices.
Indigenous Peoples’ Day reminds us that honoring the past is not only about memory, but also about the actions we take today. We encourage you and our community to become conscious of whose territory you stand on, to contribute financially to Native nonprofits, and to buy at Indigenous food producers. There's something good we can do towards reciprocity, justice, and healthier relations with people and places.
Sources:
- OSF Ashland Land Acknowledgment: https://www.osfashland.org/land-acknowledgment
- BLM Table Rocks History: https://www.blm.gov/programs/recreation/recreation-activities/oregon-washington/tablerocks/cultural-history/regional-tribes
- Rogue River Wars: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogue_River_Wars
- Table Rock Reservation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_Rock_Indian_Reservation
- Travel Oregon – Indigenous Foods: https://traveloregon.com/things-to-do/culture-history/celebrate-oregons-indigenous-foods/
- My Oregon – Indigenous Foodways in Southern Oregon: https://www.myoregon.gov/2022/12/20/how-indigenous-communities-are-reclaiming-knowledge-and-relationships-to-first-foods-in-southern-oregon/
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