EP. 31: Mohegan Food with Sharon Maynard and Rachel Sayet

EP. 31: Mohegan Food with Sharon Maynard and Rachel Sayet

Author: Seeds And Their People October 11, 2024 Duration: 1:17:26
This episode features a conversation in early July 2024 with Mohegan tribal members Sharon Maynard and Rachel Sayet about traditional Mohegan food.  Sharon Maynard is a Mohegan elder and a Tribal Nonner. Retired after serving 12 years on the Council of Elders, Sharon’s interests include food sovereignty, seed saving, and decolonizing our diets. She has a BA in anthropology and an AS in food service management.  Rachel Sayet (Akitusut) is a Mohegan writer, teacher, and indigenous food specialist. Rachel has a BS in restaurant management and an MA in anthropology. She has spent her adult life trying to cultivate awareness of Native New England. She worked for the Mohegan tribe for 8 years in their cultural department spearheading grassroots efforts in revitalizing traditional foods and diabetes prevention. FOOD AND MEDICINE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Maple, Birch Blueberries, Strawberries, Fiddlehead Ferns Milkweed, Sassafras, Elder, Boneset Corn, Beans, Squash, Sunflowers, Tobacco Succotash (Corn, Beans, Salt Pork, Salt and Pepper) Johnny Cakes (Journey Cakes) Yokaeg (traveling food made of dried, parched corn which has been ground finely with a mortar and pestle). Clams, Quahogs, Scallops, Shad, Salmon Fry Bread, Indian Tacos, Buffalo and Alligator Burgers Rachel's Johnny Cake Turkey Sandwich on America the Bountiful, PBS LINKS: Mohegan Tribe Rachel Beth Sayet, Indigenous Educator, Lightworker, Chef, Herbalist Wikôtamuwôk Wuci Ki tà Kihtahan (A Celebration of Land and Sea):Modern Indigenous Cuisine in New England by Rachel Sayet in Dawnland Voices 2.0 Tantaquidgeon Museum Gladys Tantaquidgeon - in Memorium Makiawisug, or the Little People at Mohegan Hill Eastern Woodlands Rematriation Sherry Pocknett, Mashpee Wampanoag chef, Sly Fox Den Restaurant The Man Who Weeps, story by Dale Carson, Abenaki cookbook author, in Dawnland Voices 2.0 Strawberry Thanksgiving, by Paula Dove Jennings, Narragansett  Sioux Chef, Sean Sherman, Oglala Lakota Sioux Yazzie the Chef, Brian Yazzie, Diné Rowen White, Mohawk/Kanienkeha:ka, seed keeper THIS EPISODE SUPPORTED BY: YOU! Please become a Patron for $1 or more a month at Patreon.com/trueloveseeds The No-Till Market Growers Podcast Network (which includes our friends at the Seed Farmer Podcast) Scribe Video Center and WPEB, West Philly Community Radio   ABOUT: Seeds And Their People is a radio show where we feature seed stories told by the people who truly love them. Hosted by Owen Taylor of Truelove Seeds and Chris Bolden-Newsome of Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden. trueloveseeds.com/blogs/satpradio   FIND OWEN HERE: Truelove Seeds Facebook  |  Instagram  |  Twitter   FIND CHRIS HERE: Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden   THANKS TO: Rachel Sayet and Sharon Maynard Elissa Fredeen of Scribe Video Center

There’s a whole world of history, culture, and personal connection tucked inside every seed packet, and that’s the world Seeds And Their People explores. This isn’t just a gardening show; it’s a series of conversations that dig into the rich soil of human experience. Hosts Owen Taylor of Truelove Seeds and Chris Bolden-Newsome of Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden sit down with growers, seed savers, and community elders to hear the stories that these living heirlooms carry with them. Each episode feels like a quiet chat on a back porch or in a garden row, where the talk inevitably turns to the seeds that have been passed down through families and communities. You’ll hear about the journey of a particular bean variety, the memories tied to a specific tomato, and the profound cultural resilience that keeping these seeds alive represents. The podcast moves beyond simple horticulture to touch on food sovereignty, ancestral knowledge, and the simple, powerful act of planting something with a story. It’s for anyone curious about where their food really comes from, not just geographically but historically and emotionally. Listening, you begin to understand that a seed is never just a seed-it’s a keeper of traditions, a spark of identity, and a quiet promise for the future, all held in the palm of your hand.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 40

Seeds And Their People
Podcast Episodes
EP. 25: Black Farming Vibes in the Delta: Three Wise Men [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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While visiting Greenville, Mississippi, we asked farmer and food justice elder Mama D (our mother, Ms. Demalda Newsome) to co-produce an episode about the farmers of the Delta. This is the first of multiple episodes abou…
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EP. 22: Gujarati Seeds and Flavors with Nital Vadalia-Kakadia [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:22:18
This episode features Nital Vadalia-Kakadia. Originally from the state of Gujarat in Western India, Nital has been fascinated by farming and food since she was a child on her family’s farm in India. These days, she tends…
EP. 21: Haiqal’s Garden - Indonesian vegetables in South Philly [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:15:31
In the first week of June 2023, I finally visited Haiqal's Garden in South Philadelphia to speak with Hani White and Syarif Syaifulloh about their beloved Indonesian food plants, food culture, and life stories. We met fi…
EP. 20: The Iraqi Seed Collective and Awafi Kitchen [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:27:54
In late February 2023, Annabel Rabiyah and Amanda Chin of the Iraqi Seed Collective visited the Truelove Seeds office to help fill the first packets of Iraqi Seed Collective seeds (Iraqi Reehan Basil, grown by Experiment…