She sets down a steaming bowl of stew, paired with a round of pillowy fry bread. The dish features ingredients from the “Three Sisters” planting method – an Indigenous approach in which corn, beans and squash are grown together in a system that sustains the soil as well as the people who rely on it.
“This kind of growing is a big part of our culinary history,” she says. “We lost a lot of our foodways, and it takes work to reclaim them.”
A different journey along Route 66
Historically, the potential for Indigenous tourism along Route 66 has been overlooked. But that’s beginning to change. With a James Beard nomination to her name, Siegfried is helping bring her ancestral cuisine into the spotlight – and onto road-trip itineraries.
Route 66 isn’t just crazy road signs and nostalgia. It’s where Indigenous people are now telling our own stories – Sherry L Rupert
Drive the 2,448-mile (3940 km) route from the skyscrapers of Chicago to the Santa Monica Pier near Los Angeles, and you’ll soon encounter nods to Indigenous culture: a tepee-shaped curio shop; soaring concrete totem poles; carved wooden chief statues waving to passing cars.
But while these kitschy mid-century landmarks reference Indigenous imagery, they rarely centre the voices of the 25 tribal nations the route passes through. In response, a growing movement is seeking to correct these stereotypes and offer more authentic cultural experiences for travellers.
More than half of Route 66 passes through or alongside Native land.
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