Wikipedia

Loretta Barrett Oden

Loretta Barrett Oden is a Native American chef, Native foods historian, food writer, and television show host. She is an enrolled citizen of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation.[1] She wrote and hosted the PBS series Seasoned With Spirit: A Native Cook's Journey. Oden writes a column, Spirit of the Harvest, for Native Peoples Magazine.

Loretta Barrett Oden
Born
Shawnee, Oklahoma, U.S.
CitizenshipCitizen Potawatomi Nation,[1] American
OccupationsChef, Native foods historian, writer, television show host
Known forIndigenous food sovereignty
Notable workCorn Dance: Inspired First American Cuisine[1]
AwardsNew England Emmy

Early life

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Oden was born in Shawnee, Oklahoma.[2] She is a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation.[3][4]

Career

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Oden spent three years traveling around the United States learning recipes from many different Native American tribes.[5]

In the early 1990s, when she was 50 years old,[6] Oden opened a restaurant, Corn Dance Café in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with her son Clayton. The dishes were inspired by the many tribal traditions she learned in her travels.[5] The restaurant closed in 2003.[7]

She returned to Oklahoma in 2003.[6]

Oden is a Native foods historian, food writer, and television show host.[8] She is the chef consultant of the First Americans Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, including 39 Restaurant which opened in 2021.[9][10] She is working with AARP on an elder meals program, Native Origins.[11]

Oden wrote and hosted the PBS series Seasoned With Spirit: A Native Cook's Journey for which she won a New England Emmy.[12]

She is a founding council member of the not-for-profit organization, Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance, for the food security of Native peoples; that they can continue to produce their own food in traditional ways.[11]

Oden writes a column, Spirit of the Harvest, for Native Peoples Magazine.[2]

In 2023, her cookbook, Corn Dance: Inspired First American Cuisine, was published.[13]

Other Indigenous chefs, including Sean Sherman (Lakota) and Crystal Wahpepah (Kickapoo), cite Oden as a teacher and role model.[14]

Personal life

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Oden was first married to Jerry Vandegrift, whose father started Van's Pig Stand,[6] Oklahoma’s oldest single family owned barbecue restaurant.[15]

She has two sons and two stepdaughters from her second marriage.[6]

References

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  1. 1 2 3 Horton, Greg. "Indigenous Inspiration: Loretta Oden's "Corn Dance"". Luxiere. No. 44. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
  2. 1 2 "Cheyenne River Will Learn to Eat Like the Ancestors With Chef Loretta Barrett Oden". Indian Country Today. 13 September 2018. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
  3. ↑ "Fry Bread, Casinos and Mexican Cuisine: Native American Food in California". LA Weekly. November 21, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Native American chef shares indigenous culinary traditions". www.jsonline.com.
  5. 1 2 King, Lesley (21 June 1995). "At the Nation's Table: Santa Fe, N.M.; Serving Indian Dishes with Ritual and Flair". The New York Times.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Loretta Oden: Native Tastes". 27 March 2019.
  7. ↑ "Meet the matriarch of Native cooking, who inspired Owamni chef Sean Sherman". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on 2023-10-20. Retrieved 2026-01-11.
  8. ↑ Dowell, Sharon (15 November 2006). "Tradition rules Thanksgiving meal Chef to use regional, seasonal ingredients". The Oklahoman. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
  9. ↑ "'So it's kind of my way of teaching a history lesson,' How one Oklahoma woman uses Native American cuisine to educate others on the diversity of tribes". November 25, 2021.
  10. ↑ "Restaurant Spotlight: Thirty Nine at the First Americans Museum in Oklahoma City".
  11. 1 2 "Cultural Cooking: Acclaimed Potawatomi Chef Loretta Barrett Oden Finds Inspiration in Her Roots". Citizen Potawatomi Nation. 20 November 2017. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
  12. ↑ "Loretta Barrett Oden's spirited journey on PBS". Oklahoman.com. 2007-08-08. Retrieved 2021-11-25.
  13. ↑ "Corn Dance". University of Oklahoma Press. Retrieved 2026-01-11.
  14. ↑ Cabe, Caroline (2024-08-26). "Corn Dance: Loretta Barrett Oden's Inspired First American Cuisine". Cowboys and Indians Magazine. Retrieved 2026-01-11.
  15. ↑ "Business: Van's Pig Stand celebrates 91 years of barbecue".
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