By Morgan Taylor, Reporter
MACY, Nebraska – Anthony Warrior is a citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and a chef of traditional foods.
Warrior currently lives in Macy, NE where he works at the Nebraska Indian Community College as well as owns his catering business called Warrior’s Palate.
Being chef, Warrior enjoys traveling around to different areas not only learning but also teaching traditional ways of cooking and eating.
“I cook traditional foods for many different nations,” Warrior said. “I’ve had the opportunity to travel across the United States and work for many tribes.”
Warrior has worked with tribes across Oklahoma all the way to New York.
“The whole thing of teaching as a chef you really have to show them ingredients are available in that area, which ones you can forage and educate people on the traditional ways of eating instead of all the preservatives and processed foods we have now,” Warrior said. “It definitely has it perks of being healthier and learning to make it in such a way that it is palatable.”
As a teacher, Warrior tries to incorporate nutrition into meal making. He claims he used nutritional and traditional cooking to fight off his diabetes.
According to Warrior, each tribal nation has somewhat of its own cuisine, which he has learned through his traveling experiences.
“The journey of corn from South America across the west and to where it is now, we have a lot of variations from what it once was,” Warrior said. “I will say that Mvskoke people have played a really big hand in making corn palatable to eat and we can utilize this nowadays. All the way across the nation, we have been able to find different remedies and different things to eat.”
When Warrior started cooking 25 years ago things were much different.
“We are bringing back a lot of items like beaver, beavertail and we have eaten a lot muskrat in the North,” Warrior said. “ We have been using stuff like gator in the south. Different regions have brought different experiences in life.”
Warrior gets his Creek heritage from his grandmother.
Some of his meal preparations include traditional game meats but does not beat making his favorite meal.
“I do a lot of traditional meats,” Warrior said. “A lot of deer, a lot of squirrel soups but one of the things I really enjoy making and what most from ceremonial grounds know me for is making sofke. Over the year’s I’ve never been able to perfect it but I’ve done my best. I personally really enjoy the traditional corn drink.”
Warrior claims that he even prepares Native American dishes for his family during the holidays.
“We just did what we refer to as blue bread which includes grapes and corn,” Warrior said. “We also had grape dumplings to add some sweetness to the meal. We do wild onions for the spring and for the fall we did some quail and pheasant. Last year we had cat tail soup.”
Warrior says for those interested in seeking recipes, the easiest way is to join a group on social media where they share those recipes with each other. He himself can be found on Facebook as Anthony Warrior for those with further questions on recipes or where to find groups.
A very interesting article. I have been diagnosed with heart failure and need more recipes that are not processed foods. I am part Cherokee and interested in their diets.