“It’s learning to give back, to be helpful, to help those that are in need. That’s what I’m trying to teach them (Wilson Indian Community students), how to be a good person and help out wherever they can.” – Louise Roberts
HENRIETTA – Louise Roberts (Mvskoke) takes to heart the proverb, “If you give a man a fish, he will eat for a day. If you teach a man to fish, he will eat for a lifetime.” Roberts uses that belief to organize and teach the Wilson Indian Community Cooking Class. The class teaches students ages 10-14 how to prepare basic meals and traditional Mvskoke foods. The class prepared an Indian taco dinner for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Reintegration program (RIP) on Thursday, Feb. 19 and for the Murrow Indian Children’s home on Saturday, Feb. 21.
The dinner served two purposes: to serve others and to encourage students to make good career and personal choices. RIP clients like Tonya Osborne (Mvskoke) and Patrick Tims (Mvskoke) were able to sit down with students to share their testimonies. Osborne described the dinner as a blessing; Tim described it as heartwarming.
The dinner is one of the many ways the RIP program reintegrates clients back into society. It serves as a second chance for those transitioning from prison. The program also provides housing and helps clients find employment, like through the Fiber Optic Lineman Training Program. Osborne is one of the program’s newest alumni.
“The community has been really good to us. I would encourage everybody to go do the linemen classes because they are a great opportunity.” Osborne said.
In addition to the economic opportunities offered through the RIP program, Tims and Osborne agreed that events like the Indian Taco Dinner help them stay connected to their culture and their faith. According to Tims, spiritual faith and faith in himself are what give him strength and purpose.
“It creates a more stronger, intimate relationship with God,” Tims said. “We have activities and we have people come visit us every week but most importantly it’s about God and believing in ourselves.”
Wilson Cooking Class
The Wilson Cooking Class is a family affair for the Roberts’ family. Her daughter, Kim Morrison (Mvskoke), and her grandson also help with the class. For Roberts, the class is relatively new, having started about a year and a half ago. Originally, it was a way to teach community members of all ages how to cook for themselves. As time moved on, most adult members left due to their own personal responsibilities. However, Roberts remarked that the kids stuck around, eager to learn more. It became an ongoing event they looked forward to.
“I told these kids, ‘One day you’re going to be leaving home. You’re going to college, or you’re going to get married. I don’t want you all to get hungry. I want you to be able to learn how to make little, simple foods, even if it’s just a sandwich, to survive.’ Here, let’s learn how to cook, and they were eager to do it.” Roberts said.
From there, students learned how to make easy-to-make meals such as spaghetti, goulash, stew, and chili. Traditional foods included salt meat, wild onions, chicken and dumplings, pork and hominy, and grape dumplings.
Food safety is an essential skill taught in the cooking class. Students learn to use each cooking utensil responsibly and operate kitchen appliances. For kitchen safety, the class requires that students be over 10 years old. However, that does not stop younger children from wanting to participate. Roberts makes sure everyone feels included and assigns small, safe tasks to the younger kids, like baking cupcakes and preparing frybread.
At just under two years old, the Wilson Cooking Class has already accumulated accolades. They appeared in last year’s Johnson O’Malley’s 2nd Annual Cultural Cook-Off held during their Family Cultural Night. The Wilson Cooking Class took home first place for their traditional Mvskoke foods.
A Story behind every Food
Some foods, particularly traditional foods, are special to Roberts because she has a personal connection to them. Her grandmother, Lucy Roberts, was a full blood Mvskoke citizen and taught her how to make grape dumplings. She recounted stories of grape-hunting and wild onion-picking with her grandmother along creek banks. Sticks were used to pull down vine branches, and small shovels were used to pick onions.
“The ladies would dig it, the husbands would grab it, pull it, shake it, then they would come home and clean them, and you had a feast,” Louise Roberts said. “There was a lot of work to it. This is how my grandmother did it.”
Growing up in Louise Roberts’ childhood home, food mainly came from gathering and hunting. If you wanted a particular food like blackberries, peaches, or pecans, you had to wait for the right season. Louise Roberts recounted that everything was made by hand- nothing came out of a box.
One of Louise Roberts’ first lessons for the cooking class was on an Indigenous favorite: frybread. Although it is well-beloved today, Roberts made sure to share with her students its origin as a survival food for the
Navajo people. Roberts, like other Indigenous chefs, believes it is important for the unpleasant history of frybread to be passed down to the next generation.
“I told them the story about how it (frybread) came out of the Navajo Nation, in the camps, when they were held captive, and their rations were limited,” Roberts said. “They had to use what they had, so they came up with frybread That’s what they survived on.”
Roberts said the class is open to any student age 10 and over, even if they are not a Wilson Indian Community member. For those interested in learning more information about the class, contact Kim Morrison at 918-549-2864.
To learn more about RIP services, contact them by phone at 918-549-2620 or by email at reintegration@muscogeenation.com.
