Smithsonian food exhibit opens in Fort Apache

"We Eat Corn," drawn by Julia Thomas between 1936 and 1941. The Aurelia Tossini Cibecue School Scrapbooks. Nohwike' Bágowa Museum.

"Girl with donkey and water jugs." The Walter Sanchez collection, Nohwike' Bágowa Museum. 

America by Food exhibit will be making its second to last stop in Fort Apache. The Nohwike' Bagowa Museum, White Mountain Apache Tribe will host this Smithsonian exhibit, opening this Saturday, May 7 through June 19.

Featured Community Event

Saturday, May 14

Ndee La Ade'/Gathering of the People 12th Annual Great Fort Apache Heritage Reunion will feature Apache foods, acorn stew tasting, food demonstrations, and other Key Ingredients activities, in addition to the Apache Song and Dance Celebration, Run/Walk, Fort Apache tours, and arts and crafts demonstrations.

Special Features

Wild and cultivated Apache plant foods, both historical and current
Traditional food gathering and preparation tools
Historic photographs of Apache foodways
An Apache "Food Pyramid" of traditional and indigenous foods
Demonstration programs on traditional foods such as telapi, a fermented beverage made from corn sprouts
Demonstration programs on Apache burden basket weaving and saddlebag making
A portion of the local exhibit will become a traveling educational trunk for use in local schools.

Host Organization

Nohwike' Bagowa Museum, White Mountain Apache Tribe, Fort Apache

Location: 127 Scout Road, Fort Apache
Website: www.fortapachearizona.org
Phone: 928-338-4625
Project Director: Karl Hoerig, Museum Director

Community Summary

Dago Te: Hello and Welcome from the White Mountain Apache Tribe. Our beautiful home abounds in tradition, wildlife, outdoor recreation, and resources unparalleled in the Southwest. Home to historic Fort Apache, the White Mountain Apache Reservation offers something for everyone!

The White Mountain Apache Tribe has around 15,000 members, and our tribal trust lands consist of over 2,600 square miles in east-central Arizona. We were placed here under the White Mountain by our Creator at the beginning. In this land our ancestors learned to be Ndee-The People-and we have learned from them.

The U.S Army began construction of the post that eventually became Fort Apache in 1870, in consultation with local Apache leaders to help keep the peace in this region. The army abandoned it in 1922, and the next year the site became the home of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Theodore Roosevelt Indian Boarding School. T.R. School continues today as a middle school, under the administration of the Tribal Council.

Established in 1969, Nohwike' Bagowa (House of Our Footprints) Museum serves as a repository for the Tribe's cultural heritage through the preservation and exhibition of oral histories, archival materials and objects of cultural, historical and artistic significance to the White Mountain Apache people.

Exhibition Dates and Hours

May 7 through June 19, 2011
Mondays through Saturdays: 8 AM to 5 PM
Sundays: 11 AM to 3 PM

Featured Community "Restaurants"

A local food tradition is the "Tailgate Café," every day at locations around the town of Whiteriver (4 miles north of Fort Apache) where community members sell frybread and beans, Apache dumplings, green chile burritos, and other local favorites from their truck tailgates or roadside tables. Occasionally Apache delicacies such as acorn stew and barbecued corn are available. Tasty food and great prices!

Featured Recipe

BEEF AND SQUASH STEW (Be'ilkan Bitoo')
Courtesy of the Nohwike' Bagowa (House of Our Footprints) Museum, the White Mountain Apache Tribe's center for cultural interpretation and heritage perpetuation.

2 pounds stew meat
6 or 7 small squash, any variety
1 cup ground acorn meal

Preparation
Boil the meat for one hour, then add halved squash and continue to boil for an additional 1/2 hour. Add the acorn meal right before serving. Use wooden or plastic spoons or forks, and fix the stew in an intact enamelware cooking pot. (If the pot has a chip or crack, the stew will turn a green color.) Serves 12.

Key Ingredient: Acorn Meal
Acorns were an important part of the Western Apache traditional diet, and even in recent decades families kept a container of acorn meal on the kitchen table to be used like salt and pepper. Gathered in the Fall from oak trees, acorns are a good source of protein, minerals, fiber, and complex carbohydrates, which help control blood sugar levels. Acorn stew, made with beef, squash, or homemade dumplings, continues to be considered a special food for many Apache people.