Food is Medicine

The fall season means a time for new beginnings. Countless on-campus events have already taken place throughout the semester for Indigenous Students at Syracuse (ISAS), from guest speakers like Robin Kimmerer (author of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants), to committee workshops for Indigenous Peoples Day on October 14. With more than 50 students on the Haudenosaunee Promise Scholarship -- a program created to facilitate Syracuse University’s relationship with the historical, political, and cultural legacies of the Haudenosaunee -- those on the pre-med track at S.U. had an opportunity this past weekend to explore what Upstate Medical University offers for native students.

Upstate Medical University held their second-annual Pre-Admissions Workshop for Native American students interested in pursuing medical school and future careers in health care from October 3 to 5. The Association of American Medical Colleges report that of 19,553 medical school graduates in 2019, merely 21 identified as Native American. With 26 students attending the weekend workshop, a main focus of the event centered around welcoming each student and making everyone feel as though their identity could still be upheld while attending the prestigious University.

So how did Brian Thompson, Assistant Dean of Diversity at Upstate Medical University and proud member of the Oneida Nation, go about creating a sense of community for interested native students from across the country? The recipe for success on night one included native food, and a lot of it.

Photo of colored corn, a staple in many native dishes today.

The implementation of Indigenous foods plays a large role in various native nations, including the Haudenosaunee. The Oneida Nation, a community within the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, shared a flyer on Facebook that announced a potluck dinner and social dance on Friday night in accordance to welcoming the 26 visitors. The event included traditional foods like buffalo stew, corn soup, corn bread, and strawberry drink. As a hungry college student with a career path that does not specifically coincide with health care, I decided to join a group of students from ISAS and took an hour-long car ride to the Oneida Nation on Friday night.

Upon arriving to the community event held at the nations’ cookhouse -- a Haudenosaunee space in which food is prepared for various events and ceremonies -- I was astounded by the blend of people that attended that night. Elders, parents, teens and children combined with the wide presence of university students, allowed visitors in the program to experience a support system from a neighboring community first-hand.

The traditional foods offered in such large quantity derived from Brian Thompson’s wife, Matilda Thompson. Her leadership skills illuminated through the addition of Navajo blue corn mush and tamales, and in doing so, shared her own cultural knowledge with Oneida Nation members helping with the cooking process that night. These additional food items were not included on the flyer, but nevertheless seemed to be the pinnacle of excitement from Haudenosaunee members and Pre-Admission Workshop students alike, as blue corn mush differs greatly from Iroquois white corn

Youtube video via KJZZ Phoenix that gives a step-by-step tutorial of Navajo blue corn mush.

The line began at the door, and laughter filled the air as everyone waited to fill a plate and visit as they enjoyed their meals. I found a sort of cultural exchange happening, as S.U. students were able to mix and mingle with native people from Arizona to Alaska, sharing interests and stories as we sat, ate and visited throughout the night. The efforts made by the Thompson family, through combining native values with food, reflected the entire mission of the Pre-Admissions Workshop for Indigenous students: community will always be available, no matter how out of place one might initially feel.