For us as O’odham, food can hold so many different things. It can remind us of home, family, the land, a certain season, or a memory with someone we love. It can be something we grew up with, something we are still learning about, or something we are finding our way back to. Our relationships with these foods are personal, and they are not going to look the same for everyone.
That is something I really wanted this zine to make space for.
The people featured in these pages each have their own relationship with traditional foods. Some of their stories come from harvesting, preparing, or eating these foods, while others come from memories and teachings that have stayed with them over time. They chose to share these moments because, in one way or another, these foods have meant something to them.
Our relationships with traditional foods are shaped by our own experiences, families, memories, and the places we come from. The stories shared here reflect those different connections and remind us that each person carries their own understanding of what these foods mean to them.
I hope you read them with care and with an open mind. More than anything, I hope you come away understanding that our foods carry stories. They connect us to our land, our families, our communities, and to one another. And as our lives continue to change, so can the ways we carry those relationships forward.
I am thankful to each person who trusted me with a piece of their story, and I hope you enjoy getting to know them through these pages as much as I did.
-Trinity Norris, Writer