Sacred Food Preparation "Ensuring Our Grandmothers Teachings are here with Us: Rites of Passage"

This first-of-its-kind program focuses on the Nation-wide preparation of sacred foods, wasná and campá,  (specially dried and prepared buffalo meat and ground/dried chokecherries), which are critical components of the sacred foods used in every Lakota ceremony. 

 

Although these teachings were once considered a foundation for womanhood, the changes brought into our communities by colonization changed this. We believe that the youth today are suffering as a result of not having appropriate mentorship opportunities or the firm cultural foundation and community support necessary to overcome adversity. Activities such as the “Ensuring Our Grandmothers’ Teachings are Here with Us” Rites of Passage sacred food preparation project can help to reestablish what was taken from our communities.

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During these special meetings, elder women and "master teachers" gather with young women to learn and share the protocol, ceremony, and logistical techniques of making these foods. For many of the women and girls present, these gatherings are their first introduction to the art of preparing these most sacred foods.