Dana Lone Elk
Rez in the City
By Dana Lone Elk
LCT Columnist The other day two of my aunts posted their soup or that they made soup. It was hominy and hamburger with skillet bread. It made me wish so much, I had to make some. It reminds me of how much soup we eat as Lakota. Even when it is 100 degrees out a hot bowl of soup will still fill you up and make life better. We were raised that way by our grandmothers, grandfathers, parents. Grandmothers will make soup out of anything. Whatever ingredients there are, so when someone younger makes it it gets dubbed “Grandma Soup.” It’s not that we really have a certain recipe, just go with the flow of what ingredients you have. My Grandma Erna made the best potato soup with bacon, celery, onion, and a can of evaporated milk mixed in with the water. She would pepper it up good and feed a bunch of us. My Grandpa Rusty would make the best ham and bean soup with cornbread and honey butter. My Grandma Dod made noodle soup with beef, and my kids’ Grandma Pearl makes the best lima bean soup and frybread. My Uncle Jerry makes good menudo and he usually slings it downtown -- if you ever see him get a bowl. My Grandma Noreen’s taniga is the only taniga I will eat. My aunties make great grandma soup. My dad makes good soup too, he likes to cook it over a fire. My favorite is when he puts hubbard squash from his garden in his soup. One time I challenged him by saying he couldn’t make beans fast as I was making skillet bread, when I went to check on him he was tearing wood apart to make his fire hotter because he wanted to prove he could make beans by the time my bread was done. And he did. I love the fact that you can go downtown or basically anywhere on the reservation and buy a good cup or bowl of soup from someone who is selling their cooking to make money for their families. Not just soup but anything. I used to sell my eggrolls on the rez. But up here, even though I can get a pizza or burger delivered to my door, I can’t get those breakfast burritos, those popovers, an authentic Indian taco, or soup from the rez. So appreciate all that good cooking of those home cooks on the rez. Soup cooked outside over a fire is perfection, brings back good memories and has that smoky taste you can only get from cooking outside. We Lakota love our soup. It is not only for fall or winter, it is not only for special occasions. It is to feed our extended families and that feeds our souls knowing everyone ate. That is our connection with soup, even on a hot summer day. Find the award-winning Lakota Country Times on the Internet, Facebook and Twitter.
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