My name is Pitāēpanuhkiw Lucy Grignon. I am an enrolled member of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Nation and a direct descendant of the Menominee Nation. Muh-he-con-ne-ok being of the People of the Waters that are never still, and Menominee being of the Ancient movers. I am a passionate community taught chef, storyteller, educator, teacher, Momma, photographer, artist, writer, doula, and advocate for my community and the world around me. I am developing my relationship with Grandmother Earth. My family tends our garden called Ancient Roots in Bowler, Wisconsin. We research traditional gardening practices from our ancestors dating back to ages ago to the present day. We use a combination of their methods to learn, preserve, grow, seed save, reconnect, and share. We are working to reconnect to our cultural inheritance through the land, plants, medicines, and wildlife. I recognize my connections to my Indigenous roots come in many forms, from our language journey to the stories of our elders, our people, and our healing.
My heart work includes connecting my community to ancestral knowledge of our Indigenous ways of life including our Indigenous Food Systems. I love to focus on traditional teachings, language, storytelling, gardening, seed saving, food preserving, writing, documenting, educational hands-on workshops, photography, recipe creation, cooking, and more. In my daily work, I am thinking of what our seven generations have done before us and how we will leave it for the next seven generations after us. I enjoy bringing my classroom into my community and getting Indigenous ingredients in the hands of our people. I think of my ancestors every single day in the work that I tend. Emotional, Spiritual, and Physical support is needed now more than ever.
How do we, as Indigenous people, reconnect to our traditional food and education systems which have been practiced for thousands of years? It is a connection, but also a reconnection, which is VERY needed in our communities right now. There is a lot of work to be done and I am very committed to helping. The journey is just beginning.
"I want to help inspire and motivate others to live with the land, grow our own first foods, and connect to our mother Earth."
Storytelling Community Cookbook & Community Workshops—
Growing up, I spent a lot of time in the kitchen with my Mom, where we felt very joyful. I remember everyone smiling and happy when she would start up the stove or oven. I can still remember her taking the time to hand write her favorite recipes out onto paper. Quickly, the house would smell of her delicious Indigenous food creations. The meals that came out of her kitchen were attached to memories of her childhood, stories, love, memory, teaching, and laughter.
Today, spending time in my own kitchen, workshops in my community, learning, and teaching, brings me right back to those special moments shared with my Mom. Moments that mean the world, to treasure always. To me, educating my community- of Indigenous foods, means I am inviting my ancestors in and calling upon them to be with me in spirit as I share those important teachings. The connections we make over food, stories, and love— stay in my memory and heart forever. I want to motivate and inspire others to do the same, in their own way, while continuing to be a positive role model in my community and beyond.
The storytelling cookbook project aims to bring the feelings and emotions to the surface, much like walking into the kitchen and smelling my mom’s fresh hull corn soup made with nanpun to pair…the kind of smell that brings you right back to those special moments.
There are so many amazing people in our community. I love bringing people together to share stories, foods, laughter, and knowledge. Creating safe spaces for everyone to gather and showcase knowledge, pictures, foods, ingredients, seeds, stories, history, and recipes. These stories need a place to be shared and remembered. Sharing is good for the soul and very healing for the body, mind, and spirit. We share these moments, so they are never forgotten, and passed down for the future generations to come. To learn from, connect, and reconnect. As we take time to heal ourselves, the people around us heal. We heal for our ancestors who have come before us and the ancestors who will come after us.
I am following in your footsteps and following all of your wildest dreams. This is for you, Momma Bear.
For the past few years I have been doing Community Impact Workshops for our Stockbridge and Menominee Tribal Communities. We have been focusing on Indigenous foods, Seasons of Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter, recipe creation, memories, and stories from our local families. We dive into the rich histories of food stories, flavors, scents, and more. Some of our workshops have included: Wild Rice, Maple Syrup, Blue Corn Muffins, Winter Squash Granola, Dehydrated Strawberry Top Tea—just to name a few. Many people have talked about the deep community impact. Our workshops are for everyone—babies, elders and everyone in between.
Our Ancestors taught us that there are memories in our meals. There is magic in our cooking. There is culture in our food.
