Choctaw-apache Foodways

Choctaw-Apache Foodways explores the rich and complex food history and culture of the Choctaw-Apache Community of Ebarb in western Louisiana.
The corn complex is an indispensable component of Choctaw-Apache food traditions. Corn was such an important part of the tribe’s culture that, according to Rhonda Remedies Gauthier, many families grew two seasons of corn every year.

Shuck Bread
by Arlene V. Rivers Wright, Ebarb, Louisiana
2 cups cornmeal (yellow or white)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. soda
Corn shucks (boil before using)

Mix cornmeal, soda, and salt with enough boiling water to make a very thick paste. Wrap in corn shucks like tamale and tie. Drop into deep pot of boiling water. Cover and cook for 40 minutes (or steam just like tamales until they are done).

ROBERT B. CALDWELL, JR. is is a PhD candidate in the Transatlantic History Program at the University of Texas at Arlington where he focuses on colonialism, imperialism, and cartographic history. He holds Bachelors of Arts in Anthropology and History from the University of New Orleans, a Masters of Science degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and a Masters of Arts degree in Heritage Resources from Northwestern State University. He is enrolled in the Choctaw-Apache Tribe of Ebarb and a founder of the Ho Minti Society, a group dedicated to teaching the tribe’s traditional culture.