- by Allison Billings

We follow Chef Zach Keeshig down a winding path into deep evergreens planted by human hands in strict rows long ago, the tops soaring past our sightlines overhead. We pick our way across a bed of fallen pine needles turned russet with time, punctuated by the stones of a labyrinth set into the forest floor. We continue through a portal of old windows that frame the next stage of the landscapes of Riverstone Retreat, located near Durham, Ontario. The forest breaks to green lawns circling lush perennial gardens and The Stone House, an eco lodge created from the fields and forests that surround the retreat.

The last stage of the walk to where we will be served the first course of nine brings the scent of woodsmoke and the sound of cicadas dancing in concert with the lazy trickle of the Sauble River as it meanders through the trees we find ourselves beneath again. A stone oven blazes behind Chef Keeshig and his interns, participants in the Indigenous Cuisine program he has designed and led for the past eight weeks with support from Elephant Thoughts. The Collingwood based charitable organization transforms education by marrying systems and resources to the ideas of people like Keeshig.

We begin with a series of amuse bouche, perfectly orchestrated creations that present the intense individuality of Chef Keeshig’s fusion of the forage to feast flavours of his Indigenous heritage with the farm to table ingredients of settler agriculture. The homemade butter that drips down my hand is sweetened with maple syrup made at Riverstone. The spring foraged pickles that bring bite and contrast to the lamb tartare flatbread were gathered by Keeshig. My favourite of these inventions is “A Memory from my Childhood”, wild herb cured rainbow trout glowing rich translucent pinks, a salty counterpoint to the cloud of fresh whipped cream and dill that greets your tongue first as you bite through to the smoke infused bannock.

Keeshig recounts how when he was young, his mother used to make traditional Ojibway bannock on the fire and wrap it round hotdogs and that he wanted to both preserve and transform that memory. He will do this throughout our Naagan experience; thread personal history with personal evolution, the history and culture of his people with that of gastronomy. He slips in and out of the language of a chef and that of the naturalist in ways that draw back the distinction we pretend exists between the things we eat and where they come from.

We experience the main courses in the lodge. We are a small group: Anne Finlay-Stewart of the owensoundhub.org, Jesse Wilkinson of Rrampt, Sonya Kerr of House of Kerrs and Philly Markowitz, Economic Development Officer, Local Food, County of Grey. The intimacy of this invited circle is by necessity, a reflection of the impact of COVID-19 on every facet of life. While small, this is not a group of individuals often at a loss for words and the conversation flows freely from politics to personal anecdotes to the cultural commentary that we are each able to speak to from the lens of the platforms we represent.

And yet, complete silence falls once the Ox Luxury & Scrap is served on turned hardwood plates whose deep burgundy tones amplify the colours threaded through the tenderloin sous vide with wild juniper, presented with braised tongue ravioli, roasted beet puree and turkey tail mushroom jus. We have all been mindfully attentive to these unfamiliar flavours throughout the courses, honouring Keeshig’s talent with the absolute presence necessary to savour these dishes. But still, these buttery soft mouthfuls permeated with wildness, earth, and decadence overwhelm us. I have never tasted anything better in my life.

Naagan is an exceptional dining experience but it is more than that. Beneath the camaraderie of the dining table and sensual pleasures of great food lies the reclamation of traditional Indigenous knowledge, an approach to ingredients (and therefore the land), that moves away from resource extraction to a celebration of what the earth provides in time and place. Some of Zach’s interns were drawn to the program from a starting point of interest in food service as a career but all are here because Indigenous Food Sovereignty is resistance to cultural assimilation.

The wounds of colonialism on Indigenous populations are deep and numerous, not the least of which is the strategic fracture of a people from its food sources. Early settlers gained place specific knowledge about what to harvest and when that kept them alive in return for stealing land and hunting rights, rupturing family and community systems and working to eradicate language integral to the passing on of generational knowledge, retaining self government and sustaining personal and community resiliency.

Chef Keeshig is from Chippewas of Nawash Unceded Nation/ Neyaashiinigmiing, as are three of his interns; Ruth Duncan, who now lives in Owen Sound, Kove Sartor, currently living in Port Elgin and Aubrey Urbshott, now based in Tara. Brenda Beardy- Henry is from Niisaachewan Anishinaabe Nation, ON and Muckpaloo Ipeelie is originally from Iqaluit, Nunavut. Ruth and Kove are the most vocal of the group and have been instrumental in the creation of the Indigenous Journey program, an online tool for educators designed by Indigenous Youth to correct curriculum deficiencies and errors that diminish the true and rightful place of Indigenous people in Canada’s history. These young women are not simply interns, but changemakers who will lead conversations that leave behind the western reduction of land to a thing to be used and propel an understanding of land as an entity intrinsic to Indigenous identity.

All of the elements of Naagan are extensions of Chef Keeshig himself, from his attention to detail through the hand woven baskets and paintings created in the program to the wood serving dishes created by master artisan Stephen Hogbin,to the food itself. Each facet is part of his worldview, his experiences, and interests. As such, the overriding sensibility is that of open curiosity and invitation, of a man drawn to experimentation and invention over pretension and definition.

Keeshig’s vision is inclusive, incorporating the flavours of small farm allies like Sweet Things From DeJong Acres Anita DeJong, whose lamb became the tartare or Hi-Berry Farm whose raspberries became a lavender sorbet counterpoint to an Ontario peach gel dessert, with the Georgian Bay whitefish being defended by Indigenous led Bagida-waad Alliance, and the purslane and wild herbs available to us all.

His vision begins and ends with the opportunities presented by season, field, forest, stream and lake, with respect and collaboration for all who also honour that bounty.

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Thank you to Chef Zach Keeshig and Lisa Farano of Elephant Thoughts for inviting Southampton Arts

For more information about Chef Zach Keeshig and to book a seat or small group for an upcoming Naagan experience, please follow him on FB and/or Instagram and DM

For more information about Riverstone Retreat

All events and bookings at Riverstone Retreat support educational programming for children around the world through Elephant Thoughts.

For Educators, a link to the Indigenous Journey program.

More about the Bagida-waad Alliance, Indigenous led science based monitoring of the Georgian Bay whitefish populations

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