RED ROCK, Okla. – With Thanksgiving upon us, here is a recipe to consider putting on your table this holiday courtesy of the Otoe-Missouria Tribe.
 
It is a recipe for sweet corn and pumpkin and you can find it served at most Otoe-Missouria social gatherings from fall through winter.
 
You will notice that the ingredient list is short. The basis of this recipe was created in a time when the Otoe-Missouria people were still confined to the reservation—first in Nebraska and then in Red Rock, OK—and food was scarce.
 
The diet of the people consisted of what they could grow and what they received as rations from the federal government. Rations periodically included corn, flour, salt, sugar, coffee and lard.

Rations were used as ingredients in this recipe and also as the ingredients of the ubiquitous frybread that so many people know today as a Native American food.
 
The food we eat always tells a history. We eat turkey because turkeys are indigenous to North America and pigs were a European import. Cranberries, pumpkin, corn, potatoes and, yes, chocolate are all indigenous to the New World too.
 
This year, when you sit down to a table of American history for Thanksgiving, include this recipe for a little Native American history too. Happy Thanksgiving!
 
Otoe-Missouria Pumpkin & Corn Recipe
By Linda Francis, Owl Clan
 
1 whole fresh pumpkin (you can also use canned pumpkin, but Linda recommends fresh)
1 bag dried sweet corn (can also use fresh)
Cinnamon—to taste
Sugar—to taste
 
Directions: Remove seeds and "guts" from pumpkin. Cut meat from rind. Cube pumpkin meat and place pumpkin in pot on stove. Cook until soft. Boil dried sweet corn. Corn is cooked when it is soft. Once cooled, combine cooked pumpkin and corn. Add cinnamon and sugar to taste. This amount varies depending on the size of your pumpkin and your preference. Add sugar slowly. You do not want to add too much sugar so that the flavor of the pumpkin is overwhelmed by sweetness. The combination should result in a gently sweet, pumpkin combination with a pleasant spice hint.
 
VARIATION: Marcella Harper, Bear Clan, recommends using brown sugar instead of white sugar and cinnamon.
Remember that our ancestors didn’t use measuring cups or measuring spoons. Learn to trust your own palette and experiment with the balance of flavors.