Someday the startup of a local Indigenous-owned business, especially one serving Indigenous foods, will be more commonplace (we hope). And someday, it might not be a big deal that there are two such places launching this summer: Pow'Waw Food Truck in North Idaho and Indigenous Eats in Spokane.
Both are worth celebrating, especially since the celebratory gathering known as powwow is at the heart of both businesses.
Chef Shane Clark developed the Pow'Waw Food Truck with his wife, Megan Clark, a Coeur d'Alene Tribal member. The name is a variation of the word powwow (also spelled pow wow), a sacred gathering of North American Indigenous peoples featuring singing, feasting, dancing, games and more.
"Essentially [it] means spiritual leader, priest, something to that effect," says Clark, who is of the Turtle Mountain Band of the Chippewa Tribe.
Pow'Waw's menu reflects pre-colonial ways of eating, Clark says. That means no beef, pork or chicken, he says, nor dairy or processed sugar.
Instead, Clark uses small amounts of honey or maple syrup to sweeten things, including his frybread, a large disk of fluffy, crispy, fried dough often served at powwows.
The frybread is the least healthy thing on the menu, admits Clark, but he includes it because it's familiar to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous eaters, and it ties into powwows. As a healthful alternative, Clark offers toppings over frybread, but also over a bowl (add $2) of quinoa and wild rice, which Pow'Waw lists on the menu as manoomin in Ojibwa, the historical language of the Chippewa.
Otherwise, the menu is "accidentally healthy," says Clark, whose 15-plus years in the food industry include running the Coeur d'Alene Resort and Casino's former Chinook Steak, Pasta & Spirits restaurant and opening Honey Eatery & Social Club.
Order Pow'Waw frybread five different ways ($8-$14), like the vegetarian Three Sisters ($8), which combines seasonal squash, corn and beans — three plants often grown together. The namesake Pow'Waw frybread ($14) features smoked salmon, braised bison, dried cranberry and crispy manoomin.
All frybreads include a vegetarian relish combining the "three sisters," as well as poblano peppers, tomato and a simple vinaigrette. Also choose from three available sauces: avocado mint, honey and maple with Clark's proprietary savory spice blend, and chili wojapi, originally a Northern Plains' sauce typically using chokecherries, but now generically a semi-tart mixed berry chutney, to which Clark adds chiles.
Seasonal sides ($5) include charred squash with pumpkin seeds, baby corn with juniper and choice of sauce, and a two-bean salad with chilis and mushrooms.
Clark also makes a refreshing Pow'Waw tea ($3) featuring sumac, sassafras, sage and four additional herbs. For dessert, try the pumpkin chocolate bar ($5) with maple and sage.
Pow'Waw is currently parked at the Silver Lake Mall in Coeur d'Alene and is serving as a trial run for a larger, brick-and-mortar location, Clark says. This also lets him and his wife share their heritage with others.
"Food and deliciousness are first in my head, you know, but I also want the food to be able to be a bridge to the culture," Clark says. "The way I look at it is [Pow'Waw is] an introductory course to Native American cuisine."
Like Pow'Waw Food Truck, the Spokane restaurant Indigenous Eats features frybread with a side of cultural bridge building.
Jenny Slagle opened Indigenous Eats with husband Andrew, expanding on three years of experience running concessions during the Gathering at the Falls Pow Wow. Slagle scaled up her mother's frybread recipe for the new Logan neighborhood restaurant.
Currently, four proteins are available over frybread or long grain rice, or as a taco. The Rancher ($15) has ground beef, the Hunter ($17) ground bison, and the Farmer ($16) marinated chicken. The Gatherer ($13) is vegetarian, with a choice of beans.
Included in each entrée are beans — pinto, black or chili beans — plus Mexican cheese blend, chopped onion, lettuce, tomato, pickled jalapeño, sour cream and choice of sauces.
Like Clark is doing with Pow'Waw, Slagle also sees an opportunity to share Native American culture with others through Indigenous Eats.
"The thing that we want to offer here is not only the food and the experience of coming in and hearing the [powwow] music and hearing people laughing and seeing diverse customers, but also, I'm working to put up different things that provide some education," Slagle says.
For example, she plans to install a U.S. map of traditional tribal names in the restaurant. An existing neon sign noting that "No Reservations Needed" is a little bit tongue-in-cheek, says Slagle, who's a member of the Yakama Nation and a descendant of the Northern Arapaho Tribe.
"It's part of the native humor that I want to infuse," says Slagle, explaining that the sign also has a political component because, "As far as politics are concerned across the U.S., the Native voice and Native politics just aren't present, as present as they should be."
Slagle has spent a lifetime working in support of tribal health and well-being, including for Better Health Together where she was the director of tribal relations.
She's also three years into serving as a school board member for Spokane Public Schools, the first Native American woman elected to the position. The significance of that was brought home while touring one of Spokane's schools, Slagle says.
The kids were curious who she was, and the principal with whom she was walking replied, "That's my boss." There was some laughter at the time, says Slagle, who realized that many kids had never seen an Indigenous woman in a leadership role.
"It's a very humbling experience to now be in, you know, to be an entrepreneur and to be in a role that is representing possibilities for our Native youth." ♦
Pow'Waw Food Truck • 200 W. Hanley Ave., Coeur d'Alene • Open Tue-Sat noon-6:30 pm • facebook.com/powwawfoodtruck • 509-768-3007
Indigenous Eats • 829 E. Boone Ave. • Open daily 11 am-8 pm • iespokane.com • 509-850-9292
