Revitalizing Haudenosaunee Food Culture, A Virtual Talk with Chef Tawnya Brant
Revitalizing Haudenosaunee Food Culture, A Virtual Talk with Chef Tawnya Brant
Please join the Ska•noñh-Great Law of Peace Center and the Erie Canal Museum on Tuesday, August 24, at 7:00 p.m. EST, for a virtual discussion with Mohawk Nation citizen Tawnya Brant. Tawnya is the Chef Owner of Yawékon Foods, which specializes in Haudenosaunee fusion cuisine.
Chef Tawnya grew up in her home community of Six Nations of the Grand River in a home without electricity or running water and had a large garden. Her mother Terrylynn is an avid gardener and her dad Richard is a lifelong hunter/fisher. She spent her foundational years with a kitchen filled with Indigenous harvests and wild game. Chef Tawnya has been working in the restaurant industry for 24 years, landing her first job as a line cook at a small café at age 12. She completed 2 years of culinary management at Fleming College and graduated from the Aboriginal Small Business Management program at Mohawk College. Chef Tawnya spent over a decade as a freelance support chef for opening prime franchise restaurants. After becoming a mother she switched her focus to Indigenous foods and catering, founding Yawékon Foods as a focus on Haudenosaunee culinary roots. Since 2014 she has traveled across North America sharing her cuisine.
The talk is a part of the Erie Eats Foodways Project and is a part of our collaborative series on Exploring Indigenous Foodways Along the Erie Canal. This series has received generous support from the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor, Indigenous Values Initiative, and the American Indian Law Alliance.
This talk will take place on Tuesday, August 24 at 7:00 p.m. EST. The event is free and open to the public. A donation of $5 or $10 would be welcomed and appreciated and would allow us to host more events like this in the future. Register here: