Growing up in Toronto, my knowledge of Indigenous communities was limited to a few days of history class. In textbooks, the descriptions of the past were suspect, haloed with a now-familiar “White savior” rhetoric.

Canada’s Indigenous people have been attempting to reclaim their culture from the church and government for almost two centuries. The atrocities they faced range from Europeans usurping land to the forced removal of children from their homes to abusive residential schools.

Within the past few years, there has been a focus on reconciliation: land acknowledgments, improving education within Indigenous communities and an increase of Indigenous-led tourism, much of which focuses on food.

‘This is not a trend’: Native American chefs resist the ‘Columbusing’ of Indigenous foods

Paul Natrall of the Squamish Nation is one of the people leading the Indigenous movement for culinary tourism. He is a chef, restaurant owner, TV presenter and part of the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada. He is also the British Columbia representative for Indigenous Culinary of Associated Nations, a chef-led organization that focuses on using food to influence Canada’s relationship with native culture.

At this year’s Cooks Camp, an annual celebration of Canadian cuisine organized by cooks, for cooks, Natrall hosted a special event that blended traditional Indigenous foods with European techniques. As he sees it, food is the perfect catalyst for people to connect and heal.

“Growing up, the kitchen was a place of bonding,” Natrall said with a smile. “Food was medicine and the time [together as a family] was nourishment.”

He fondly reflected on the traditional cooking methods he learned from his grandmother: how he wind-dried salmon, roasted beets in the earth and grilled mussels pulled right from the sea. He felt a sense of pride, love and belonging when they cooked side by side. Unfortunately, these hunting, gathering and cooking practices were largely discouraged by a government that aimed to eliminate Indigenous culture nationwide.

“It’s important to keep our food culture alive,” he says. “In any city you can get so many styles of food: Chinese, Thai, Italian … but you never get Indigenous food. These traditional [cooking] methods have been around for thousands of years, and we need to showcase it — revive it — show the world our culture. We are finally starting to see more of that.”

Through educational meals and outdoor activities that involve traditional methods of gathering, preparing and cooking food, Canada’s Indigenous community offers tourists a way to better understand and connect with their culture.