Part of the series: “Exploring Edmonton’s Culinary Landscape: A Journey Through Food, Culture, and Sustainability”

Key Takeaways

Edmonton is located on Treaty 6 territory, home to diverse Indigenous Nations whose food cultures are rooted in the land.
Indigenous foodways in this region include bison, bannock, wild berries, fish, and foraged plants—many of which are being revitalized today.
Métis, Cree, Dene, and Nakoda communities have distinct but overlapping food traditions grounded in ancestral cooking methods and sustainable practices.
Modern Indigenous chefs and organizations in Edmonton are leading a resurgence of First Nations traditional foods through community meals, catering, education, and activism.
Reconnecting with Indigenous recipes is part of a broader cultural reclamation and healing process, central to building sustainable, just food systems in Canada.

→ Treaty 6 Territory: Honouring Place and People
→ Traditional Food Systems of the Plains and Parkland
→ Métis Food Traditions and Culinary Adaptation
→ Foraging, Fishing, and Seasonal Rhythms
→ Reviving Indigenous Foodways in Edmonton
→ From Community to Kitchen: Indigenous Food Leaders Today
→ Food as Resistance, Food as Healing

Treaty 6 Territory: Honouring Place and People

Edmonton rests on Treaty 6 territory, the traditional lands of the Néhiyaw (Cree), Niitsitapi (Blackfoot), Métis, Nakoda (Stoney), Dene, Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), and Anishinaabe (Ojibway/Saulteaux) peoples. This place is not just a backdrop for food—it is a living landscape of knowledge, culture, and memory.

To speak of food here is to speak of relationships: to land, to animals, to water, and to one another. Indigenous foodways in this region reflect a culinary heritage of Canada that predates colonization by thousands of years.

Food was (and remains) inseparable from ceremony, sustainability, and survival. Understanding Edmonton’s Indigenous recipes and food history means honouring the knowledge systems that continue to shape them.

Traditional Food Systems of the Plains and Parkland

This region, where prairie meets boreal forest, provided a rich seasonal diet long before settler agriculture. The Néhiyaw (Cree) and Nakoda peoples relied on bison as a primary food source, along with elk, deer, rabbit, and fish. Berries, wild roots, and medicinal plants were gathered throughout the growing season and preserved for winter.

Bison was more than a protein source—it was foundational to spiritual and social life. Every part of the animal was used, in keeping with zero waste cooking traditions. The meat was roasted, boiled, dried into jerky, or pounded into pemmican, often mixed with fat and dried Saskatoon berries. Bones became tools; hides became shelter or clothing.

These systems represent some of the most sustainable food practices in North American history. They were dynamic, relational, and deeply attuned to the cycles of the land.

Métis Food Traditions and Culinary Adaptation

The Métis Nation, with deep roots across the Edmonton region, developed a unique culinary culture that bridges Indigenous and European influences. Often referred to as the “original fusion cuisine,” traditional Métis recipes include bison stew, wild rice, berry preserves, bannock, and fried fish—prepared using both Indigenous and settler tools and methods.

The Métis diet reflected mobility, trade, and resilience. It also included introduced ingredients like flour, sugar, and salt, which were used creatively in recipes like berry jam, galette, and rubaboo, a thick stew made with meat, root vegetables, and sometimes grains or legumes.

Food in Métis homes was often shared communally, with large gatherings built around seasonal cycles of hunting, foraging, and celebration. This adaptability became a strength during periods of displacement and marginalization.

Today, Métis food culture is being actively revitalized by families, educators, and chefs in Edmonton who are preserving recipes while also speaking openly about historical trauma and survival.

Foraging, Fishing, and Seasonal Rhythms

Much of what we call seasonal eating today draws on the original practices of Indigenous Peoples in this region. Foraging in Canada, especially in the plains and boreal transition zones, has long included:

Wild berries: Saskatoons, chokecherries, cranberries, rose hips
Edible plants: Fireweed, wild mint, lamb’s quarters, cattail shoots
Roots and tubers: Wild onions, prairie turnip (psoralea esculenta)
Medicinal plants: Sweetgrass, sage, yarrow, Labrador tea

Fishing was also central. Northern pike, whitefish, and walleye were smoked, roasted, or dried for winter. In Métis and Cree households, fish often accompanied bannock or soup, forming the basis of a nourishing, low-waste diet.

These practices reflect ancestral cooking methods—intuitive, ecological, and deeply place-based. Reviving them isn’t about nostalgia; it’s about reconnecting to land-based knowledge.

Reviving Indigenous Foodways in Edmonton

In recent years, there has been a powerful resurgence of Indigenous recipes in Canada, including right here in Edmonton. This movement is led by Indigenous chefs, knowledge keepers, educators, and urban community leaders who are reclaiming and sharing food traditions once suppressed or nearly lost due to colonial policies.

Local initiatives include:

Pei Pei Chei Ow – A catering company and educational platform led by Chef Scott Iserhoff (Mushkegowuk Cree), specializing in dishes grounded in ceremony, land, and story.
Indigenous Birth of Alberta’s food sovereignty project – Supporting culturally appropriate food access for Indigenous families and integrating traditional ingredients in community meals.
Ile-A-La-Crosse Dry Meat Camp (U of A collaboration) – A land-based education project preserving traditional preservation methods like drying, smoking, and rendering.

These projects show that sustainable cooking in Canada cannot be separated from Indigenous leadership and sovereignty.

From Community to Kitchen: Indigenous Food Leaders Today

Edmonton is home to a new generation of Indigenous chefs, dietitians, and food advocates who are making space for climate-conscious recipes rooted in cultural identity. Some work in restaurants or catering, others in health programs, food banks, schools, or ceremony.

Common threads include:

Prioritizing local and wild foods over imported goods
Teaching low-waste kitchen tips that draw from traditional knowledge
Encouraging food as a source of cultural healing, not just nutrition
Challenging the industrial food system through land-based education

In Edmonton, several Indigenous-owned or Indigenous-focused food businesses are actively reviving and celebrating traditional foodways:

Bernadette’s — Co-founded by Mushkegowuk Cree chef Scott Iserhoff, Bernadette’s is the first full-service Indigenous restaurant in Edmonton. Located on 104 Street, it features seasonal dishes rooted in land-based knowledge—like bison tartare, bannock, and Saskatoon berry tart—served in an intimate, storytelling-driven space that blends tradition with fine dining.
Tee Pee Treats Indigenous Cuisine — A 100% Indigenous-owned takeout venture specializing in bannock-forward comfort food. From bannock tacos to baked bannock desserts, Tee Pee Treats celebrates both traditional ingredients and contemporary innovation. The business operates through delivery, pop-ups, and event catering, building awareness and access one dish at a time.
Homefire Grill — While not exclusively Indigenous-owned, Homefire Grill offers a menu inspired by First Nations cooking traditions, including open-flame meats, wild game, and berry compotes. It’s a popular west-end dining spot that acknowledges the cultural roots of its offerings through decor and menu design.

These spaces serve more than meals—they offer cultural continuity, education, and a tangible connection to the land and Nations whose food traditions shaped this region.

Food as Resistance, Food as Healing

Colonialism disrupted traditional food systems through land theft, residential schools, and imposed rations. But despite immense loss, Indigenous foodways have survived—and are now flourishing again.

For many, cooking and sharing food is an act of resistance, restoring what was meant to be erased. It is also a means of healing, both personal and collective.

As Edmonton reckons with its past and reimagines its future, listening to Indigenous voices in the kitchen is essential. The flavours of this place—from smoked whitefish to chokecherry syrup—tell stories older than the city itself.