b'FOOD & CULTUREand also learn about the histories andthought I had that I could sell, Smith- Its not just food, its a culture, a way of life, cultures of Indigenous peoples. Belghaba explains. I started cateringadds Smith-Belghaba. But they are ingre-different types of events, and it wasdients that you can apply in any way you Currently, First Peoples Coffee is avail- mostly roast beef, turkey dinners,want. I dont stick to one stringent standard able through various suppliers in thefamily-style meals. Then within a couplein cooking Indigenous foods. Its your own Yukon, including Midnight Sun Emporium,of months, Six Nations Health Servicesinspiration and how you utilize those [ingre-Northern Cultural Expressions, True Northand other organizations on the reservesdients that] represent who you are as an Company, Mayo Foods, UNORTHODOX,were asking me to make pre-contactindividual and what you share with others. and at the Whitehorse InternationalIndigenous foods. Thats what started Airport.Eventually,Naganowouldmy journey down that path.By the fall of 2019, Smith-Belghaba had like to make her products availableconnected with the CBC through a commu-acrossCanada. A member of the Mohawk Wolf Clannity event that needed an Indigenous chef. in southern Ontario, Smith-BelghabaThats where it started taking off, she says. I really want to get these into as manybegan reaching out to members ofI started getting a little bit more reach than stores as I can, because the more I canher community to learn as much as sheI had prior. It turned into public speaking, share this with the rest of Canada and thecould about traditional cooking for hercooking classes and developing recipes for world, the better place we will be in tonew catering company, Eshas Eats. Idifferent programs and organizations. Now have more understanding of where ourstarted doing a lot of research, reachingI do Indigenous culinary tourism consulting, Indigenous people are in this world. Weout to Elders, different communityworking with organizations in Toronto, and have beautiful stories to share. But wemembers and community organiza- that has turned into video production and also have truths. Part of this isnt abouttions. Thats how I got into pre-contactproducing my own content with different reconciliation for me, its about reconcili- Indigenous foods, she says. I learnedorganizations that hire me on a freelance action, and thats what Im doing. a lot working with different communitybasis. They give me a concept and I will CATERING TO INDIGENOUSmembers in Six Nations and outsidebuild out the episodes. CULTURES of Six Nations. Food brought me to For Aicha Smith-Belghaba, embracingIndigenous food sovereignty and mySmith-Belghaba also became an associate Indigenous cuisine has also taken her onculture, [which] I didnt know wereproducer for CBC Hamilton as part of the a path toward sharing Indigenous culturesmissing in my life. first cohort of CBCs Indigenous Pathways to with people across Canada. In her case,Journalism program. This served her well: the journey began in the kitchen, not aSmith-Belghabas approach was toa back injury meant shes had to recently coffee shop. Since the age of four, cookingblend aspects of her North African andreduce her catering work, but her career has always been one of her passions. Then,Indigenous roots to create new, inter- as a journalist specializing in Indigenous after taking a three-month trip to visit heresting dishes. My Dad is North African,food topics has blossomed. fathers family in Algeria and France inso North African, Mediterranean and 2018, cooking became her profession. French influence is very much in myFor CBC Hamilton, I recently did a segment food and how I like to eat, she says. Iwith This Week in Canada (TWIC) about I came home and started catering, and Ithen take that and apply pre-contacthow Indigenous food was weaponized. did that because that was the only skill IIndigenous ingredients. Its got a lot of Indigenous people from Six Nations who are experts, who talked about how our foods were weaponized against us as a tool of colonization, and [it] really brings about a better understanding of what food sovereignty is and why its still so important today, says Smith-Belghaba. Im so passionate about it [because] its so important to my peopleand its also important for the world to know.Smith-Belghaba looks forward to continuing to use her knowledge of food and her journalistic skillset to share the stories of Indigenous peoples. CBC gave me that opportunity to really develop those skills that I started in the kitchen, and to flourish . . in a different career path, she says. But Im not losing sight [of my goal to create] a better future for Indigenous people and non-Indigenous people, together. This has just given me another way to do that outside of food. 56A CCAB PUBLICATIONFall 2023'