New in school: Indigenous cooking, Harry Potter as literature and rock 'n' roll

A maestro with theknife, Tamara Genaillechops her carrots with the deft touchof a seasoned veteran.

"This is gold," she said proudly, cradling diced carrots in her hand.

She's attendinga beginnerknife-skills classbecause the formercorrections officer envisions a new career for herself. A frequenter of the powwow circuit, the Winnipeg woman, who is a member ofRolling River First Nation, wants to go from powwow to powwow with a food truck.

"I haven't quite come up with my menu yet," she told a visitor. "It's only been three weeks." However, the menu is sure to include Indian tacos, soup,bannock and pickerelamong other delicacies.

For the first time, Red River College is offering a culinary skills program for Indigenous students such asGenaille. It adheres to the same curriculum of the college's existing culinary program, but with a focus on cultureandland-basedcurriculum.

The one-year certificate program is called Indigenous Culinary Skills.

"It's a concept that hasn't been explored," said Joseph Alex, a37-year-old cookwho is aneducational assistant withthe program. "There'snot a lot of Indigenous chefs out there. There's not a lot of Indigenous cooking. Thecuisine itself is unheard of."

TheWinnipeggersaid he's been challenged by other chefs whoquestionwhy he isn't cooking dishes customary to his culture.

Differentiating himself

However, Alexgrew up in a German-Mennonite home, and says the desire fortraditional Indigenous dishes hadn't caught on with diners until recently.

"Over the past year and a half, it's slowly come to me that I need to establish some kind of an identity as a chef," said Alex, who is a member ofOsoyoosIndian Band in British Columbia.

"Everyone can cook French food, right, but how many people can say they know how to cook a good piece of bison in Indigenous ways?"

DmitriSeymour-Merasty, 21, grew up in Winnipeg but spent time in Hollow Water First Nation. The up-and-coming chef has limited knowledge ofIndigenous cuisine, and says the local food scene wouldonly benefit from new perspectives.

"Nowadays, everybody is so out of touch with their culture. I feel likeI almost know nothing about mine," said Seymour-Merasty, who is often the only person of First Nations descent at kitchens where he's worked. "I'mvery excitedto start learning about all of our traditional teachings."

Michael Fitzhenry, culinary instructor at Red River College, says it's a challenge tocooktraditional Indigenous dishes when many of those recipeswere never put to paper. The instructorsare consulting with elders, residents and students to compile the recipes that were passed down throughgenerations.

"We're going to bring that together in kind of a collaborative exploration of what that cuisine looks like," he said.

Fitzhenrysays Indigenous foods have been overlooked on menus, but the interest is growing. Winnipeg's Feast Cafe Bistro is a byproductof that, he said.

Growing demand

"If we have people who have a little more knowledge of that cuisinecominginto the industry, opening more Indigenous restaurants," Fitzhenry said. "There'sgoing to get a lot more exposure."

Fourteen students are taking the pilot program this year, Alex says, adding he'sthrilled to be part of theresurgence of Indigenous cuisine.

"You see them right now, they're inspired," he said of the students."I'minspired by their aspirations and their willingness to learn to see how happy they are to be here.It's great."

Indigenous cooking program in Winnipeg focuses on culture and traditional recipes

6 years ago

Duration 2:15

Winnipeg's Red River College is offering a one year certificate program in Indigenous culinary skills, and collecting traditional recipes to teach its first 14 students.

Here's a look at some other new or revamped classes at post-secondary institutions across Manitoba:

Harry Potter

Booth University College (Winnipeg); three-part seminar planned for March, 2019

The study of literaturedoesn't have to be somesnobbyexercise.

It can take you to a childlike place whereyourprotagonist is a bespectacled boy-wizardwith a lightningbolt scrawledonhis forehead.

"I thinksome peoplehave thisidea that in literature classes, we only study highfalutin' literature or very highbrow literature, but that's not always true," said MichaelBoyce, who is helping createa seminar on the wildly popular Harry Potter series. "There are other ways to approach literature and the way in which it's become this cultural touchstone for people."

The magical world hatched by J.K. Rowling is ripe for scholarly discussion, he says. It's a jumping-off point to explorefascism, fandom and film adaptations.

The seminar will also examinehow theauthor flipped the conventional hero story on its head.

"It kind of challenges him in that heneeds his friends to succeed. He can't stand alone,"Boycesaid. "There's sometimes tension created becausehe thinks he needs to be alone."

Rock band workshop

AssiniboineCommunity College (Brandon); Nov. 17, 2018 - 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; $99 (plusGST)

In a matter of hours, BenMelnickwants toreinvigorate yourfading dreams ofrock stardom.

"I'm a bit of a mad scientist with music," saidMelnick, likeninghimself to Jack Black's character in the movieSchool of Rock, the substitute teacher who turned fourth-graders into rockers.

"Ireally like to get into positions where I can experiment with scenarios and see how peoplerespond," he said.

The Brandonmusic instructor says he will try to convey the spirit of rock 'n' roll in a single day. He'll offer brief demonstrations onhow to use standard instruments, delve into the song-writing process, and then help his studentsstart to makemusic.

"I want peopleto take a small journey with me and, at the end of it, Iwant them to have a better understanding of how hit songs were created in the past and now, and feel like they can do that, too," he said.

He feels that creatingmusic is perceived as aninsurmountable task, when he argues it isn't that difficult.Melnickthinks back to his childhood when his father gave him and his siblingsinstrumentsand, together, they would harmonize.

"I want to take a little piece of my life from that early time and Iwant tobring it to peoplenow and see if they can sort of embrace what I felt back then," he said.

"I want to show peoplejust how simple it is to make a song andcreate music together. Think about it less and enjoy it more."

History of Rock

Canadian Mennonite University (Winnipeg); Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8:30 a.m.

You can credit Rolling Stones guitaristKeith Richards with helpingstarta new university class in Winnipeg.

AnnaNekolarecallslistening to anaudiobookof Richards' 2010 memoirLife during a drive a number of years back.

"What I hadn't expected, and what I was really excited about, was how well he spoke about the importance of early blues to the establishment of rock 'n' roll in his own musicand rock in general,"Nekolasaid.

That ledthe professor, new to Canadian Mennonite University, to scrutinizethe defining music of the rockgenrethrough the decades, and how it's shaped musicians worldwide.

The class also strives to explore rock 'n' roll through a historical, cultural and social lens.

"This is more than just people with guitars," she said. "There's a lot of richness to the music."

Nekolasays the class is heldTuesdays and Thursdays, during the fall semester, at a "very non-rock 'n' roll 8:30 a.m."

Experiments in Indigenous art techniques

Brandon University (Brandon); Tuesdays at 5:30 p.m.

An Indigenous artist wants to convince her studentsthecraft she's practised for 20 years belongs to them as well.

"In Western society, the idea is that only artists can do art, butin Indigenous knowledge, that's not the case,"KC Adams said.

The new professor at Brandon University has taken her own approach to anexisting class.

For the first time, students have been taughtbirch bark bitingchomping on small pieces of folded birch bark to form intricate designs and they've scoured the land to find clay and wood metalthey would use for later creations.

Adams says the class is bringingIndigenous knowledge into the classroom.

"How do you destroy a culture? How do you destroy a people? You immediately attack their art and their culture," she said. "We've had a systematic approach, trying to destroy our culture, but this class is really about bringing that knowledge back."