To me there’s a big difference between mass commercialization of American Indian foods and having more American Indian restaurants. I don’t think anyone thinks

To me there’s a big difference between mass commercialization of American Indian foods and having more American Indian restaurants. I don’t think anyone thinks having a “Panda Express but for Indian food instead of Chinese” is a good idea. But if there’s a demand for Indian food, or if someone can create that demand, it’s a great opportunity for Indians to go and create some successful restaurants. Of course, someone has to figure out what exactly it is you serve at those restaurants. There’s been some work to define that on the fine dining end, which ends up looking like creative dishes that use indigenous ingredients, and on the diner/dive end of things, which is pretty much fry bread tacos and chili. When it comes to that middle zone, it’s hard to define something that’s both authentic and has good marketing. You can make shit up and do something along the lines of Mitsitam’s chocolate seared wild boar (listed as being from the “northern woodlands”, a region where chocolate does not grow) or you can serve actual Indian food like fry bread tacos, which is just going to remind all your white patrons that Indians mostly live in ghettos with little access to healthy food. I think it’s going to take some smart chefs to create menus that both market well and have genuine ties to American Indian cultures. I think there’s also room for Indian-owned companies to dominate the cured meats market. Any Indian company in that space would have a great story to tell around their product. There’s no reason people should be buying Jack Links beef sticks and not what would essentially be the same product but with American Indian ownership and branding.