06/22/2026
Did You Know?
Indigenous Cuisine Is World-Class
In Owen Sound, Chef Zach Keeshig is helping change the way people understand Indigenous food.
His restaurant, Naagan, has been recognized by TIME as one of the World’s Greatest Places of 2026.
Naagan is an intimate 17-seat restaurant offering progressive Indigenous cuisine rooted in story, land, memory, technique, and relationship.
This matters.
Because Indigenous food is not a trend.
It is not a theme.
It is not something from the past.
It is knowledge.
It is culture.
It is science.
It is memory.
It is land-based learning.
It is relationship with water, plants, animals, seasons, fire, family, community, and place.
Chef Zach Keeshig, whose roots are in the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation, brings together Indigenous foodways and modern culinary technique to tell stories through ingredients.
Cedar.
Sweetgrass.
Freshwater fish.
Wild foods.
Foraged plants.
Local abundance.
Each course is not only a meal. It is a teaching.
It asks people to consider where food comes from, whose knowledge carries it, and what it means to eat in relationship with the land.
For too long, Indigenous cuisine has been overlooked, misunderstood, or reduced to a few familiar foods.
Naagan reminds us that Indigenous food is expansive, sophisticated, local, seasonal, innovative, and deeply rooted.
It belongs on the world stage.
And it also belongs exactly where it comes from.
On the land.
In community.
In story.
In language.
In the hands of Indigenous chefs, hunters, harvesters, fishers, growers, Elders, Knowledge Keepers, and families who have carried food knowledge across generations.
Recognition matters because representation matters.
When Indigenous excellence is seen, celebrated, and respected, it opens doors.
It challenges old assumptions.
It makes room for young people to imagine what is possible.
It reminds us that Indigenous Peoples are not only reclaiming what was taken.
They are creating what comes next.
Naagan is not just a restaurant.
It is a story of culture, creativity, resilience, and Indigenous knowledge served one course at a time.
Throughout National Indigenous History Month, Grandmother’s Voice is sharing reflections that centre Indigenous knowledge, lived experience, history, culture, wellness, and community connection. We invite you to join the conversation with kindness, curiosity, and respect. What do you wish more people knew? Share your thoughts in the comments, or add your voice through our community survey: https://forms.gle/WM6HSDRVhgqkAQuk8
