Pashofa

Chickasaw Culture Keepers

For Gina Brown, pashofa is more than a dish, it's a treasured recipe, passed down from generation to generation of Chickasaw families. Made from cracked corn, or hominy, and stewed pork, pashofa has been enjoyed by the Chickasaw people for centuries. "I just remember getting up on Sunday mornings and the pashofa would be cooking," she explains. "It was one of our main staples growing up." Gina first began cooking pashofa when her father passed away in 1994. "We were trying to get food together and one of the main courses that we always have at our Chickasaw funerals is pashofa. Nobody had volunteered or was bringing pashofa so I took it upon myself to make it. It turned out pretty good and everyone ate it up." Gina's children also grew up eating pashofa and wild onions, and learned at an early age that the Chickasaw people have traditional foods that their ancestors brought from the Homeland to Oklahoma. "They are able to go out and teach other Chickasaw children how to look for wild onions or how to cook pashofa," she says. "And passing on these recipes is a good way to know that they are Chickasaw, they know where they come from, and I believe that it will continue to be passed down from generation to generation."

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