Reservations

I left dazzled by Westerman (I’m hardly the first — his charisma must have something to do with his success in Hollywood — but if the man told me to follow him into a sea of swarming locusts, I’d gladly do so), yet uneasy about Banks.

Once home, I told my husband the story. He and I had ridden our motorcycle through Pine Ridge and Rosebud just the month before, stopping in reservation towns along the way. There’d been some progress since my trip in 2005: a real grocery with canned fruit, milk, boxed macaroni and cheese — even a tiny coffeehouse with Wi-Fi in the city of Pine Ridge itself.

“How many people does Dennis Banks employ?” John asked me. “He’s not harvesting 15,000 pounds of wild rice all on his own.”

The following day, I met with my food-writing counterpart, Jeremy Iggers — as knowledgeable a food man as I know, and an ethicist to boot. I told him the story, and he asked the same question. “Sure, their ideal diet would be wild rice and game and berries. But you can buy a lot of lettuce and milk with the money from selling off your native foods.”

I called Banks the following day to ask how many people work for Dennis Banks Natural Foods. “Just four of us full-time,” he said and paused. “But about 60 during the riceing season. And at least eight during sugar bush time, which lasts three months.”

“And the land?” I asked. “Is it yours?”

“Oh, no.” He cleared his throat. “We have maybe 30-40 Leech Lake families involved. We’re buying the wild rice from them. This is a tribal business, for the whole reservation.” He waited a beat. “Anything else?”

I said no, but thank you for everything, breathed a silent apology, and hung up the phone.