Best in Show
Kake celebrates with wild food. In 2023, the community of Keex’Kwaan (Kake) hosted a Traditional Food Fair that brought community members together to share their best wild recipes. The Keex’Kwaan Dancers performed for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic, and everyone honored local lands and waters.
Attendees brought potluck dishes and submissions for a traditional food competition judged by a panel of elders and traditional harvesters with excellent taste. Edna Jackson, pictured, won Best In Show with her blueberry cloudberry cheesecake.
Starting with elders, community members received delicious traditional wild foods like deer and moose adobo, crab salad, fried halibut, herring egg salad, and Raven’s Delight prepared by chef Tony Abbott, helper John Williams Sr., and many volunteers. An endless supply of incredible fry bread was prepared and served by the Davis family.
The 2023 Keex’Kwaan Traditional Food Fair was hosted by the Organized Village of Kake and Ecotrust with support of the First Nations Development Institute, Sealaska, Edgerton Foundation, and the Sustainable Southeast Partnership. Many hands made the event a success, including the Kake basketball teams. Photo and description by Bethany Sonsini Goodrich.