Moosemeat and Marmalade co-host Art Napoleon foraging on Poundmaker Cree Nation (Submitted photo/Oliva Vanerwaal)

By Ian Roach

MOOSEMEAT AND MARMALADE

Popular TV show filmed episode on Poundmaker Cree Nation

Sep 29, 2022 | 12:59 PM

A show that explores Indigenous cooking and culture recently filmed an episode on Poundmaker Cree Nation.

The show called Moosemeat and Marmalade currently in season six is much more than a cooking show. It uses humour and the clash of cultures between the show’s co-hosts to educate and entertain. Art Napoleon is an experienced hunter and outdoor cook from Saulteau First Nations in British Columbia. Dan Hayes is a classically trained chef from London, England.

In the episode scheduled to air on Nov. 1, Napoleon and Hayes hunt, harvest, and cook a buffalo.

Napoleon says the show is eclectic. “It’s a food/travel show, with a bit of adventure, a bit of comedy, a bit of educational stuff going on where you get to learn about the culture of food and the clash of cultures.”

A lot of the humour in the show comes from the on-screen dynamic between the two hosts says Napoleon, adding that humour is a big part of Cree culture. “We’ve all been victims in one form or another of colonization. If we weren’t able to laugh at ourselves or laugh at our friends, we’d have a harder time getting through. To a lot of us, it was a survival mechanism.”

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Napoleon says humour is also a sign of respect. “If we don’t tease you, it means we don’t care enough about you to tease you.”

Poundmaker Cree Nation was key in organizing the buffalo hunt and providing support for the filming. The cast and crew enjoyed being in Saskatchewan. “We harvested a buffalo not far from Poundmaker, but they set it up. And we were up at the Poundmaker monument. You can’t go to that rez without going there. Paid our respects, and then we got the blessings of an elder who brought along his grandson who was also learning to hunt.”

Napoleon’s career path has taken many turns before he found a role as a television host. His other careers include being a musician, and chief of his home First Nation.

Napoleon has advice for Indigenous youth on finding a rewarding career. “It’s a cliché but you do have to be willing to work hard. You have to make decisions and take responsibility to commit to certain things. And once you do that, and do it in the right area because sometimes we get lost, we follow, we have the wrong pursuit and it is not really what our passion is. And it is not what we’re meant to do. And you’ll keep having struggles until you find the path that is yours.”

In the episode filmed on Poundmaker Cree Nation, Dan Hayes and Art Napoleon, along with the local hunters are successful in harvesting a buffalo. The co-hosts prepared enough buffalo meat for the show and the rest was given to Poundmaker to be distributed in the community.

The episode of Moosemeat and Marmalade featuring the buffalo hunt is scheduled to air Tuesday, November 1, on The Aboriginal Peoples’ Television Network.