24 NOVEMBER 2019
THE INTERVIEW JT: What does a
curandera do?
FCR: When someone
falls out of harmony and
balance, we bring them
back into it by working
with plants, body, mind,
and spirit. There are
different types of
curanderas based on
traditional ways of
healing and supporting
the body to heal.
JT: How do you
determine what a client
needs?
FCR: I sit with clients and
just listen for at least 45
minutes to an hour. I sit
with a notebook. Food
isn’t just nutrients.
JT: What is indigenous
foods activism?
FCR: We define what
native food is. It’s
everywhere. A lot of us
weren’t allowed to eat
those types of foods
because they were
considered poor people
food. The food we eat is
a lifeline back to our
ancestors. In the
Sonoran Desert, we have
one of the most edible
landscapes in the world.
People see it as brown
and lifeless, but the
plants hold so much
medicine.
JT: What do the elders in
your community teach
you?
FCR: They’re the
doorway to knowing
myself. I didn’t grow up
with many elders
around, so now, even if
they’re not my own
relations, they see an
inspired Native versus
doing Native-inspired
work. They’re happy to
share because if people
aren’t collecting the
information, it will go to
waste.
JT: What do you wish you
could tell all indigenous
home cooks?
FCR: They’ve been told
they aren’t important.
They’ve been shamed
for their weight and
other issues. I wish I
could say from the
beginning, “You are
worthy of learning how
to cook.”
JT: How do the people
you teach or treat find
you?
FCR: I am funded by
nonprofits and grants to
teach people on
reservations about our
foods. By “our” I mean
brown people indig-
enous to the Southwest.
I talk about food from a
non-trendy point of
view—no terms like
“superfoods.” I take
people back to a place
they badly want to go. I
also work with wellness
resorts. Sometimes it’s
working with their
menus, helping them
not appropriate their
food. They hire me as a
guest chef. I bring
stories. I also do private
cooking lessons. My
work as a curandera is
by referral. I’m a safe
space.
JT: November is Native
American Heritage
Month. How can readers
support these
communities?
FCR: If you live in the US,
you live in an indigenous
community. Know where
you’re standing. Find out
whose land you’re on.
Find out their names.
This interview has been
edited and condensed
for clarity.
“I COME FROM a place of ancestral wisdom,” says
Felicia Cocotzin Ruiz, an indigenous foods activist
and curandera—traditional healer—who has been
called the “godmother of the movement to decolo-
nize the kitchen.” Ruiz, who is based in Phoenix,
leads workshops, traditional ceremonies, and
private consultations and also works with some of
the world’s top-rated wellness resorts. In 1991, her
brother tested positive for HIV, and she massaged
his feet to offer comfort. He encouraged her to study
massage, which sparked her journey of learning and
sharing. Ruiz’s most valuable tool is the knowledge
and traditions of her Mexican and Tewa ancestors
and other elders through the Southwest. —INTERVIEW
BY JULIA TURSHEN, FOUNDER OF EQUITY AT THE TABLE
(EATT) AND AUTHOR OF NOW & AGAIN
Native Intelligence Felicia
Cocotzin Ruiz on indigenous
foods and finding balance
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photography by NICKY HEDAYATZADEH
