Cultivating Community Newsletter- 'Setting a Place for You at the Table'

[Amanda Shankland]

Good day,

I am writing today to share the November edition of my monthly newsletter, in honour of El día de los muertos and Allhallows. The Cultivating Community newsletter provides commentary on how community-centred thinking and action can drive sustainable environmental and food movements forward.

For those who don’t know me well, I am a writer, consultant, and educator specializing in environmental water policy, sustainable agriculture, and food systems. I live in the traditional territory of the Algonquin-Anishinaabe in what is now called Ottawa. I hold a Doctor of Philosophy from Carleton University and am an adjunct professor at Carleton University and the University of Ottawa. I am also a freelance consultant and editor offering guidance on agricultural and environmental priorities. Please feel free to contact me if you would like to retain my services.

I am committed to efforts towards decolonizing our food system and the affirmation of traditional knowledge of foodways. I seek to advance a notion of community that includes all plants, insects, animals, and people.

I hope you enjoy this short article. Please share with your networks, and you can also subscribe to my newsletter on Linkedin here. Thank you for supporting my work!

Best regards,

Amanda Shankland Ph.D.

Ofrenda 

'Setting a Place for You at the Table'

Frank Sinatra took a pack of cigarettes, a lighter, and a bottle of bourbon whiskey to his grave, which bore the inscription, “The Best is Yet to Come.” I can imagine my childhood idol still somewhere singing with the likes of Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Junior, or sharing a drink with Eva Gardner. Of course, it is unusual for someone to take such items to the grave with them, but throughout the world, people observe various practices of offering food or drink to the deceased. In my meditations on community, I have grappled with the question of where our ancestors fit within our understanding of community. Indeed, for many Indigenous groups throughout the world, community includes ancestors. Even in Western cultures, though, we see that everyday rituals around food include the invitation of our forebearers to come join us.

Throughout the world, people celebrate their ancestors in similar ways. In China, for example, during the Qingming Festival, also known as Tomb-Sweeping Day, Chinese families visit the graves of their ancestors. They bring offerings of food and drink, such as fruit, tea, and special cakes, meant to provide sustenance for the spirits of the deceased. Families often picnic near the gravesite and share a meal together to honour their ancestors. In Japan, the Obon Festival is a Buddhist tradition where people celebrate and honour their ancestors’ spirits. Families often prepare a special meal, including favourite dishes of their ancestors. They light lanterns and place them in rivers or lakes to guide the spirits back to the other world. In the United States, people of African heritage celebrate Karamu. During Karamu, families serve traditional African dishes to honour their ancestors and the seven principles of Kwanzaa. In southern Italy, particularly in the region of Sicily, the Feast of the Dead (Festa dei Morti) is a celebration where families prepare and share a variety of traditional pastries and sweets, such as “ossi dei morti” (bones of the dead) cookies. These treats are shared to remember and honour deceased loved ones.

Perhaps the most well-known celebration of ancestors through food is El día de los muertos (Day of the Dead) in Mexico. Families make ofrendas (altars) in their homes, adorned with the favourite foods and drinks of their loved ones. It is believed that the spirits of the deceased visit these ofrendas when the veil between this world and theirs is at its thinnest. My friend from Mexico City describes how he creates his altar every year. Erecting a pyramid-shaped altar, wrapped in the customary orange paper and adorned with small plates, cups, and glass, he sets out the favourite foods of his relatives who have passed on. Some people place a meal on the altar, while most place uncooked rice, beans, sugar, salt, and sweet-smelling spices like cinnamon. The elements of the earth are represented through the offering; tangerines and fall fruits like sugarcane, grapes, pumpkin, pears, and apples are commonly used. Perhaps the two most important offerings are, la flor de Cempasúchitl, (Mexican Marigold flowers) and el pan de muerto that adorn the alter, petals of the flower are sprinkled all over. The food and flowers invite loved ones to “come and eat”. Candles are used to represent fire and light the path for the spirits, and incense is the air to make them feel at home. Water is also placed in a glass, and beer or wine is offered for the spirit of that drunkard uncle. Pictures of loved ones are placed in the centre with sugar or chocolate skulls called calaveritas with their names on them.

In Ukraine, where my mother’s grandmother came from in the early twentieth century, Vesnyanky is celebrated around the spring equinox. This tradition is a way of welcoming the arrival of spring and remembering ancestors. People prepare various pastries, including triangular-shaped stuffed pastries and pancakes. During many Ukrainian holidays and family gatherings, it is also customary to set a place at the table for loved ones who are no longer physically there to celebrate. Having little connection to my Ukrainian roots, I only recently learned of these traditions. Coincidently, though, my sister and brother have prepared pancakes on my mother’s birthdays since her passing some 23 years ago. I have made a cake every year for my mom’s birthday to remember her and share stories about her with my children, her grandchildren. My mother’s sister, Pat, warmly recalls how similar traditions have been upheld. Pat recalls how her grandmother, Pauline Koviuk, is remembered for the memories that were made over food prepared and shared. Granny Koviuk made perogies, cabbage rolls and kielbasa for Christmas, jam and plum-filled doughnuts, and braided Easter bread. These foods from the old country honoured the ancestral heritage of her people. My mother’s mother, Granny Anne and her sister, Aunty Olga, prepared these same foods. Sharing stories of the past and of the family happened in the kitchen and the table.

The customs and practices found in China, Japan, the United States, Italy, Mexico, Ukraine, and around the world demonstrate the profound connection between food and remembrance. Diverse cultural expressions remind us that our ancestors are an integral part of our communities, shaping our identities and values. These traditions bridge the gap between the living and the departed, forging a powerful link between generations. In keeping these traditions alive, we preserve the wisdom, love, and spirit of those who came before us. 

The Krikewsky family, from Rezdvian, Ukraine. Parents of Pauline Koziuk. Pauline came with her family to Canada in 1914.

The Zoziuk family. Pauline and her husband Samuel are pictured with their daughters, my grandmother Anne and my great aunty Olga (left to right). 

My grandmother Anne with her three daughters, my mom Shirley (later Rupel), Pauline, and Pat (from left to right).