The Indigenous Peoples’ Day Phoenix Fest Celebrates Local Native Foods

The second annual Indigenous Peoples’ Day Phoenix Fest, taking place on October 10 on Roosevelt Row, promises to be much more elaborate than last year’s event, which marked the grand opening of Cahokia PHX social, tech, and art space.

This year will be a full-on cultural celebration centered at First and Garfield Streets featuring art, music, film, a skateboarding competition, and of course, Native cuisine.

Food trucks such as Emerson Fry Bread will be part of the festival’s free block party that runs the entire time. The award-winning food truck started in 2010 and has honed its focus over the years to concentrate on favorites like fry bread tacos, mutton stew, and prickly pear lemonade.

It often parks and serves lunch at the Phoenix Indian Medical Center on 16th Street, but the truck will make its way downtown for the festival.

Founder Loren Emerson is Mexican on his mother’s side. His heritage on his father’s side is Fort Yuma Quechan (Prickly Pear clan) and Mohave of Parker, both of which are Colorado River Indian Tribes. Emerson’s wife and the truck’s co-owner, Roxanne Wilson, is of the Water’s Edge clan (Tabaaha) of Diné.

Emerson began selling fry bread as a kid, working at his dad’s food stand at the Arizona State Fair. His father and grandfather started the business in 1967 to fund their musical aspirations with The Salt River Reservation Band and ran it annually until 2001. Now, Emerson and Wilson have seven children, ranging in age from 4 to 24, and Emerson is passionate about passing on his business and ideals to them, just as his family did for him.

As a chef, a graduate of Arizona Culinary Institute, and a father, Emerson says it’s not about making money.

“I want my kids to have quality and ethical values in their food,” he says.

Emerson uses locally sourced, organic ingredients in his dishes and makes everything fresh daily. But his dream is to grow his own food and teach his children to grow as well—particularly corn, squash, and beans, which make up the “three sisters” of Native foods.

Emerson also plans to grow peppers and watermelon on the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation, and has been researching hydroponics as a way to preserve water.

Emerson is working on a degree in agricultural land management from Arizona Western College in Yuma, but he’s also learning the traditional ways of growing corn from a man in Tonalea.

“It’s high in nutrition, everyone loves it, it’s a blast of home, and it tastes so good,” he says.

Keeping legacies alive through food is an essential part of the festival that seeks to share culture with those familiar and not.

Other attractions at the family-friendly block party include the Downtown Showdown Skateboard Competition by SevenLayer Army Skate Co., indigenous film screenings courtesy of Indie Film Fest, an Indigenous pop-up market, local bands and musicians for the inaugural RezFest on the main stage, a mural projection show, and more.

In addition, a VIP experience at The Churchill offers food and drink tickets and a fashion show curated by Native Guitars Tour with a performance by Mato Mayuhi, the composer for the award-winning FX/Hulu series Reservation Dogs.

The festival is free, but RSVP tickets are required. The VIP experience at The Churchill costs $50 and up.

Indigenous Peoples’ Day Phoenix Fest

3-10 p.m. Monday, Oct. 10
First and Garfield Streets
Ipdphx.com