Anishinaabe chef celebrates major milestones at sold-out event closing 2019
By Laura Barrios
SUDBURY— Turtle Island’s Indigenous premier caterer and highly-praised Anishinaabe chef Hiawatha Osawamick hosted Hiawatha’s Grand Opening 10 Year Anniversary Christmas Celebration gala on Dec. 20, 2019.
Some 500 guests attended the highly anticipated, sold-out event.
“This is the event of the year!” exclaimed emcee Stan Wesley, followed by whistles and cheers of pride by attendees consisting of family, friends, and special guests.
Osawamick has over 18 years in the food service industry where 10 of those years have been dedicated to growing her own catering business. This year marked the decade anniversary and she wanted to celebrate the milestone in style.
“I needed to do a 10-year anniversary celebration and the community needed some kind of holiday celebration to get together, so I just tied everything in together and just made it a grand opening,” expressed Osawamick. “There is nothing like this where people can come together and dress up. Dressing up was one of the main compliments that I got.”
Weeks leading up to the gala, Hiawatha sourced a live buffalo to harvest for that evening.
“It’s kind of like in the tradition where he’s harvesting for the celebration as opposed to just killing an animal and eating it. He’s more sacrificing, like back in the old days of feeding the community as a harvest celebration.”
Some of the dishes available during the buffet-style meal included bison Nish noodle, maple-glazed bison meatballs, smoked duck and mushrooms cigars, maple-glazed wild rice and berries, and the crowd-favourite, baked bannock with maple butter.
The event was not only a feast for the palate, but also for the ears as she brought in various Indigenous entertainers throughout the evening, including comedy act by Stephanie Pangowish, and musical stylings by George Leach, DJ Blake Debassige, and Keegan Jacko.
“I wanted Indigenous. George Leach came to mind, so I flew him in from Vancouver and then my cousin Keegan Jacko – we only just found that out a week before! My dad and his grandfather, Valentine, were brothers. It was just meant to be. We could feel all of the energy of our ancestors in the room that night – Valentine, my dad, my uncle Norman – everybody was just a part of it. It just made it all so special for everybody. I am so grateful and appreciate everybody that came.”
The gala also celebrated the grand opening of her new restaurant that will soon become available to the public at a soft-launch in the upcoming months. The restaurant location on Regent Street in Sudbury is set at a cozy 50-persons capacity.
“There isn’t an Indigenous restaurant in Sudbury so people are itching to get in – I don’t want to disappoint people if they come and they won’t be able to get seated. The soft opening with reservations will be the best,” explained Osawamick. “I want everybody to enjoy and be happy.”
Her experienced team helped execute the gala seamlessly and now she is looking to build capacity as the restaurant soft-launch quickly approaches.
“Kitchen staff were people I’ve known and have worked with for many years – they knew what they were doing. I wasn’t able to be in the kitchen and be more hands-on like I usually am. I had my aunt Bev working in the kitchen – she was my lead hands,” noted Osawamick. “I just posted a few job opportunities on the Facebook page – full-time and part-time positions – which close on January 20… As soon as I’m done with the job postings, I’m going to have a soft opening for my lunch eatery. Come March, I’ll be able to extend to longer business hours for evenings and weekends.”
Hiawatha has come a long way in the past 18 years, having experienced many facets of the food service industry.
“My mom and my aunt had their own catering business so I grew up in the kitchen, on the pow wow trails in the food booths, so that’s where I started. My aunt had her restaurant in Wiikwemkoong and it was called Pat’s Café, so I was serving, bussing tables, doing kitchen prep when I was 15-16,” recalled Osawamick. “I started at Casino Rama in 2001, and I was bussing tables, I worked to a server, then bringing out the food from the kitchen to the people, that’s when I wanted to switch from the front of the house to the back of the house. So I did that.”
She went on to get an apprenticeship with Georgian College while still working at Casino Rama and got her Red Seal Chef certification, preparing her to fill the role as a Chef de Partie. Breaking barriers in a male-dominated industry, she went on to start her own catering business that takes her all over, including to Sault Ste. Marie, Timmins, Toronto, Manitoulin Island, and Sudbury.
“I enjoy it. I have a mobile food truck. I do backyard weddings – I just bring my kitchen and pump out the food, like burritos, taco, fish and chips, I’ve even done bologna and scone.”
Much like her mother and aunt, Hiawatha is inspiring the next generation of chefs including her three daughters.
“They watch a lot of Netflix’s Nailed It!, so they’re in the kitchen doing their own competition; sometimes they nail it, sometimes it’s a fail – it’s fun!”