Spring is bringing wild onion dinners to Oklahoma — here are 10 events to experience the Indigenous meal
As warmer temperatures and the first rains of spring begin to fall, Indigenous groups across Oklahoma will begin to gather the first plants offered by the earth for consumption and host annual wild onion dinners.
These dinners often are sponsored by local churches, many of which are members of the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference, and others that are independent churches.
"There's a whole onion dinner circuit that everyone enjoys being a part of," said Dode Barnett, a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and the Salt Creek Methodist Church, which hosts one of the largest onion dinners, typically serving 700 or more people annually.
From February to April wild onions appear in moist areas, such as along creek beds, and are dug up, cleaned and cooked as part of meals used frequently as church fundraisers.
"There's really not much that is more Native than sitting down and eating with people; that's very much our traditional ways, and so we have always appreciated our allies and partners in our community that help us sustain our church," Barnett said.
This year, the event holds special meaning as everyone comes together for the first time in two years after being disrupted in 2021 and 2022 by the COVID-19 pandemic.
"COVID just isolated everyone so I'm really looking forward to everyone getting together," she said. "I think on some levels it might be sad because people that used to come aren't going to be able to come because we lost them over the last two years."
Barnett said the available records for her church show the congregation has been hosting meals to raise funds for 60 years or longer with the meals changing and modernizing over time.
"At one time it would have been mostly traditional foods like blue bread and sour corn bread and sofke and all of those things that we eat as Indigenous people, and over the years we've added to that menu," she said. "Every now and then you might have somebody that will make blue bread or sour corn bread for us, and it doesn't last very long because we just can't make big enough quantities for it."
Sour corn bread is prepared with fermented meal, and blue bread is traditionally flavored with parched purple pea hulls. On the beverage table, you may find sofke, which Barnett describes as a hominy-based treat that can range from sweet to sour depending on family preference and recipe. Grape dumplings, originally made with wild possum grapes and now more commonly made with grape juice, are the traditional dessert.
Barnett said the Salt Creek dinner is unique in that it is one of few, if not the only all-you-can-eat meal.
Like many others, however, it also features Indigenous vendors selling beadwork, patchwork and other handmade goods.
"People come and they eat, they visit and they shop," she said. "We must be doing something right if people are willing to drive a couple of hours just to come eat with us."
Here are 10 local wild onion dinners you can attend, along with details on menus, date and time and cost, when available.
1. Salt Creek Wild Onion Dinner
Location: Creek Indian Community Center, 224 E Poplar, Holdenville
When: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, March 4
Cost: All you can eat is $15 for adults, $10 for children 8 and under
2. Norman First American United Methodist Church Wild Onion Dinner
Location: 1950 Beaumont Drive, Norman
When: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, March 4
Menu: Wild onions, fried chicken or salt pork, pashofa or banaha, beans or mashed potatoes and gravy, grape dumplings or dessert, salad, frybread and beverage
Cost: $12 for adults, $8 for students with ID, $6 for children 10 and under
3. Pickett Chapel United Methodist Church Wild Onion Dinner
Location: Sapulpa Indian Community Center, 1020 N Brown, Sapulpa
When: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 11
Cost: $15 for adults, $8 for children 10 and under
4. Mary Lee Clark United Methodist Church Wild Onion Dinner
Location: 1100 Howard Drive, Del City
When: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 18
Cost: $12
5. Wild Onion Dinner Fundraiser for Claudia McHenry
Location: Okemah Indian Community Center, 1112 S Woody Guthrie St., Okemah
When: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. March 18
Menu: Wild onions, beans, frybread, choice of two meats: salt meat, fried chicken or fried pork; choice of two sides, dessert and choice of drink (water, tea or lemonade). Additional sides, grape dumplings, beans and frybread, soda and extra meat can be purchased, as well.
Cost: $15 for adults, $12 for children ages 4-12, and children 3 and under eat free
Additional information: This fundraiser benefits Claudia McHenry, a contestant in the 2023 Miss Indian World Pageant. Proceeds will go toward her travel and hotel expenses. The event also will include a silent auction.
6. Thlopthlocco United Methodist Church Wild Onion Dinner
Location: 8 miles south of Okemah, north of Wetumka on State Highway 27 in Okfuskee County
When: Noon to 4 p.m. March 18
Cost: $12 for adults, $10 for veterans with ID, $6 for children ages 3-12
7. Springfield United Methodist Church Wild Onion Dinner
Location: N3810 Road, Okemah. Go to Facebook.com/SpringfieldIUMC for directions.
When: 11 a.m. to until they sell out on April 1
Cost: $15
8. Achena Presbyterian Church 'Old-Fashion' Wild Onion Dinner
Location: 35188 EW 131, Maud
When: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 1
Menu: Wild onions with egg, fried chicken or salt pork, red beans and rice, fried potatoes, sofke, dessert, frybread or cornbread and coffee, tea or bottled water
Cost: $15 for adults and $6 for children ages 5-8. Half off discount for veterans with ID.
9. Greenleaf Missionary Baptist Church Wild Onion Dinner
Location: 11039 N 3740 Road, Okemah
When: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 8
Menu: Wild onions, fried chicken and salt pork, beans and rice, fried potatoes, grape dumplings, sofke, desserts, frybread and drinks. Whole pies will also be for sale.
Kid's menu: Spaghetti, hot dogs and chips
Cost: $10 for adults, $8 for military or veterans with ID, $6 for children 8 and under.
10. Angie Smith Memorial United Methodist Church Wild Onion Dinner
Location: 601 SW Grand Blvd. Oklahoma City
When: 11 a.m. to until they sell out on April 22
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: 10 wild onion dinners welcoming spring with a classic Indigenous meal
