By Eddie Chuculate
Despite threatening weather and morning rain, an estimated 8,000 people attended the inaugural Native American Food Truck Festival on July 5 at Harriet Island Regional Park on the Mississippi River in downtown St. Paul.
Founder Mariah Grant (Blackfoot), co-owner of Trickster Tacos, a food truck specializing in Native American fusion dishes, said 13 food vendors participated, with trucks selling frybread drawing the longest lines. Malissa’s Frybread, a truck based in Rapid City, S.D., served until 9 p.m., two hours after the 11 a.m.-7 p.m. event officially closed.
The event also featured around 30 booths set up near the riverbank featuring Native resource vendors, artists and entrepreneurs selling apparel and jewelry, including the Mississippi River Learning Center, Nashke Native Games, Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, Sahan Journal, Nopalli Beads and Elements of Creativity Woodworks.
Daylong entertainment held at the Harriet Island Target Stage bandshell featured the Montessori Tiny Tot performance, Danza and Poets, Executioner Style rock band, the Big Auntie Energy Comedy Show, Bluedog Band, Ain Dah Yung drummers, Pretendians band, rapper Leelan Leecy and poet Ailene Bass Ashikana (Sac and Fox Nation of Oklahoma, Creek, Hunkpapa Lakota).
For a first-time event, it “went fantastic!” Grant said. “The goal was to highlight Indigenous entrepreneurs, and that was met.”
The potential for stormy weather may have scared off some vendors. Although it rained earlier in the day, the park grounds weren’t muddy and the weather cleared to blue skies and fluffy white clouds. A breeze off the river was refreshing and there was ample shade from tall cottonwoods.
Cancellations, double-bookings and “no call, no shows” from trucks resulted in long lines for the available trucks, which included a “surprise showing” from the Tatanka Truck by The Sioux Chef, said Grant, of Brooklyn Park.
Some lines eclipsed 100 customers, stretching from the trucks near the bandshell toward the river, and waits over an hour were reported. Most people, however, endured the long waits, but some bolted for trucks with shorter lines. People also decried a lack of drink stations as some trucks didn’t offer beverages.
Grant said she is planning a second, possible two-day event in 2026 with more artists, musicians and trucks to coincide the weekend (Oct. 10-11) before the state’s Indigenous Peoples’ Day on Mon., Oct. 12.
“We will be adding more trucks and searching for drinks and frybread specifically,” Grant said. “People also need to understand there are hundreds of Native-owned food trucks in Minnesota, so it is from this festival that we hope to see more individuals take the leap. We need Native drinks, desserts, and hopefully even a Prairie Dog (frybread-wrapped hotdogs) truck.”
Participating trucks in July were Trickster Tacos (Brooklyn Park), Malissa’s Frybread, Steven D’s (East St. Paul), B-Lo Zero Sno Cones (Rochester), Wanna Wotapi (Morton, Minn.), Tatanka (Minneapolis), Wild Harvest Lemonade (Minneapolis), Wacky Wing Wagon (East St. Paul), The Big Red Wagon (Fridley), Frybread Factory (Minneapolis), Mni’ Sapa Roasting Co. (East St. Paul), Tater Tot Temptations (St. Paul/Maplewood) and Og ZaZa-New Haven Style Pizza (Shakopee, Roseville, St. Paul, Minneapolis).
Along with her husband, Dakota Grant (Omaha), co-owner of Trickster Tacos, Grant cited help from Brook LaFloe (Ojibwe/Turtle Mountain), Tara Perron (Ojibwe/Dakota) and Kim Reid (Cherokee) in organizing the festival.
Trickster Tacos has late summer and fall appearances including the Shakopee Powwow (Aug. 14-16), American Indian Roseville Back-to-School Block Party at the Montessori American Indian Childcare Center in St. Paul (Aug. 20), Mendota Powow (Sept. 12-14), Mahkato Wacipi Powwow in Mankato (Sept. 19-20) and Indigenous Peoples’ Day weekend (Oct. 10-12).
