Federal regs make traditional foods scarce

The Original Sweetmeat in Waterflow was banned from selling A'chíí for almost a month this winter because it's way of handeling was undeclared and in question. The store is critical to the local population for daily meat supply and also for more traditional means of meat supply for area Native Americans. [Photo by Daniel Zollinger/Independent]

By Natasha Kaye Johnson
Diné Bureau

WATERFLOW — The Original Sweetmeat, Inc. has served a landmark for Waterflow and the nearby communities since 1958.

"Squeak" R.G. Hunt, Jr. third-generation owner of Original Sweetmeat, Inc., and wife Carla Hunt, store manager, have formed many personal relationships with families, and provide services for the Navajo and Hispanic population what many grocery stores and meat shops just can't offer.

They carry large quantities of traditional foods, like a'chii, or "bunitas" in Spanish, that cannot be found in large grocery chains. A'chii is prepared by wrapping sheep intestines around fat from the sheep, and then fried.

Navajo customers often go to the store and request that the store butcher a sheep by hand because the meat will be used in traditional ceremonies. Respectful and understanding of the culture, the Hunts comply with these requests.

They also fill large mutton orders for special occasions, like election fund-raisers or special homecoming events for soldiers. Other local grocery stores, like Albertson's and Safeway, are not able to fill such special orders, Hunt said.

Standards and requirements
Over the years, the standards and requirements for slaughterhouses have becoming increasingly strict, causing six similar locally owned shops in the area to permanently close.

Ray Begaye, New Mexico State Representative for District 4, became more familiar with the strict federal and state requirements that were putting small slaughterhouses out of business after he was contacted by El Rito, a meat processing company based in Chama, whose owners shared with him the obstacles they were facing.

"They did close their business because the federal food inspector got really strict," Begaye said.

It was just over three months ago when the owners of the Original Sweetmeat, Inc. were instructed to stop selling a'chii and were forced by the New Mexico State Livestock Board to destroy 400 pieces of the prepared meat the same day.

The concern about a'chii processing came in January 2005 when a USDA Food and Safety Inspection Service program review officer from Omaha, Neb., saw the item for sale at the store. The food was unfamiliar, and inspectors questioned its safety, though the store had offered the food since it opened nearly 40 years ago.

Two months after a'chii was banned, the Hunts fought for the item to be sold once again, sending e-mails and making calls back and forth between federal and state officials. On March 19, they were allowed to start selling the meat again.

Begaye said he did not know about the difficulties that the store was facing when he introduced a joint memorial at the 48th Legislature First Session in late March that would help to retain small businesses in communities throughout the state and preserve traditional practices of Native American and Hispanic communities.

The memorial urges that cultural and traditional practices be considered by the USDA in adopting regulations for meat inspection of slaughterhouses, especially since 10 percent of the New Mexico population is Native American and over 50 percent of the overall population is of Spanish ancestry.

The joint memorial states that food and food preparation are basic to maintaining belief systems and the traditional practices of both the Hispanic and Nave American populations of New Mexico.

Begaye also explained that these slaughterhouses are disappearing from communities due to expense of having to implement sophisticated equipment to stay open.

"The federal government has been very naive in who they're been dealing with in Native American foods and Hispanic foods," Begaye said.

Neither officials with the USDA program in Washington or the New Mexico Livestock Board could be reached for comment.

While the USDA has taken other religious groups' food preparations into consideration, like Jewish dietary guidelines of kosher foods, they are far behind when it comes to Native Americans and Hispanic foods. As far as meat processing, there are no written standards on how to prepare mutton or traditional foods from the area.

"This has been our diet for such a long time," Begaye said. "Both the meat and by-products have been since the introduction of sheep and goat in this area."

The legislation was signed by Gov. Bill Richardson in March and is pending review from the New Mexico congressional delegation. It was also sent to the USDA and New Mexico Livestock Board.

Generations
The possibility of the store closing because of the strict standards set by the federal and state governments makes Hunt uneasy, even though his store equipment and technology has been praised in written reviews. Hunt has been around sheep and livestock his whole life. At the age of 7, his late father "Slim" R.G. Hunt put him to work at the store. In 1995, after his father passed away, Squeak was given the store to continue, and he plans to one day give it to his 30-year old son "Skeeter" R.G. Hunt, Jr., who is hopes will be continued to be passed on for generations to come. Taking care of sheep, Hunt said, is what he was raised doing.

"It's a lot of hard work, but it's all I know," said Hunt.

For Hunt, raising and being around sheep is an integral part of his life, much like the Navajo people.

"One time there was an old lady that came in named Mary Jumbo from Sanostee," Hunt recalled from his early teens. Hunt remembers when Jumbo, who was a frequent customer, shared a story about the federal livestock reduction.

"She said 'when they loaded up sheep and goats, I just cried and cried,'" remembers Hunt.

Being a 15-year old teenager, Hunt did not understand what she meant.

"I asked her, 'Why?', and she said, 'I became poor then. I didn't have no sheep or goats.'"

It would not be until years later when Hunt said he would be able to understand just what she meant.

"A sheep is a lot if you don't have a sheep. A dollar was a lot if you didn't have a dollar," Hunt said. "It made a big change in my life on how I look at things."

Even 40 years after her passing, he said he still remembers her so well, and keeps her story close to his heart.

"I always admired seeing Mary come in," he said. "Some of the best people I've seen in my life have been the Navajo people."