The 19th Annual National Indian Taco Championship crown went to the chefs of Four Directions Restaurant this year, a four-person team from the Fort Randall Casino/Hotel in South Dakota.
The Four Directions team, Michelle Irvin, Ingrid Weddell, Andrea Cournoyer and Loren Kazena, all work at the restaurant located in the casino and hotel owned and operated by the Yankton Sioux Tribe.
They drove 10 hours from Wagner, S.D., before arriving in the early morning on the day of the competition. They had just enough time to get in a brief sleep at the new Pawhuska Osage Casino & Hotel, which they said was “very nice.”
The championships also saw some familiar faces and winners with Second place going to 8-time champion Ramona Horsechief, and third place going to Frybread Factory LLC. People’s Choice went to Jacque Jones and the Jones girls. Twenty-two competitors took part in the event, held in downtown Pawhuska.
When asked what makes their Indian Tacos special, Irvin, like any good cook, gave some hints but not her secrets.
“I’ll start with the dough. Loren is our dough maker. When he first jumped on the Four Directions team, he didn’t even know how to make frybread,” she said. “But he learned from like four or five different people and he made his own recipe. He did that himself and he’s really good.
“Our taco meat is really good. We do something different, we don’t put the whole bean in our taco meat, we use the refried beans in our taco meat and it’s just enough to make a binder and we flavor them with special seasonings. But I think what got us the win today is her salsa,” Irvin said, pointing at Cournoyer. “Her salsa was amazing.”
“It’s homemade, roasted,” Cournoyer said.
Irvin said everything worked out perfectly. “It all came together and I’m very proud of my team.”
To view photos from NITC 2023, visit the Osage News Flickr page at https://www.flickr.com/photos/osagenews/albums/72177720312356262
The NITC also hosts a contest powwow every year and below is a list of the dance winners:
Jr Girls Cloth/Buckskin
1) Maliyah West
2) Embree Smith
3) Stahts Hammer
Jr. Girls Jingle/Fancy
1) Emma Mckibben
2) Wahveshe Hamilton
3) Lyric Hogner
Jr. Boys Straight
1) Antwine Hamilton
2) Blaine Hipp
3) Darien West
Women’s Jingle/Fancy
1) Jaida Whitecloud
2) Shanon Forte
Women’s Cloth/Buckskin
1) Blake Cunningham
2) Tammy Cunningham
3) Cresencia Twohatchett
Men’s Straight
1) Beaushee Wildcat
2) Otto Hamilton
3) Keetha Buffalohead
Men’s Fancy
1) Vann Wildcat
2) Graycloud Lieb
3) Ryland Moore
