“De Neve has never looked this good,” said second-year economics student Elizabeth Marmer.

As she walked into the dining hall, Marmer was met with drumming, colorful tablecloths and the smell of Native American cuisine. Planned by the American Indian Student Association and American Indian Living Learning Community, Native Cultural Cuisine Night – which was hosted Wednesday from 5 to 9 p.m. – highlighted Native American food and culture.

Camryn Redmond, an organizer for the event and treasurer of AISA, said her goal was to increase visibility and representation of Native American students. She added that she hoped the dinner would give non-Native students the ability to try Native American cuisine and learn about their culture.

“For a lot of people on the Hill, they may not be or may not have had an introduction to Native culture,” said Redmond, who is also a third-year American Indian studies and economics student. “This is a really great way to come and get to know us.”

Redmond said the menu included traditional Native American meats including venison and incorporated the Indigenous Three Sister crops – squash, beans and corn – into the meals.

After students from AISA and the American Indian LLC suggested various foods for the menu, UCLA Dining was responsible for executing those ideas. Agustin Oliva, the executive chef at De Neve, said planning for this event began over a year ago with extensive recipe research.

Bruce Pearson, the dining hall’s general manager, said UCLA Dining consulted Darryl Montana – a Native American chef at De Neve – for advice when creating the menu. Montana, who is a member of the Tohono O’odham Nation, said he spent 2 1/2 years in a Minneapolis restaurant learning about Indigenous cuisine before he came to UCLA.

Montana added that he appreciated Oliva’s attention to detail and respect for Native American culture when creating the menu.

“It’s hard – nothing was written down. Everything was passed from generation to generation, word of mouth,” he said. “Especially with me learning up in Minneapolis – with that limited ingredients we had – we had to create, and this is what Chef (Oliva) did.”

Redmond said the central dish of the night was fry bread, which consists of a fluffy piece of bread served with meat, beans and other toppings. Montana said fry bread originated from Native Americans creating what they could from military rations.

“Back in the 1860s, 1870s, we were given rations through the U.S. Cavalry, which was salted pork, coffee, sugar, flour,” he said. “That’s where fry bread was born, I’d like to say. It was just a necessity for the people to be able to fill their bellies.”

Second-year data theory student Melissa Chang added that, as an international student, she enjoys attending culturally themed dinners at De Neve and other dining halls on campus because they give representation to students of different cultures and countries. Oliva said De Neve also plans to host an Argentinian-style dinner in May.

Redmond said AISA has plans to host more cultural events in the future, including its annual Pow Wow on the first weekend of May. She added that she hopes UCLA can continue supporting Native American students in the future, such as through the creation of a Native American Resource Center.

“The fact that those conversations are happening is a really good thing,” she said.