Mitsoh

It was in the summer of 2015, while he was watching his mother prepare dry meat in their traditional way, that he decided the revered product needed to be shared with Canadians of all ancestries.

“I was telling her I wanted to do something deeper, something a bit more meaningful, something that would really touch our people’s hearts,” Ian Gladue said. “She was sitting there cutting up drying meat, slicing it, putting it on the rack, getting ready to start smoking it … and I said, ‘I’m going to make dry meat!’”

Although he can’t give away all his secrets, he uses a method that replicates how it has been done for thousands of years, with a specific wind speed and a slow smoking process with a type of wood called Diamond willow. Gladue met with elders in his traditional territory to ensure Pansawan has an authentic taste, and so he could put ‘Elder Approved’ on his packaging.