Episode 02: The Violence of Migration with Natividad Huff
The co-Star of this episode:
The Sazerac
Featured Guest: Mama Nattie
Whether migration is forced or by choice, what stories travel with it?
War, marriage, and opportunity are just some of the reasons we might uproot our entire lives from one homestead to another. And while there are incredible opportunities that come with leaving all that we know and love behind, there can also be immense violence and loss -- be it to culture, identity, or life. What is at stake for those who try to assimilate into a brand new world?
In episode two of Lagralane Spirits, The Violence of Migration, we tell our own migration stories and explore what our roots mean to our past, present, and future. We dig into this joy and pain with guest Natividad Lagramada Huff, also affectionately known as “Mama Nattie.”
This week:
Enjoy a Sazerac and share this recipe’s origins
Yvonne asks, “What gets lost in migration?”
Yvonne dives into the importance of language in her biracial household
Yvonne shares with Jason how war played a part in how her parents met
Jason poses a question, “Our complete identity cannot be wrapped up in our name, so does that make us other?”
Jason shares his thoughts on the current racial climate in America and how we are going through a reconstruction era again where we’re finding out more information about the meaning of race in our country
Jason and Yvonne talk to Mama Nattie, Yvonne’s mother, about her migration story from the Philippines to The United States
Mamma Nattie explains to Yvonne that when she moved to America, she didn’t have many people to speak Tagalog with and how that affected her using the language at home, and why it wasn’t taught to her children.
Mamma Nattie tells Yvonne and Jason, “Wherever you guys are I’ll be home.”
“This is my home. Your house is my home. This is my home. The Philippines is my home… All three.”
- Mama Nattie (minute 45:27)
Cocktail: Sazerac
Recipe
1.5 oz of Cognac or Rye Whiskey
1.4 oz Absinthe
1 Sugar Cube
3 dashes of Peychaud's Bitters
History & Meaning
The Sazerac was invented in 1838 by Antoine Amedie Peychaud. Peychaud was a Creole apothecary who immigrated to New Orleans from the West Indies. This drink was invented in the same year the forced migration of the Trail of Tears took place. Peychaud was living in New Orleans during the Slave Trade, which forcibly migrated and sold millions of West African people to slave trading ports all over the New World, including a port in New Orleans.
About our special guest
Mama Nattie
Natividad (Nattie) Lagramada Huff is a sixty-nine year-old retired U.S. Postal Service worker.
She enjoys traveling and being one with nature when she gardens and hikes. Time spent with her kids and grandkids are always precious to her. Practicing yoga and Pilates nurture her body and spirit as well as eating foods close to how mother nature intended them to be. Nattie was born in the Philippines, married James Huff, a US military service man, and came to the US, where they raised three beautiful children, Vonnie (Yvonne Lee), Alvin, and BB. They are the loves of her life. She is also blessed to have three beautiful loving grandchildren Grace, Maya, and Maximo, and a loving partner in Vince Crawford. She is thankful to the Powers That Be of the life she's enjoying and the support of my family.
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(and the cocktail too)?
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