{"id":140884,"date":"2025-05-08T11:04:54","date_gmt":"2025-05-08T16:04:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/?p=140884"},"modified":"2025-05-08T11:08:26","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T16:08:26","slug":"cronkite-news-native-coffee-shop-offers-safe-space-for-food-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2025\/05\/08\/cronkite-news-native-coffee-shop-offers-safe-space-for-food-and-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Cronkite News: Native coffee shop offers safe space for food and more"},"content":{"rendered":" \"Skoden<\/a>
The Skoden Coffee & Tea sign in front of the shop on North Central Avenue in Phoenix, Arizona, on Monday, April 21, 2025. Photo by Anna Ehrick \/ Cronkite News<\/figcaption>\r\n
Skoden Coffee & Tea combines traditional Native American cuisine with activism<\/div>\r\n
Thursday, May 8, 2025<\/div>\r\n
By Anna Ehrick<\/div>\r\n
Cronkite News<\/DIV>\r\n
cronkitenews.azpbs.org<\/A><\/DIV>\r\n

<\/P>\r\nPHOENIX — For Indigenous small business owner Natasha John, the road to owning a coffee shop has been long. About 300 miles, in fact.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nJohn first opened Skoden Coffee & Tea<\/a> as a pop-up in Window Rock, the capital of the Navajo Nation, traveling to areas throughout the vast community in northeast Arizona.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nWhen people suggested she should move the business 300 miles south to Phoenix, John recalled she doubted the idea.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n\u201cI was really against it because I thought I wanted to be like a food hub on the reservation because it\u2019s such a food desert,\u201d John said. \u201cBut I had the reassurance from my partner and colleagues that were helping me with pop-ups.\u201d\r\n

<\/P>\r\n \"Skoden<\/a>

Skoden Coffee & Tea, an Indigenous-owned coffee shop, shares a space with Central Records in Phoenix, Arizona. Photo by Anna Ehrick \/ Cronkite News<\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/P>\r\nWhen an opportunity came in December 2023 to move the enterprise to a vacant spot inside For The People, an uptown Phoenix furniture store on Central Avenue, she jumped at the chance.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n\u201cFortunately, we had a lot of success with that first location,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen business owners say location means everything, it really does.\u201d\r\n

<\/P>\r\nSkoden Coffee & Tea has now settled in its most recent home inside Central Records, a record store on Central Avenue south of Roosevelt Street. It\u2019s inspired by Japanese-style coffee shops referred to as \u201ckissa.\u201d\r\n

<\/P>\r\nThat\u2019s a shortened version of \u201ckissaten,\u201d roughly translated to \u201ctea drinking shop.\u201d In Japan, a kissa is a spot where people can listen to music, usually jazz, while enjoying their tea.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nAt Skoden, a variety of beverages and pastries are inspired by Indigenous cuisine, with ingredients like blue corn and oat milk alongside coffees and espressos. Among the most popular offerings are the Din\u00e9 Matcha Latte, Honey Lavender Lez Love, Peach and Pecan Latte as well as blue corn donuts and croissants.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nFor John and co-owner Jo Manuelito, it\u2019s important to include elements of nostalgia from growing up on the reservation.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nThis includes beverages that use Navajo tea, an ancient herbal tea using the dried leaves of Greenthread, also known as Thelesperma. The herb, with its thread-like leaves, contains anti-inflammatory elements, which is why the tea has been used for hundreds of years as tribal medicine.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n\u201cWe do research into trying to restore a lot of things that were lost during colonization in our diets,\u201d John said. \u201cOne thing that a lot of Navajo people are trying to revive is the use of sumac. It\u2019s used in a lot of Middle Eastern communities, but our ancestors used to harvest it as well.\u201d\r\n

<\/P>\r\n