From Ship to Shore: Food, Drink, and Cultural Encounter in Gregorio Mengarini’s Flathead Nineteenth-Century Mission

This study examines the experiences of the Jesuit missionary Gregorio Mengarini among the Flathead people in the mid-nineteenth century, focusing on the practices of eating and the reasons for dietary changes in several different contexts. Drawing on Mengarini’s vocation and the shared cultural significance of food, the essay examines historical sources documenting his journey. The travels of Mengarini and his companions, both from Europe to the United States and within the US, highlight the challenges of hunger and dietary restrictions. The Jesuit mission with the Flathead people aimed to establish subsistence agriculture, which often clashed with the local food culture rooted in practices such as root gathering and buffalo hunting. These cultural differences presented considerable difficulties for the Catholic missionaries in adapting. Mengarini’s narrative also highlights the arduous conditions the Jesuits faced in the Rocky Mountains, including hunger and travel-related dangers. The article concludes with the eventual demise of the Flathead Mission, emphasizing the challenges associated with introducing a new way of life to indigenous communities. This study offers a nuanced perspective on cross-cultural interactions, subsistence strategies, and the limitations of missionary efforts in transforming traditional ways of life.