Our latest news
Save our Food Industry – A Letter to Congress
Yesterday in DC, I met with MN Senator Tina Smith alongside leaders from across the food system to deliver 1,500+ signatures demanding accountability for what’s happening in Minneapolis. This was an urgent warning about the dangerous consequences DHS and ICE tactics...
Save our Food Industry – A Letter to Congress
Yesterday in DC, I met with MN Senator Tina Smith alongside leaders from across the food system to deliver 1,500+ signatures demanding accountability for what’s happening in Minneapolis. This was an urgent warning about the dangerous consequences DHS and ICE tactics...
How to Eat with Awareness and Purpose (w/ Sean Sherman) | How to Be a Better Human | TED
If you remove ingredients like dairy, wheat, flour, cane sugar, beef, pork and chicken from your diet — then what do you eat? For Sioux chef Sean Sherman, excluding these colonial ingredients from his dishes gives him the opportunity to spotlight Indigenous produce...
In the Press: Sean Sherman – Cook Book – Turtle Island
The 14 Best Cookbooks of 2025 - New York Times Exceptional new cookbooks, with fresh takes on easy baking, Thai cooking in America and seasonal pasta, as tested by New York Times Cooking and the Food desk. "Turtle Island: Foods and Traditions of the Indigenous Peoples...
Sean Sherman – “Turtle Island” & Fighting Native American Erasure With Food | The Daily Show
Sean Sherman on The Daily Show with Ronny Chieng James Beard award-winning chef Sean Sherman sits down with Ronny Chieng to discuss his new book "Turtle Island: Foods and Traditions of the Indigenous Peoples of North America." They talk about using food as a tool for...
New York Times – A New Native American Cookbook Urges You to Look Nearb
New York Times — November 7 2025 — Sean Sherman’s latest cookbook, “Turtle Island: Foods and Traditions of the Indigenous Peoples of North America,” catalogs traditional cooking practices with an eye to the future ... The chef Sean Sherman’s latest cookbook comes out...
Owamni to Relocate in 2026 to Guthrie Theater Restaurant Space
MINNEAPOLIS, MN — October 1, 2025 — The Guthrie Theater and North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NATIFS), the nonprofit organization that owns and operates the James Beard Award-winning restaurant Owamni, announce that Owamni will relocate in spring...
Sean Sherman – NEW BOOK – Turtle Island: Foods and Traditions of the Indigenous Peoples of North America
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Indigenous Foods of the Big Sky – The Native Table Live with Chef Sean Sherman
Exploring the Indigenous Future Foods of Montana and Indigenous Food Lab coming to Bozeman in 2025. THU APRIL 24THE NATIVE TABLE: LIVE @ THE ELLEN$15 Order tickets hereJoin 3X James Beard Winning Lakota Chef Sean Sherman on Stage at the Ellen to discuss the...
The Curious 100 – Honoree Sean Sherman
Written by Yvonne Abedi At a time when diversity and community are under threat, The Eames Institute of Infinite Curiosity is pushing back with the launch of The Curious 100. This nonprofit initiative honors 100 groundbreaking visionaries across the United States...
The Elevate Prize Foundation Bolsters Social Good Mission by Awarding Global Changemakers $6M to Scale Visionary Work
The Elevate Prize Foundation celebrates its fifth anniversary by recognizing...
FINDING YOUR ROOTS – Sean Sherman Learns About A Tragic Past
FINDING YOUR ROOTS Sean Sherman Learns About A Tragic Past Clip: Season 11 Episode 5 | 4m 7sVideo has Closed Captions | CC Sean learns of his ancestor who was sent to the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. Aired 02/04/2025 | Rating TV-PG
Where Is All the Native Food?
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States Grantmaking area: Higher Learning Author: Anthony Balas Photography and Video:ARE WE THERE YET? Films Date: February 4, 2025 NATIFS is an organization that asks: What would it look like to decolonize our diets? Even in...
WORD OF MOUTH – Episode 69: The Sioux Chef – Sean Sherman from Owamni in Minneapolis
Sean Sherman is an activist and the chef at restaurant Owamni, Minneapolis. He is also an educator, an author and a member of the Oglala Lakota Sioux tribe. He was born and raised on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and as a teenager began working in restaurants and...
Sean Sherman’s upcoming Indigenous barbecue restaurant
By: James Norton Original article from Heavy TABLE “A culture without food is a lost culture. I think it’s extremely important to bring back some of this knowledge, this food, and to be able to serve it in a modern context that everyone can appreciate. ” - Chef Sean...
SEAN SHERMAN’S NONPROFIT ACQUIRES SEWARD CO-OP CREAMERY BUILDING
NATIFS Wóyute Thipi to Feature New Restaurant, Commissary Kitchen and More MINNEAPOLIS — January 8, 2025 — North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NATIFS), the nonprofit founded by James Beard Award-winning chef Sean Sherman, has acquired the Seward Co-op...
Seeding a new food future
Words: Cinnamon JanzerMain image: Nate Ryan Original article from Imagine5.com The Sioux Chef Seeding a new food future As the Sioux Chef, Sean Sherman is out to prove that an Indigenous approach to growing and cooking food can better serve people and planet. From his...
It’s Time to Build More Native Restaurants
From venison chops to grape dumpling soup, Indigenous foods are central to the American heartland — if only we had more places to eat them by Sean Sherman and Mecca Bos Oct 1, 2024, 9:00am EDT Illustration by Morgan Thompson. This article was produced in...
Sean Sherman, Indigenous Food Activist and Award-winning Chef, Named to Inaugural ‘Climate 100 List’ by the Independent
MINNEAPOLIS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Independent has named Sean Sherman, founder and executive director of non-profit North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NATIFS), award-winning chef of Owamni in Minneapolis and advocate for Indigenous foodways, to its inaugural Climate 100 List.
Chef Sean Sherman to Appear on Season 11 of Finding Your Roots
PBS announced Chef Sean Sherman will be featured on season 11 of Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates. In each episode, celebrities delve into their ancestral histories, often discovering connections to famous figures, uncovering family secrets, and sharing...
Sean Sherman and NATIFS create collaborations in Hawaii to promote Indigenous Food Sovereignty on the Islands
Honolulu, Hawaii, whether you have visited or not, is one of...
“The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen” book is now available in German
Der Sioux-Chef. Indigen kochen. Das erste Kochbuch seiner Art auf Deutsch: Der Spitzenkoch von der Oglala Lakota Sioux Nation Sean Sherman erfindet eine der ältesten und gesündesten Küchen neu: die indigene. Gluten-, milch-, zuckerfreie Rezepte. Leicht nachzukochen.
Celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day Through Food and Stories: A NATIFS Collaboration
Indigenous Peoples' Day is a time to honor and celebrate the rich cultures, traditions, and contributions of Indigenous communities across North America. This year, on Monday, October 9th, an exciting event will take place at the Midtown Global Market in Minneapolis....
Sean Sherman at the 9th Annual Julia Child Award Gala in Minneapolis, MN
2023 JULIA CHILD AWARD RECIPIENT Sean Sherman Celebrate the 2023 recipient of the Julia Child Award—nationally- acclaimed chef Sean Sherman—an award-winning cookbook author, activist and founder of the North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NATIFS)....
NATIFS, founder Sean Sherman announce Indigenous Peoples’ Day details at State Fair
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- A Minneapolis nonprofit founded by accomplished Indigenous chef Sean Sherman will be sponsoring and supporting the Minnesota State Fair's Indigenous People's Day. On Thursday, North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NATIFS) announced...
America’s Cultural Heritage Seeds
North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems’ connection to Seed Savers Exchange — and why it matters Whether you’re an avid gardener or a black thumb, you’re likely to have heard of the Three Sisters planting method: a trio of corn, pole beans and squash...
For Many Native Americans, Fry Bread Is Tasty, Nostalgic—and Complicated
This is part of Breaking Bread, a collection of stories that highlights how bread is made, eaten, and shared around the world. Read more here. All products and listings featured on Condé Nast Traveler are independently selected by our editors. If you purchase...
natifs.org WELCOMES LINDA BLACK ELK AS EDUCATION DIRECTOR
Ethnobotanist and food sovereignty activist Linda Black Elk has joined as educational programming and community engagement leader.
CELEBRATED INDIGENOUS CHEF FREDDIE BITSOIE JOINS NATIFS.ORG AS CHEF-IN-RESIDENCE
Indigenous Chef Partners with Chef Sean Sherman and Minneapolis Non-Profit to Promote Indigenous Foodways Education and Food Access
Sean Sherman Is Awarded the 2023 Julia Child Award
The New York Times
The Julia Child Foundation
Nonprofit North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems Launches Flagship Indigenous Food Lab Market Featuring Indigenous Foods And Products
Lakota Chef Sean Sherman, Announces The June 1 Opening Of Its Flagship Market, The Indigenous Food Lab (Ifl) Market, A Kitchen And Retail Space That Offers High-Quality Indigenous Foods And Products For Sale.
Sean Sherman Residency at James Beard Foundation Space In NYC May 7- 11
“Plymouth Rock Landed On Us” will offer Indigenous and Black perspectives on American foodways and creating a better and more meaningful future for all. Join Sean Sherman, award-winning chef and advocate for Indigenous foodways, as he and his team ...
Serving Indigenous Foods at an Indigenous Conference
The NATIFS team just returned from the RES (Reservation Economic Summit) 2023 conference put on by the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development (NCAIED). This was the 37th year of the gathering, held at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. We had a...
Indigenous Food Sovereignty in Hawaii
We were hosted by Kealoha Domingo of Nui Kealoha Hawaii, a Native Hawaiian chef and caterer, and Rachel LaDrig of GoFarm Hawaii, a Stateside Beginning Farmer Training Program and AgBusiness Consulting Service “Growing Hawaii’s Farmers.”
NATIFS advocates for protection of culinary arts under Indian Arts and Crafts Act
The US Department of the Interior hosted a listening session attended by NATIFS members in early April at RES2023. The session was offered to gather Tribal input on draft revisions to 25 CFR Chapter II (Indian Arts and Crafts Act). Draft revisions to the Act, first...
Showcasing meals with Indigenous ingredients and traditions
In October, Chef Sean Sherman was invited to the Terra Madre Salone del Gusto, an international Slow Food Festival held in Turin, Italy. Sean and NATIFS’ Indigenous Food Lab Culinary Program Specialist Vern DeFoe (Red Cliff Ojibwe) participated as representatives of...
Uniting Native People Around Common Food Heritage
Food access and justice are inextricably intertwined. By providing education and training to give Native people access to healthy, local, Indigenous food, we can not only address serious issues of malnutrition, food-related illness, and economic impoverishment on...