There are many things we are busy
reclaiming as Native people. Whether it be our minds, homelands,
children, language or history, there is always a noble fight to be
fought every single day. The same holds true for our connection to
food. Before colonization, food was treated as a sacred gift from the
Earth. There has always been a deep spiritual component to ourselves,
the landscape and what we eat. Everything we did, whether it was
ceremony, celebration or our seasonal activities, food was always a
main part of our lives.
Lakota chef, Sean Sherman is one of
those in our community committed to reclaiming our ancient foods. It
began with an interest in developing a Lakota cookbook modernizing
Native foods. He found during his research that there was a
tremendous lack of information about Indigenous foods. This prompted
him to launch his own learning plan to rediscover many of the first
foods. He found many resources; bookstores, history centers and
online. “I had to dig deep into very old history books to find
first account records,” he said. What he found was an abundance of
traditional knowledge waiting to be awakened.
Sherman credits his ancestors for
being connected to plant life, animals and the environment. He feels
that Native people have rich history when it comes to ways of
sustaining themselves for generations, “Our ancestors were
incredibly intelligent. They understood ancient technology has been
working for our people for thousands of years.” This is the
knowledge Sherman is using as a foundation his work with Twin Cities
Native community to revitalize these old ways of gathering,
preparing, preserving and serving these sacred Indigenous staples.
Sherman is finalizing the family style
restaurant, The Sioux Chef. He envisions the location to be easily
accessible to the Native community, ideally along the American Indian
Cultural Corridor on Franklin Avenue in Minneapolis, with hopes of
opening this winter.
The restaurant is set to feature only
pre-contact foods of this region. Diners will not find chicken, beef,
pork, cheese, wheat or refined sugars at The Sioux Chef. There are
restaurants that focus on the foods of the Americas, but this
restaurant will be original in using only foods Native to the
Minnesota region. Sherman hopes to draw in Natives and non-Natives to
his establishment by using simple, natural flavors that are
interesting. He strongly believes that the food will speak for
itself, “These plants are old relatives, these dishes will bring
back some old flavors.”
The Sioux Chef restaurant will be a
great opportunity for the collective community to start to reclaim a
healthy lifestyle. It may take a little practice to retrain our
bodies to remember these foods. Current Native diets are bombarded
with fat, sodium, sugar and refined wheat. Sherman recalls growing up
with frybread as a main staple, “Frybread pride is ingrained in our
community. It’s not healthy.”
He continues by offering a solution,
“There’s a wealth of ancestral knowledge out there that’s
worthwhile and a lot more healthy and interesting foods that identify
with us way more than frybread does.” This restaurant will be a
paradigm shift for the Twin Cities Native community.
He sees that elders are struggling
with maintaining a healthy lifestyle and the colonized diet fuels
many of the problematic health issues for them. Sherman hopes to help
our elders reconnect with their traditional diet so they can begin
healing their bodies and regaining strength. The realization of
remembering our old foods can help our community on the path back to
wellness. The Sioux Chef restaurant can provide a space to begin
conversations about our people’s path back to wellness.
Sherman also is planning on focusing
on the education the Native youth on the incredible gifts we have in
our immediate environment. “Getting kids to identify some of these
simple things; getting them out running around the woods and come
back with a bunch of free food for their family.” He strongly
believes that these old foods are a source for our culture as Native
people.
By empowering Native youth, these
teachings can be revitalized again, Sherman says, “Introducing
these foods to our children so they can grow up with it, understand
it and know it and know that it belongs to them.”
Rediscovering all the foods that
surround the Twin Cities Native community will take a community
effort. Sherman credits a couple of partners that he has been able to
work with on this journey. Wozupi Tribal Gardens in the Shakopee
Mdewakanton Dakota Community has been a great ally. Through
education, ethical growing practices, and sustainable models, Wozupi
produces locally grown whole foods to their community. Dream of Wild
Health has also been another organization that Sherman works with his
vision for the community. Through their seed collection, youth
programming and work in the Twin Cities area, these organizations
align perfectly with Sherman’s work.
Looking toward the future, Sherman
hopes to spread education through our community. His goal is for
people not to confuse colonized foods with our very own traditional
foods, he says, “People aren’t going to be confused about what is
Native foods.” He offers another traditional belief, “All our
foods is medicine.”
