NPR’s Instagram posted a comic done by Chelsea Saunders back in November of 2022 depicting Chef Sean Sherman’s journey of finding Native American recipes and creating his company called Sioux Chef. Sherman is a part of the Oglala Lakota tribe in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, and struggled to eat and know recipes that were truly from the Lakota tribes. Due to forced assimilation, Indigenous people are often unable to gain knowledge of their traditions from previous generations, and that has created an absence of true Native American dishes. In his quest to find Lakota recipes, Sherman spoke to many different people. In time, he was able to filter out which ingredients were native, and which were adopted. Sherman studied for years and was able to open his own company in 2014. His goal is to get Indigenous food back into tribal communities and break the cycle of reliance on government food. Type 2 diabetes, obesity, and heart disease can be related to the low nutritional food the American government gives its people. Sherman states it is an exciting time to be Indigenous because they can apply the teachings of their ancestors to the modern world. Controlling our food means controlling our future. You can check out Sherman’s website for more information, and for the location of his restaurant.
