The Julia Child Award Recipient for 2023

Sean Sherman

Founder and Executive Director, NĀTIFS
Founder and CEO, The Sioux Chef and Owamni by The Sioux Chef

The Foundation made a grant in the recipient’s honor to:

NĀTIFS, North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems, was founded by Sean Sherman to address the economic and health crises affecting Native communities by re-establishing Native foodways. Guided by Sherman’s research and advocacy, and wisdom shared by tribal communities around the world, NĀTIFS is a beacon of Indigenous food revival and education support. In Minneapolis, NĀTIFS established the Indigenous Food Lab, a professional Indigenous kitchen for entrepreneurial endeavors, a classroom and demonstration studio to share knowledge and the Indigenous Food Lab Market, offering diverse products from Indigenous purveyors. With the expansion of the Indigenous Food Lab, NĀTIFS is working to bring cultural, nutritional and economic revitalization to Native communities across North America.

A member of the Oglala Lakota tribe, Chef Sean Sherman focuses on the revitalization and evolution of Indigenous foods systems throughout North America. Through his activism and advocacy, Sean is helping to reclaim and celebrate the rich culinary heritage of Indigenous communities around the world.

 

Sean has dedicated his career to supporting and promoting Indigenous food systems and Native food sovereignty. His goal is to make Indigenous foods more accessible to as many communities as possible through the non-profit North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NĀTIFS) and its Indigenous Food Lab professional Indigenous kitchen and training center. Working to address the economic and health crises affecting Native communities by re-establishing Native foodways, NĀTIFS imagines a new North American food system that generates wealth and improves health in Native communities through food-related enterprises.
 

 

Sean has dedicated his career to supporting and promoting Indigenous food systems and Native food sovereignty. His goal is to make Indigenous foods more accessible to as many communities as possible through the non-profit North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NĀTIFS) and its Indigenous Food Lab professional Indigenous kitchen and training center. Working to address the economic and health crises affecting Native communities by re-establishing Native foodways, NĀTIFS imagines a new North American food system that generates wealth and improves health in Native communities through food-related enterprises.

 

Sean’s first book, The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen, received the James Beard Award for Best American Cookbook in 2018, and he was given the 2019 Leadership Award from the James Beard Foundation. In 2021, Sean opened Minnesota’s first full service Indigenous restaurant, Owamni, which received the 2022 James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant in America on top of numerous awards nationwide.

 

Sean has just been named one of the Time 100 Most Influential People of 2023. For more visit his website seansherman.com.