TrooRa Magazine

“We are committed to revitalizing Native American cuisine and, in the process, we are re-identifying North American cuisine and reclaiming an important culinary culture long buried and often inaccessible.” (Source: sioux-chef.com/about).

Sean Sherman, of the Oglala Lakota, is a self-taught chef, who, over a thirty-year period, has learned the art of farming, hunting, harvesting various foods, food preservation, and has even taught himself how to make both salt and sugar. These acquired skills are not easy to learn and are even more difficult to master. Yet, this determined and passionate chef has not just mastered these skills, but also uses them to create incredible culinary plates of art. It’s true when people say that you eat with your eyes first. Each plate he creates is swimming in bright, radiant colors and intricate designs.

In 2014, with marketing and PR genius Dana Thompson, the Whapenton-Sisseton and Mdeswakanton Dakota tribes started a catering and educational company called The Sioux Chef. The mission statement of their company revolves solely around shining a light on a culture whose culinary cuisine has faded in the background of American culture. These cuisines do not contain European additions such as dairy, gluten, and certain types of meats. Instead it focuses on what their ancestors had available to them prior to contact—berries, bison, duck, rabbit, trout, sage, wild rice, and varieties of wildflowers.