From his home base in Minneapolis, Oglala Lakota chef and educator Sean Sherman's reach extends into many areas. He is studying and promoting indigenous North American foods with projects that range from pop-up dinners to plant taxonomy. His catering and events business, The Sioux Chef, serves healthy Native American foods throughout the Twin Cities area. The recently-retired Tatanka Truck, a street food favorite since 2015, highlighted indigenous ingredients with dishes like Bison Wild Rice Bowls and Cedar and Maple Tea. North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NĀTIFS), the nonprofit he founded with business partner Dana Thompson, is developing various initiatives around food education and access in tribal regions. 

He’s also found the time to channel this work into a groundbreaking and tightly-researched new cookbook, written in collaboration with Minneapolis chef Beth Dooley. The Sioux Chef's Indigenous Kitchen—out October 10 and available for pre-order now—uses pre-colonial techniques and indigenous ingredients in dishes like Braised Sunflowers, AmaranthCrackers and Sage and Rose-Hip Roasted Duck. Food & Wine talked with Sherman about his culinary philosophy, upcoming projects and why frybread is a complicated topic.

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