Sean Sherman

Founder & CEO

North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems

Minneapolis, MN USA

“If we band together, especially as people of color, we can be so much stronger in making these systems really work and happen.”

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By Roadtrip Nation

Sean Sherman

Milestones

My road in life has been direct.

I grew up in South Dakota on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

I started working in restaurants when I was 13 years old.

After graduating college, I moved to Minnesota with intentions of going to art school, but quickly realized that art school was out of reach financially for me.

I continued to work in restaurants and was able to work my way up into a chef position.

As a chef, I worked in many different styles of food, including Spanish, Italian, French, and Japanese restaurants.

A few years into my career as a chef, I realized the complete lack of Indigenous presence in the restaurant industry.

I’ve since made it my mission to build awareness and revitalize Indigenous food systems.

In that vein, I founded North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems, a nonprofit focused on re-establishing Native foodways to address the economic and health crises affecting our communities.

Keep following my journey