NORTH AMERICAN TRADITIONAL INDIGENOUS FOOD SYSTEMS (NATIFS) SPONSORS INDIGENOUS PEOPLE'S DAY AT MN STATE FAIR - SUNDAY AUG. 27

MINNEAPOLIS — August 10, 2023 — Did you know there are 11 federally recognized Indian tribal governments in Minnesota alone — all with unique food, history, culture and arts? The Minneapolis non-profit founded by Indigenous chef Sean Sherman, North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NATIFS), will sponsor and support programming for the Minnesota State Fair’s Indigenous People’s Day— to celebrate the variety of Indigenous cultures of Minnesota and beyond, on Sunday, August 27, 2023, from 9 a.m to 5 p.m. at Dan Patch Park.

Watch demonstrations on Indigenous food and drinks like Minnesota wild rice, heirloom corn tortillas and fresh herbal teas. Enjoy Native drumming and dancing groups, including Kalpulli KetzalCoatlicue, an Aztec dance ensemble, and learn from a panel of experts about the future of Indigenous food sovereignty.

This year’s theme is Indigenous food sovereignty and land management, highlighting Indigenous food, history, culture and arts. NATIFS is hosting guests from Indigenous organizations, knowledge keepers, chefs, and entertainers who will discuss and celebrate Indigenous culture, especially its foodways. The stage events will be emceed by Minneapolis entertainer and Red Lake Band of Chippewa enrolled tribal member Trish Cook.

“With interest in sustainable, environmentally sensitive practices on the rise, inside and outside the Indigenous community, concepts of food sovereignty and land management are key to a new American way of eating,” says Chef Sean Sherman, founder, NATIFS. “Indigenous people have had our food sovereignty stripped away through intentional disruption of food resources like buffalo; restrictions on hunting, gathering, and fishing; and commodity food programs sent to reservations that introduced unhealthy foods to our diet. Indigenous land management is the way we have cultivated and cared for the land, including controlled burns, foraging protocols, water protection and preservation. It’s important to define these terms for all so we have a shared understanding as we work toward common goals–controlling foodways to create a better future and healthier climate for all, including Indigenous communities.”

North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NATIFS), founded by Chef Sean Sherman, and its Indigenous Food Lab and IFL Market, a professional Indigenous kitchen, training center, retail space and counter service eatery, are dedicated to addressing economic and health crises affecting Native communities by re-establishing Indigenous foodways, imagining a new North American food system that generates wealth and improves health in Native communities through food-related enterprises. For more, visit http://www.natifs.org.