NORTH AMERICAN TRADITIONAL INDIGENOUS FOOD SYSTEMS

North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NĀTIFS) is a Minneapolis-based nonprofit founded by Chef Sean Sherman and partners to rebuild Indigenous food sovereignty by teaching, producing, and distributing foods native to North America. The organization operates the Indigenous Food Lab (IFL) — a professional training and R&D kitchen and market — and develops programs that supply Indigenous foods to schools, hospitals, and tribal institutions. In recent years NATIFS expanded its operational footprint by acquiring the nationally acclaimed restaurant Owamni and the Tatanka food truck (September 15, 2023), opening and scaling IFL programming (including expansion to Montana), and purchasing the Seward Co-op Creamery Building to create NATIFS Wóyute Thipi, a central commissary, training hub, and retail/counter-service site. NATIFS combines hands-on culinary training, producer partnerships, institutional Meals for Native Institutions work, and enterprise development to generate jobs, support Native producers, and increase access to culturally appropriate, healthy foods in tribal and urban Native communities.