Event Details

Join us and Anishinawbe/Algonquin Chef Johl Whiteduck Ringuette from Toronto, and Indigenous Chefs from within the NATIFS organization for an evening of hearing stories about the challenges of colonization of food, reclaiming food sovereignty, and spreading knowledge about traditional foods and practices. This event is being done in partnership with NATIFS and the Consulate General of Canada in Minneapolis. Consul General Beth Richardson will give opening remarks. After the panel you will be able to enjoy the food the chefs created together, shop at the Indigenous Food Lab Market along with other Indigenous vendors that will be showcasing their crafts. We look forward to celebrating Indigenous People's Day with you as a Community!

Due to limited capacity, please only add this session to your itinerary if you are able to attend in person.

Agenda

5:00 PM - 5:30 PM
Arrival + Mingling
5:30 PM - 5:45 PM
Welcome, Drummers, Introductions
5:45 PM - 6:45 PM
Chef Panel
6:45 PM - 8:30 PM
Sampling, Craft makers Showcasing, Mingling

Speakers

  • Freddie Bistoie (Chef in Residence at NATIFS)

    Freddie Bistoie

    Chef in Residence at NATIFS

    https://natifs.org/

    Freddie Bitsoie is a proud Navajo and an award-winning chef. Bitsoie is currently Chef in residence at North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NATIFS) in Minneapolis, MN. He is the former executive chef of Mitsitam Native Foods Café, located inside Washington, DC’s Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. Bitsoie was previously the executive chef of Fire Rock Casino and is the winner of the Smithsonian’s Native Chef Competition. He is the author of New Native Kitchen (Abrams New York, 2021). He has contributed to a number of Native American cookbooks, including America: The Cookbook (Phaidon, 2017) and James Beard Award–winner Sioux Chef's Indigenous Kitchen (University of Minnesota Press, 2017). He recently moved from Gallup, New Mexico to Minneapolis, MN.

    view more
  • Ana Garcia Castellanos (Assistant Kitchen Manager at NATIFS)

    Ana Garcia Castellanos

    Assistant Kitchen Manager at NATIFS

    https://natifs.org/

    I am a proud Guatemalan immigrant, passionate about food and its connections with pretty much everything around us: culture, politics, spiritual life, health, and environment. I have been working in kitchens since I moved to this country four years ago, and before that, I went to college for Political Science in Guatemala City, but it did not convince me to generate some "change" food, which is why I am here.

    view more
  • Vern Defoe (Culinary Program Specialist at NATIFS)

    Vern Defoe

    Culinary Program Specialist at NATIFS

    https://natifs.org/staff/vern-defoe/

    Vern DeFoe has been working with our organization since the beginning, first co-managing the Tatanka Truck and then coming on in various management positions at The Sioux Chef. He has been working in the food industry for over 20 years, and is now the Kitchen Manager at the Indigenous Food Lab. He has a passion for showcasing the diversity and flavors of Native foods and connecting Native people to their ancestral foodways. He believes that this connection to ancestral foods is key for Indigenous people, and sees great empowerment in going outside and foraging for foods local to the area.

    Vern grew up in Wisconsin and is a member of the Red Cliff Anishinaabe tribe.

    view more
  • Francesca Garcia (NATIFS Herbal Educator - Co-Founder Two Sisters Herbals of NATIFS, Two Sisters Herbals)

    Francesca Garcia

    NATIFS Herbal Educator - Co-Founder Two Sisters Herbals of NATIFS, Two Sisters Herbals

    https://natifs.org/

    Francesca's family is Tarahumara (Raramuri), Yaqui (Yoeme), and Mexican. Growing up her mother and father had always instilled a curiosity of the natural world as well as a respect for all of its beings, through cultural storytelling and experience. Having close family members with degenerative diseases, she began to want to further her knowledge of how to work with plants and learn their medicinal teachings, to better offer support to her family and others. She completed two Herbalist Apprenticeships through the Medicine Tree Herbal Pharmacy in Minneapolis, MN with Herbalist Jessie Belden, and she is continuing her herbalist studies with Master Herbalist, Lise Wolff. Francesca works at NATIFS as an Herbal Educator under Linda Black Elk, and also works with her sister Jessica, creating their own herbal business called Two Sisters Herbals, where they plan to offer herbal creations in the very near future.

    view more
  • First Nations Chef Johl Whiteduck Ringuette (Chef, Local Food Advocate, and Entrepreneur. at NishDish)

    First Nations Chef Johl Whiteduck Ringuette

    Chef, Local Food Advocate, and Entrepreneur. at NishDish

    https://www.nishdish.com/

    Chef Johl Whiteduck Ringuette is Anishnawbe and Algonquin. he was born in North Bay, Ontario and his grandmother is from Nippissing First Nation. His clan is Mink clan. Johl was raised on wild game, fishing and seasonal berry-picks and cooking over the fire. Chef Johl is the owner of NishDish Marketeria and Catering, which specializes in Anishnawbe cuisine since 2005. He is one of Tkaronto’s leading First Nations food sovereigntists and has dedicated his life to identifying, sourcing, relearning and reclaiming what the traditional Anishnawbe diet is.

    view more

Community

Discover and connect with other attendees.

MESK

Venue

Midtown Global Market

East Lake Street 920
Minneapolis

If you have any questions please contact Allison McDonald

Contact Organizer

Show on map