Food sovereignty in focus during second annual Lakota Food Summit

RAPID CITY, S.D. — Indigenous foods and artists are on display at the Rushmore Holiday Inn in Rapid City this week for the second annual Lakota Food Summit. The event focuses on food sovereignty and diversity in the native community.

After a pandemic gap year, Thunder Valley Development Corporation and the Oglala Sioux Tribe partnered up to host keynote speakers and breakout sessions on everything from plants to buffalo meat, native cooking to wild foraging.

“We have traditional plants, edible plants, gardening for success, high tunnels; there’s just so much excitement and so many different presenters,” says Dianne Amiotte-Seidel, Food Sovereignty Director at Thunder Valley. “I’m really excited.”

Attendees fill in the lobby of the Rushmore Plaza Holiday Inn, where regional vendors have set up ahead of the 2nd annual Lakota Food Summit. (February 15, 2022)

Day one began with a visit from famous Lakota Chef Sean Sherman, who was born in Pine Ridge and raised in Spearfish. Sherman founded “The Sioux Chef,” and his work is based in traditional Native American farming techniques, wild food, and native culture.

“So we cut out colonial ingredients just to showcase how much diverse indigenous foods are out there; so we’re not using any dairy, any wheat flour, or any cane sugar and typically not beef, pork, or chicken unless it’s from an indigenous producer, on occasion,” Sherman says.

The Lakota Food Summit continues Wednesday and Thursday at the Holiday Inn on 5th Street. CLICK HERE for more information or to register.