Indigenous Chef Sean Sherman’s Pre-Thanksgiving Dinner Party Was a “Quiet Revolution”

For his own dinner party, then, Sherman only wanted to continue evolving this idea. The chef served up delicious fare that spotlighted Indigenous-produced foods: This included hand-harvested wild rice from Minnesota Tribal harvesters, traditional corn grown by Native nations, pure maple syrup tapped by tribal producers, along with dishes such as Native-grown beans. “I wanted a table that felt like a quiet revolution,” he says. “Something decolonized, beautiful, and undeniably Indigenous. A space where people are invited to sit, learn, and taste how health, diversity and solidarity can live on a plate.”

By utilizing the vibrant vegetables, seasonal plants, wild game, and fish his people have used for centuries, Sherman aimed to spotlight what the art of gathering often means for Indigenous communities today: That it serves as a time for appreciating and giving thanks for the foods that the natural world provides around us. “We built a table the way our Indigenous communities celebrate food—through abundance,” says Sherman. “These ingredients carry land, lineage, and labor. They’re more than products—you’re tasting culture, resilience, and ongoing Indigenous presence and perspective. Food isn’t just nourishment—it’s a form of resistance and a celebration of who we are.”