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Join our Executive Director and Founder, Chef Sean Sherman, today at 5 PM on our channel as he cooks up some delicious Forest Spring Tostadas in our test kitchen. Tune in and bring your appetite! 

Hello Indigenous Food Lab Family!

We’ve been overwhelmed (in the best way!) by your emails, comments, and DMs. We’re so excited to connect, collaborate, and share Indigenous knowledge on every front. To keep the momentum going, here’s a quick update to answer some of your most frequently asked questions:


Is this a paid opportunity?
This is not a paid opportunity, but it’s definitely a unique one! If selected, you’ll have access to our test kitchen, the chance to promote your personal brand or business, and our wonderful media team will even edit your content for free.


What’s the time commitment?
We’ll only need about half a day for filming. However, if you’re open to it, there may be additional opportunities to explore. Between Owamni, the Indigenous Food Lab, and NATIFS, there’s always something exciting happening. Opportunities vary by season, so there’s always something new to experience! 


Do I need to be Indigenous to Turtle Island?
Not at all! We welcome submissions from Indigenous people worldwide, as well as BIPOC chefs interested in working with pre-colonial ingredients. While our focus is on North American food systems, we also strive to use our platform to highlight the food, stories, and traditional knowledge of Indigenous communities across the globe.


Do I have to cook with pre-colonial ingredients?
Yes, we strongly focus on ingredients native to Turtle Island. That means no post-colonial ingredients like beef, pork, chicken, sugarcane, wheat, or dairy. If your traditional recipe uses these ingredients, we’ll work with you to find creative substitutions.
Remember, this is a test kitchen! It’s all about celebrating and innovating within Indigenous cuisine while honoring pre-colonial food traditions.


Do I need to be a chef?
Nope! Our test kitchen is a platform for Indigenous innovation of all kinds. Whether you’re skilled in basket weaving, beading, quillwork, food harvesting, preservation, tanning, or medicinal knowledge, we’d love to feature your expertise. If you’re a knowledge keeper, we want to hear from you!


Where do I apply? Is there a deadline?
No formal application is required. If you’ve expressed interest through a comment, DM, or email, we’ve got your name on the list! However, if someone tagged you and you haven’t reached out personally, please do—your name won’t be considered unless we hear directly from you. The final deadline is Friday, February 7th, and we’ll begin reaching out to selected participants in the coming weeks.

If you all have any other questions, leave them in the comments and we’ll try our best to answer them. We’re so excited to learn from and grow with this amazing community. 

Hi Indigenous Food Lab family!

Last week, we asked you to reach out if you were interested in collaborating with us in our test kitchen, and we’re so excited to get started! Sharing knowledge and delicious Indigenous recipes is at the heart of our channel, and we can’t wait to bring this project to life with your help.
We’ve received some wonderful responses, but we’re still hoping to hear from more of you! If you're interested and  haven’t reached out yet, please do so—if you know any indigenous chefs or knowledge keepers you want to see in the test kitchen, please tag them! 
We’re currently reviewing all the responses, finalizing details, and setting up systems to make this project a success. Before we start reaching out, we also want to answer some of your questions. Please be patient with us as we undertake our most ambitious project yet!
We’re excited to connect with more of you and create something amazing together!

If you read the whole post, thank you so much! Please consider following us on our other pages 
Instagram: IndigenousFoodLab
Facebook: Indigenous Food Lab 

Hi Indigenous Food Lab family! This year, we're thrilled to explore new recipes and ideas inspired by you! We're also eager to grow our network and collaborate with Indigenous chefs and knowledge keepers from across the country.
🫘Are you an Indigenous chef, or do you know one? We’d love to partner with you! Let’s share and celebrate Indigenous culinary traditions together.
📚 Do you have ancestral knowledge to teach? Whether it’s basket weaving, sweetgrass braiding, breaking down an animal relative or other traditional skills, we want to learn from and grow with you.
Let’s work together to expand access to Indigenous knowledge and traditions. Reach out to us by commenting here, sending us a private message, or sending an email to education@natifs.org
Thank you so much, looking forward to a year full of recipes and collaborations! 

What recipes should we try in 2025? Share your ideas, and let us know why they’re special to you! 

Our team came together to pack 436 meal kits filled with fresh, Indigenous ingredients for wonderful side recipes. This project grew out of a beautiful collaboration with the Division of Indian Work, pairing our meal kits with their winter basket giveaway for Indigenous families.
We also partnered with the BRAID Project, bringing 50 unpacked kits to the American Indian Center, where Indigenous students joined us to help pack the meal kits they would later take home to enjoy with their families. To make the meal complete, Antony Stately from NACC (Native American Community Clinic)  sourced bison to pair with the three side dishes included in the kits: sweet potato mash with maple and sage, green beans with maple and sumac, and wild rice stuffing.
It was a joyful experience working alongside the students and community, and we’re grateful to have had the opportunity to come together to provide these meal kits. 🌾✨  #IndigenousFoods   #Indigenousfoodlab   #Natifs   #nacc_healthcare   #divisionofindianwork 

Join us tonight at 7pm as Chef Adán Medrano brings his Coahuiltecan heritage to life with Gorditas de Nopalitos con Camarón—crispy corn masa filled with shrimp, cactus, and red chile sauce. You don't want to miss this recipe!
 #indigenousfoodlab   #indigenouscooking 

Every time we get together with loved ones it's Thanksgiving, so don't stop cooking! Go to our channel and check out some more recipes from The Sioux Chef Sean Sherman. Let us know if you try them at home! 

Join us at 4pm for the premiere of a truly special video featuring Mary Jane Oatman and her mother, Judy Oatman from Nimiipuu (Nez Perce) Nation. Together, they’ll share their knowledge and guide us through the processing of the nacó'x or the Chinook salmon, a cornerstone of Nimiipuu food systems and cultural heritage. You won’t want to miss it!