This year, Indigenous Peoples’ Day falls on Monday, Oct. 13. It’s a day to celebrate and honor Indigenous culture and contributions, past and present, as well as to recognize that Native peoples are the first inhabitants of the Americas, far before Western colonizers set foot on the land that would come to be known as the United States. Seward Co-op is located on the ancestral land of the Dakota people, where Dakota, Ojibwe, and many other Native people continue to live and exercise their sovereignty. As a cooperatively-owned and community-based business, we continue to learn and grow our practice in acknowledging Indigenous land and history, as well as cultivating connection with Native-led organizations. This is vital not only in honoring Indigenous Peoples’ Day, but also in nurturing relationships year-round.
Nurturing Relationships with Native-Led Organizations
Celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day with Food
Stop by Seward Co-op on Monday, Oct. 13 for special Grab & Go bowls that showcase Indigenous flavors and feature recipes developed by Sean Sherman of Owamni and NATIFS. The Hot Bar will feature its own special menu inspired by Native food traditions: maple squash, Three Sisters mash, wild rice pilaf, maple-juniper chicken, and cedar-braised beans.
A portion of every purchase will be donated to Dream of Wild Health, October’s SEED recipient. Be sure to round up at the register!
▲“I tried to not lean into pan-Indian imagery (i.e. merging Dakota and Ojibwe symbols) and instead highlight food across Turtle Island that’s connected to Indigenous people’s agricultural practices, in addition to the four sacred medicines. The turtle represents Turtle Island, and the dots around it represent the 11 Native Nations in Minnesota specifically.” – Moira Villiard, she/her
Planting a SEED of Cooperation
As part of Seward Co-op’s commitment to equity and food justice, a staff-led grant selection committee ensures that at least one Native-led organization is selected each year as a SEED grant recipient (the SEED program allows customers to “round up” their grocery bill for recipient organizations). This year, we are proud to include four Indigenous-led organizations in our SEED calendar.
2025 marks the fifth year of the Indigenous Foods Class Series, a program developed through Seward Co-op’s long-term partnership with Dream of Wild Health, one of the oldest and longest operating Native American-led and focused nonprofits in the Twin Cities. Our collaboration with Dream of Wild Health includes our partnership with the Indigenous Food Network (IFN), a collaborative of Native-led community organizations in Minneapolis who are working together to rebuild a sovereign food system.
By hosting this annual class series every November, we honor our relationship with Dream of Wild Health and the Indigenous Food Network, and are proud to support IFN in their goal of creating a Native American urban model for food sovereignty. Read more about some of this year’s classes and register online.
This fall, we’re excited to participate in a program with National Co+op Grocers (NCG) to support local Indigenous-led organization NATIFS, which works to strengthen Native foodways as a means to address economic and health crises affecting Native communities. You may know of NATIFS through:
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- Our SEED round-up in 2021, or when Chef Sean Sherman spoke at our 2018 Annual Meeting
- The restaurant Owamni which was opened in 2023
- The sale of the Creamery building
- Their Select Hand-Harvested Wild Rice, offered through the Indigenous Food Lab Market, on our shelves
From Nov. 5–Dec. 2, all Field Day products will be on sale, meaning even more savings on items with everyday low prices. For each Field Day product purchased during that time, food co-ops across the country will make a collective donation of $0.05 to NATIFS in recognition that the story of the first Thanksgiving perpetuates an inaccurate and harmful version of history. We welcome you to join us in supporting NATIFS’ work to restore health, wealth, and cultural identity to Indigenous populations.