 Poso, Natanaway Makanook, Nwiswan, Jessica, Pamoni Kut. I am Jessica Walks-Verse, executive chef of Kitapan and Kitchen. Chicago's first and only Native American executive chef. I also own the only indigenous catering company in this region, but my work is so much more than being a chef. It's being an activist, being an educator, being present in bringing our culture to the forefront of everything. So I took a look at the sign and it says, Decolonial Manifestos. And I think about that every day in the work that I do, as a catering company, bringing a concept to Chicago that hasn't been done before was an adventure. And I realized I couldn't do it without bringing that educational component. And then I realized I couldn't do that educational component without doing the groundwork and understanding where the issues are in supplier routes for Native providers. Like, I can't go into a grocery store or into a manufacturer and get indigenous foods. And then I needed to understand all those barriers and how we overcome them and how we decolonize our business to operate with authenticity. It has been a learning adventure every step of the way, but when people look at our menu, there's a lot of familiar things on there because people don't understand, you guys eat indigenous foods every single day. A lot of people, they don't research histories of their food, just maybe what store they bought it from or where it was grown. But you have to have a decolonized mindset when it comes to food because it nurtures your spirit. The relationship with your food starts the minute that seed goes into the ground or whether that bison or that elk moves, takes its first steps into this world, there's a relationship that starts there and then it grows, as food grows, you nurture it. As an animal grows, you nurture it. When it's harvested, you pray for it and you thank it, but then you also give your own sorrows for giving its life, there's a relationship there. And then that act of preparing food, the act of feeding people as a community, that's a sacred spiritual act. And I always tried to put my best foot forward because I'm not just feeding your body, I'm feeding your spirit and I want to do so with good intentions and I think about my work and where it's leading me and what I want to do and our biggest vision right now is to create a non-profit that addresses food sovereignty and food access and education in this region. If you're not aware, Chicago is home to one of the largest urban Indian populations in the country. Over 100,000 natives representing over 330 of the 570-something federally recognized tribes. We are vast, we are diverse, and we are everywhere. And with all that in mind and thinking of the work that I do, so I want to make sure that the people in my community are cared for too. A lot of us have to travel quite a bit to get home and enjoy our some of our traditional foods. If I want real wild rice, I'm driving 500 miles to get it from home. Deborah, I see you over there. When you watch your traditional foods, how far do you go? Exactly, and that's our story here. So figure we're looking to create a farm space, a growing space that would grow our traditional foods in a traditional way and allow access to our community but then the local community surrounding us and then create that education component as well but also open that space up to small living for community members that are struggling to meet the high cost of living in the Chicago land area and then we have a lot of kids in foster care that phase out at the age of 18 with not a single life skill. They don't tell them what to do, how to live their life, where to go, and they're just put out there at 18 and we want to create a space for them to be there to learn a life skill, to be part of community and to have the support they so desperately need when they phase out of foster care. So my vision for my nine profit is vast but I have no doubt in my mind that if I work really hard, it will happen. My biggest motto is in order to progress we need to regress. The future is not what it used to be because everyone thinks the future means getting more advanced, getting more advanced, more technology, that's not what it is. The future is decolonizing our mindsets. It's going back to the way things used to be and doing things in a more natural state with more intentional relationships with everything around us from the food that we eat to the people that sit beside us. Take out your earbuds, put your cell phones down, talk to one another. Today we prepared a beautiful lunch for you all. It was done with a whole lot of love and attention and a whole lot of work. But when you sit down and you enjoy that meal and our way, once you share a meal together you become a family. So today this room is one big family and I want you to keep that in mind while you eat lunch. We have a couple of things out there for you and we also have dinner for you guys later. So today for lunch we have our signature chicken salad and our signature portobello salad for all of our veg friends. You can either have it on bannock rolls or lettuce wraps. We also have an Ojibwe purple potato salad and a Lotte pasta salad, elderflower mousse which everybody seems to love and like to lick the pans when they're done. So if I see you licking pans, I will not be mad at you, I promise. And then we have, I believe, sage mint tea and lavender lemonade for lunch. And then later on tonight, you guys are gonna be treated to bison chili or pumpkin chili with cornbread, harvest salad and I think green tea and blackberry lemonade, so. So with that being said, lunch is served. I just asked that you let elders eat first and then everybody else go in there, enjoy yourselves and enjoy your lunch.