Chef Sherry Pocknett — whose Sly Fox Den Too restaurant features traditional foods with the seasons— has become the first Indigenous woman to win a prestigious James Beard Award as best chef in the Northeast. A semifinalist among 20 other chefs and one of four finalists, Pocknett, Mashpee Wampanoag, was honored at the James Beard Foundation’s annual awards ceremony in Chicago….and local artists of a different kind had the opportunity to show case their work…
Rapid City’s Main Street Square was lined with tribal artists this past weekend for the eleventh annual Native POP: People of the Plains market. This year’s Native POP kicked off on Friday with a juried art show at the Journey Museum, followed by the two-day market and Saturday fashion show. During the fashion show, six tribal designers took to the stage to have models grace the runway in stacked ribbon dresses, leather, fringe, beadwork and more. Among the designers was leather worker Ryia LeBeau, from Eagle Butte, and visionary Eunice Straight Head, from Eagle Butte. Ryia LeBeau had a booth alongside her mother, Bonnie LeBeau’s, star quilts. The booth featured a photo of her great-great grandmother, whose son (her great-grandfather) inspired her to become a leatherworker. LeBeau still uses her great grandfather’s leather working tools today and used them to create her pieces for the collection.
Those are your headlines at this hour. I’m Colette Keith in the KIPI News center.
