A decade ago, Ben Jacobs opened the doors to Tocabe, American Indian Eatery in Denver, Colorado.

Over the course of his entrepreneurial career, Lance Gumbs has succeeded as a club venue operator and DJ, as well as a proprietor of a gift shop, smoke shop, delicatessen and café.

Chef Sean Sherman, the Oglala Lakota founder of “The Sioux Chef,” is on a mission. He wants to help indigenous peoples across the world reclaim their ancestral food knowledge, while creating sustainable economies around indigenous foodways.

Karlene Hunter and her business partner Mark Tilsen founded Native American Natural Foods on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation more than 10 years ago.

Three years ago, Lee Meisel opened Leeway Franks, a beloved sausage shop and restaurant in Lawrence, Kansas. Meisel and his “tight-knit crew” of employees make the all-natural, locally sourced frankfurters, bratwursts and sausages in-house.

Thomas Begay (Navajo, Hopi) had to overcome a series of logistical challenges to launch Chief Burgers, a gourmet burger and picadilly business on wheels, based in Window Rock, Arizona, on the Navajo Nation reservation.