TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Mashpee Wampanoag

PANEL TITLE: Savoring Native Food Wisdom

BIOGRAPHY
Sherry Pocknett (born 1960) is a Mashpee Wampanoag chef and caterer. She is the owner of the Sly Fox Den Too restaurant in Charlestown, Rhode Island. In 2023, Pocknett received the James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Northeast. She is the first Indigenous woman to be honored by the James Beard Foundation.

Pocknett grew up on Cape Cod; she is the daughter of Native American rights advocate and Mashpee Wampanoag Chief Sly Fox, Vernon Pocknett. She grew up cooking with her family who from the early 1970s until 2000, operated and owned The Flume Restaurant in Mashpee on Cape Cod. Her uncle, Chief Flying Eagle, Earl Mills, Sr. was a chef, while her grandmother, Delscena Hendricks, served as master baker and chef. Prior to opening her restaurant, Pocknett worked as a caterer, handling many tribal social events, including the annual powwow, and worked as food and beverage director at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center in Connecticut. Pocketnett has two daughters, Jade and Cheyenne Pocknett-Galvin.

Pocknett opened Sly Fox Den Too in June 2021 in Charlestown. The restaurant specializes in Eastern Woodland Indigenous cuisine and is named after Pocknett's father. The "too" in the name was added due to Pocknett planning to open a flagship location in Preston, Connecticut that will include a living Native American Museum and oyster farm. At Sly Fox Den Too, Pocknett utilizes seasonal, indigenous, and foraged ingredients and Indigenous culinary practices.

In 2022, Sherry Pocknett received an Artist2Artist Fellowship grant from the Art Matters Foundation for Sly Fox Den.

Connect with Sherry

Sly Fox Den Restaurant

UPCOMING DAWNLAND FESTIVAL OF ARTS & IDEAS

Organized by the Abbe Museum, the Dawnland Festival of Arts & Ideas is a unique multi-day event is an evolution of our popular Abbe Museum Indian Market (AMIM) and Native American Festival that featured invitation-only Native arts markets and performances. The Dawnland Festival of Arts & Ideas includes those elements but will also spotlight conversations by Wabanaki and other Indigenous leaders on some of the biggest questions of our time, including climate, democracy, and food systems.

The Dawnland Festival of Arts & Ideas is FREE and open to the public.

This event is supported in part by grants from the Henry Luce Foundation and Maine Office of Tourism, along with a partnership from the College of the Atlantic.