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our all natural line is p r o du ce d w it h TAPIOCA SYRUP O n the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, 90 miles from the nearest city and the third poorest county in the U.S., a team of Native Americans are revitalizing their nation by returning to their roots and believing in the strength of the buffalo. Inspiration Karlene Hunter, a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, has spent more than 25 years working on educational and economic development on the Pine Ridge Reservation, an area with steep unemployment and rampant obesity. In 2007, Hunter and her business partner Mark Tilsen started Native American Natural Foods, producing a line of buffalo products made on the reservation, including Tanka Bar, Tanka Bites, Tanka Dogs and Tanka Wild. Their goal was to build a national brand strong enough to improve the diets, economy and lives of the 35,000 tribal members. "More than 100 years ago, the Lakota [Indians] were put on this reservation and our whole way of life was taken away," Hunter says. "The buffalo provided our economic needs. In order to revitalize our culture, we had to revitalize who we were and where we came from." She continues: "We looked at all the land around us and thought, Why aren't we using this?" They started by creating a bar based on a traditional food called wasna, a pounded mix of dried buffalo meat and berries. "People said you have to use phosphates. Our people never did. We hit on how we can do it naturally by going back to our roots and relying on our buffalo nation again—on what we knew made us a strong, vibrant culture. Then we revamped it to today's society," Hunter explains. The buffalo are raised on open grassland, and there is no use of low-level antibiotics, hormones, drug residues or preservatives. The natural foods market took notice, and Hunter landed an account with Whole Foods in 2011. A year earlier, Hunter was named the recipient of the Cliff Adler Heart in Business Award, one of the natural foods industry's top honors, proving that she and her team had made their mark. Impact handmade in the usa 5735 n. washington st. denver, colorado 80216 1.888.candy.99 hammondscandies.com natural products expo west booth 5257 sweets & snacks expo, chicago booth 1290 To date, the company has created 18 fulltime positions, educated hundreds of young people about the history, sustainability and health benefits of lean buffalo, and put hundreds of thousands of dollars back into the community "The buffalo provided our through the purchase of buffalo meat. economic needs. In order "These are career positions," Hunter to revitalize our culture, we asserts. And each job has a ripple effect. "When you come from 70 percent unemployhad to revitalize who we ment, one job makes a huge dent in your comwere and where we came munity. We have ladies that are employed from. We looked at all the here who then hire babysitters. We're turning land around us and thought, the dollar over more than once." They've also created the Tanka 501c3, Why aren't we using this?" a charitable fund that allows consumers to 30 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE ❘ specialtyfood.com PHOTO: NATIVE AMERICAN NATURAL FOODS CORN ORN SYRUP YRUP 2013 LEADERSHIP AWARD: VISION Karlene Hunter, CEO and Co-founder, Native American Natural Foods