Asking for help doesn’t come easily, but after everything we’ve been through, we’re choosing to lean on our community and keep fighting for the dream we started.

We are an Indigenous, family-owned restaurant, and this business is how we keep our family afloat. We bought our restaurant in 2019 with hope, pride, and big plans—only for COVID to hit shortly after. Like so many small businesses, we were forced into survival mode, doing everything we could just to stay afloat while the world shut down. Once things reopened, we secured a small restaurant to rent as our building we owned was not turn-key ready and required lots of renovations. As we were beginning to regain our footing, our family faced another life-changing challenge when my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. Our focus shifted to her health and treatments while still trying to hold our business together and provide for our family. The small diner seemed like a great success; within our time there, she won James Beard Northeast's Best Chef 2023, and our following expanded greatly. Unfortunately, in January 2025, after almost 5 years at that building, we were forced to close due to poor treatment by the landlord of the building. We have continued to hold on the best we can through our catering business and Native American Pow Wow food stand.

Then we experienced another devastating loss: our food trailer—something we invested in to help save and expand our restaurant—was stolen. That loss didn’t just hurt financially; it took away opportunity, momentum, and years of hard work we had poured into building a better future. As many may know, we use this trailer to provide food for our annual Powwow season. We travel along the Powwow trail throughout the months of July to September. Doing this will be very difficult this year seeing as we hardly have a quarter of our equipment that we need. We have been striving to do what we can to rebuild our stand and hope to be fully functional for the community in time for Powwow season.

Right now, we’re trying to recoup what was stolen from us while also rebuilding and expanding our restaurant so we can move forward instead of constantly struggling to survive. The funds raised will go toward replacing the stolen food trailer and equipment, covering essential operating expenses, and helping stabilize and grow our family business.

This restaurant represents more than food. It represents resilience, culture, family, and survival. For us, this isn’t just a business—it’s our livelihood and our legacy.

Any support—whether through a donation, sharing this page, or words of encouragement—means more than we can express. Thank you for believing in Indigenous-owned businesses, in community, and in second chances.

Sly Fox Den isn’t just a restaurant—it’s our family’s livelihood. We’re an Indigenous, family-owned business, and this is how we survive.

Thank you for standing with our family