David W. "Famous Dave" Anderson, best known as the founder of the

Famous Dave's Famous Dave's of America is a chain of barbecue restaurants primarily located in the Midwestern United States, serving pork ribs, chicken, beef brisket, and several flavors of barbecue sauce. Dave Anderson, an Ojibwe-Choctaw who served as the ...

and Old Southern BBQ Smokehouse restaurant chains, is a former Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs in the George W. Bush administration. As Assistant Secretary, he had jurisdiction over the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Office of Indian Education Programs (now the Bureau of Indian Education). Anderson is a Choctaw and

Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

, and lives in

Edina, Minnesota Edina ( ) is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States and a first-ring suburb of Minneapolis. The population was 53,494 at the 2020 census, making it the 18th most populous city in Minnesota. Edina began as a small farming and mil ...

. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up there as well as on reservations in

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. Famous Dave Anderson now travels the country speaking and is the author of several award-winning books.

Philanthropy

In 2001, Anderson and his family founded The LifeSkills Center for Leadership, a

501(c)3 A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 5 ...

which provided leadership experiences to at-risk and underprivileged Native American youths.

Personal life

Dave Anderson lives in Edina, Minnesota with his wife Kathy. He has two kids, James (married to Colleen, née Bubb) and Tim, both residing in Minneapolis. His family still owns and enjoys property in

Hayward, Wisconsin Hayward is a city in Sawyer County, Wisconsin, United States, next to the Namekagon River. The population was 2,318 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Sawyer County. The city is surrounded by the Town of Hayward. History Early h ...

, beside the LCO Reservation.

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Choctaw people Ojibwe people Businesspeople from Chicago Harvard University alumni American restaurateurs George W. Bush administration personnel United States Bureau of Indian Affairs personnel People from Hayward, Wisconsin Minnesota Republicans Wisconsin Republicans {{US-business-bio-stub