Owamni: Decolonizing culinary arts
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Nika Bartoo-Smith
Underscore News + ICT
Nestled inside a modern building in the Mill District of Minneapolis, Minnesota, overlooking the Mississippi River and the Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dams, sits a bustling restaurant with a competitive reservation list. As the host brings diners through the front doors of the restaurant, songs by Indigenous musicians play over the speakers and a sign to the right of the door with red neon letters reads, “You are on Native land.” To the left of the door is a ledge with a hand drum with the words, “Land Back,” written in red on it. The drum sits atop a folded wool blanket next to a bundle of sage and dried camas, with a dreamcatcher hanging up above.
Welcome to Owamni, home to modern Indigenous cuisine.
The name Owamni comes from the Dakta word “Owámniyomni,” a name for St. Anthony Falls that means turbulent water, whirlpool or eddy, according to the Owamni website. The St. Anthony Falls are important to Dakota people, which is shown in one of the Dakota names for the Mississippi River, “ȟaȟáwakpá,” which means the river of the falls. St. Anthony Falls is also the only natural major waterfall on the Mississippi River and Owamni overlooks it.
Once seated at Owamni, ideally with a view looking out the window at the Mississippi river and the Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dams, diners are given a menu showcasing the seasonal dishes of Indigenous foods from across what colonial powers consider the United States. At each seat is a letter from Sean Sherman, also known as "The Sioux Chef," and founder of Owamni, describing the philosophy of the restaurant.
A hand drum with a braid of sweet grass resting on top and the words “Land Back” written across the front sits on a ledge at the entrance to Owamni. (Photo by Nika Bartoo-Smith Underscore News / ICT)
“At Owamni, we look at the world through a decolonized lens — which to us, is simple,” the letter reads. “The Indigenous perspective on the history of America is to acknowledge the centuries of intense violence, dislocation, forced assimilation, segregation and cultural erasure that has happened to our cultures and communities.”
The Sioux Chef
Born and raised on the Pine Ridge Reservation, Sherman, Oglala Lakota, started working in restaurants at 13-years-old. He landed his first chef job by the time he was 27.
Sherman cooked many different types of cuisine throughout his early years as a chef and he quickly noticed a pattern: the absence of Indigenous foods in the culinary world.
“I realized I didn’t even know that much about Indigenous foods even though I grew up on the reservation,” Sherman said. “So it set me on a path to try and understand all of those pieces.”
For the next few years, Sherman began to learn what he could about Indigenous foods. This meant researching what his ancestors ate, finding out what plants were harvested and what animals were eaten, including how different parts of the animal were prepared. He also connected with Indigenous seed keepers around the country, learning more about first foods and who is still cultivating them.
“What was our pantry?,” Sherman asked himself. “And then kind of rebuilding my knowledge of what is an Indigenous pantry today?”
As he committed to expanding his knowledge and learning more about Indigenous foods, Sherman quickly began to build a name for himself. In 2011, Sherman began experimenting with Indigenous foods and hosting his first all Indigenous dinners. By 2014, he started his own company, The Sioux Chef. In 2017, he released his James Beard Award-Winning cookbook, “The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen,” written with Beth Dooley. A few years later, in 2021, Sherman opened Owamni, creating a home for modern Indigenous flavors. In 2022, Owamni won the James Beard Award for best new restaurant.
“The philosophy really became about decolonizing our food ways and understanding what that even means because my philosophy around decolonization isn’t pretending colonization didn’t happen,” Sherman said. “Our philosophy also took on removing colonial ingredients to understand what it means to have Indigenous foods. So, looking at what are the true foods of North America?”
The Owamni experience
Once seated at Owamni, diners look over a seasonal menu filled with flavors from Indigenous communities across the country. Servers wear shirts with the words, “#86colonialism,” written across the back and many shout, “Miigwech,” to patrons as they leave.This means, “Thank you,” in Ojibwe.
The interior of the restaurant is brightly lit with exposed wood and brickwork for an atmosphere of modern fine dining. Seats at the bar offer diners a chance to watch the cooks at work plating food that could be mistaken for works of art in the kitchen.
“It’s okay for us to be a little boujee,” Sherman told ICT.
The 2023 fall menu at Owamni featured a wide array of options: seven wathótho, or plant, dishes; seven thadó, or game, dishes; three wakšíka thanka, to share, dishes; and two skúya, or sweet, dishes.
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The “True Wild Rice” came out in a steamy bowl, nutty and flavorful, hand harvested by Indigenous farmers. The “Tepary Bean Dip” arrived sprinkled with pumpkin seeds and served with wild rice crackers on the side. A rich, almost purple color, the dip is perfectly salty and creamy.
The “Shaved Bison Picanha,” from the fall menu at Owamni, arrived as a carefully arranged dish. Sitting on top of bison shaved paper thin, roasted berries, pickles, squash aioli, cured duck yolk and pumpkin oil adorned the plate. (Photo by Nika Bartoo-Smith Underscore News / ICT)
The “Superior White Fish Cakes,” a mix of white fish and smoked walleye, came served with crabapple butter and wojapi, a Lakota berry sauce. The sweet sauces complimented the umami flavors of the fish. Shaved as thin as paper and plated with roasted berries, pickles, squash aioli, cured duck yolk and pumpkin oil, the flavors in the “Shaved Bison Picanha” balanced each other beautifully. A mix of savory, tangy and sweat, it is a meat dish that essentially melts in the mouth.
For dessert, the “Pawpaw Custard” offered a rich, creamy flavor with a delicious squash caramel and fermented berry dust on top. The addition of crushed berries added a nice crunch to this dessert.
The menu also showcases a wide selection of zero proof cocktails and Indigenous teas. For those interested in an alcoholic beverage to compliment the food, the beer and wine menu features dozens of options all from BIPOC and women producers.
Beyond showcasing Indigenous recipes and flavors, Owamni goes even further to decolonize food by offering a menu with no colonial ingredients. That means no beef, pork, chicken, dairy, wheat flour or cane sugar.
The “Elk Beans,” from the fall menu at Owamni, were served topped with tortilla strips and sprouts. The dish, made with tepary beans, felt comforting and hearty. (Photo by Nika Bartoo-Smith Underscore News / ICT)
“The goal of this restaurant is to showcase modern Indigenous foods,” the letter from Sherman at each table setting reads. “This approach offers a different story of American cooking than the Eurocentric one that is traditionally touted - instead celebrating the amazing Indigenous diversity of Turtle Island.”
Part of decolonizing for Sherman also means purchasing ingredients from Indigenous vendors — first regional and then national.
“We’re able to push tons of money into these Indigenous food producers,” Sherman said.
Accessible Native foods
Founded by Sherman in 2017, the North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NĀTIFS) nonprofit acquired ownership of Owamni in September 2023.A big year for the organization, NĀTIFS also opened the Indigenous Food Lab in Midtown Global Market in Minneapolis, Minnesota in May of 2023. Through NĀTIFS, Sherman and other staff are committed to addressing the health crisis and economic disparities affecting Native communities.
“We imagine a new North American food system that generates wealth and improves health in Native communities through food-related enterprises,” the NĀTIFS website says.
Owamni is part of this not only through the food served, but also by generating job opportunities for Native people interested in the culinary world. In the summertime, the restaurant employs around 100 people, according to Sherman.
Since it opened in May, the Indigenous Food Lab is working toward the nonprofit’s goals in other ways. The lab serves as a professional Indigenous kitchen and training center. Beyond that, the lab also has a hot food bar and grab and go serving foods such as tepary bean chili and a build-your-own Indigenous grain bowl.
The Indigenous Food Lab is also a marketplace showcasing 30 Indigenous creators.Items for sale include spice mixes, jewelry, skincare products, books, wild rice and more.
Phase one of NĀTIFS’ vision was launching the Indigenous Food Lab. Now, the nonprofit is moving on to phase two, creating regional Indigenous food access. This means working with Native communities to create satellite Indigenous kitchens across the country. The likely next location is set to be Boseman, Montana, according to Sherman.
As Sherman works to make his vision come true, he hopes that one day Indigenous foods will once again be easily accessible all across Turtle Island.
“There should be Native restaurants all over the place and that’s the vision we are working to create a reality,” Sherman said.
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