Owamni — the James Beard Award-winning Indigenous restaurant in Minneapolis co-founded by Chef Sean Sherman — is evolving.
Not only is it moving into the Guthrie Theater overlooking the Mississippi River this spring — but it will also take a new name: Indígena by Owamni.
The restaurant continues to operate under Sherman’s nonprofit North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems, or NATIFS, which works to reclaim and restore Indigenous health and foodways.
Sherman says the name change, announced Tuesday, is about growth, not reinvention.
“It’s just an evolution of what we are,” he told MPR News. “We didn’t want people to have exactly the same expectations, to expect it to be exactly the same, because it’s not going to be — it’s going to be something bigger. It’s going to be something broader.”
Sherman explained the name Indígena — pronounced “in-DEE-hay-na” — draws from the Spanish word for Indigenous and references its Latin root meaning “born of the land.”
He said the name is a way to reach across colonial borders — an acknowledgment that Indigenous peoples in North America share a history in common.
“While English and Spanish are colonial languages, they are also bridge languages that allow Indigenous communities across Turtle Island to connect, exchange knowledge and share culinary traditions,” Sherman said.
The sentiment expressed by the name change carries a particular weight in the wake of immigration enforcement operations that shook communities across Minnesota. Sherman said the new name is an act of solidarity.
“Indigenous peoples have always been here,” Sherman said. “These colonial lines have crossed us.”
The menu will reflect the new name. Sherman noted that Indígena will build on culinary traditions already central to Owamni’s kitchen — corn processed using nixtamal, masa, handmade tortillas — foods that span Indigenous communities from Mexico to the Great Lakes.
“We’ve always done that work,” he said.
Indígena will also offer steaks, and larger cuts of game such as bison, elk, and venison. And it will include a full oyster bar and expanded seafood offerings.
The new space — announced last fall — is no small upgrade. With 204 indoor seats and roughly 100 more on the patio, it’s double the size of Owamni’s original location — a move Sherman says was overdue.
“We probably outgrew the original space from the day we opened,” Sherman said.
Chef Joseph Shawana, a friend and former board member of Sherman’s non-profit NATIFS, will join as Chef in Residence for the first three months. The new restaurant also anticipates adding about 50 employees, for a staff of 150.
The new restaurant is expected to open in late spring.
