As an Indigenous Barbecue Restaurant Takes Shape, Owamni's Founder Has Even Bigger Moves on the Horizon

Eater

a day ago

Take a moment to imagine it: the rich, woody scents of smoked turkey, bison ribs, and whole antelope cooked low and slow wafting down Franklin Avenue. If all goes well, the Twin Cities won't have to fantasize about it. Chef Sean Sherman's latest project, Šhotá Indigenous BBQ by Owamni, aims to bring Indigenous barbecue to the neighborhood very soon.
It's part of a series of big moves for Sherman's nonprofit organization NATIFS (North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems). Just last week, the organization announced that the Indigenous Food Lab market and learning space in Midtown Global Market is closing on Saturday, June 7, in preparation for their move to 2601 Franklin Avenue South, a building formerly known at the old Seward Creamery Co-op Building — now reclaimed and renamed as the Woyute Thipi Building — where Šhotá will also reside. Meanwhile, Sherman has plans in the works to expand the presence of Indigenous Food Labs in the very near future beyond the confines of Minnesota to Bozeman, Montana, and Anchorage, Alaska.
Sherman, who came to prominence under the name the Sioux Chef, and his collaborative projects Indigenous Food Lab and NATIFS have played a major role in not only elevating the stories and experiences of Indigenous people and foodways in the United States but also in pushing forward efforts to improve access to culturally specific foods for Indigenous communities in Minnesota. Each expansion and project plays a role in promoting and deepening that work.
'Barbecue, at its foundation, is really Black and Indigenous'
Šhotá gets its name from the phrase Mni Sóta Makoce, which in the Dakota language means 'the place where the clouds live in the water' or 'smoky water,' evoking the essence of smoked meats. Sherman says that NATIFS is still working on its 'last bits of fundraising and financing,' but anticipates that construction will begin in July on the barbecue restaurant. ('You have to be a little bit scrappy, it might take a little bit longer. We'll just kind of see where it lands,' he says.) The space just needs a facelift, he says, nothing major. Then, hopefully, it will be open in late 2025 or early 2026.
Like his James Beard Award-winning restaurant on the river, Owamni, Šhotá will be run by NATIFS, and utilize decolonized ingredients. That means no dairy, flour, sugar, beef, pork, or chicken. Instead, Šhotá will serve smoked game meats such as elk, bison, and turkey, along with gluten-free cornbread, baked beans using native beans and maple syrup, and sweet potatoes. 'We're not doing whole hogs or anything, but I could see us doing a whole antelope or a whole venison,' says Sherman, adding that he's excited to potentially experiment with meats like possum, iguana, and javelina.
'We want it to feel like a barbecue concept at heart, of course. It's just going to be in our style, which is healthy Indigenous food,' he says. 'We're not using syrupy barbecue sauces made with tons of sugar, but overall, it'll be a concept that people really will understand.'
The restaurant is also an opportunity for Sherman to highlight the connection between Black and Indigenous foodways. 'Barbecue, at its foundation, is really Black and Indigenous.' Sherman's been consulting with fellow James Beard Award-winner, pitmaster Rodney Scott, and hopes exciting partnerships are down the line. Culinary figures like José Andrés, René Redzepi, and Jacques Pépin, have lent support, along with public figures like former Secretary of the Interior and 2026 New Mexico gubernatorial candidate Deb Haaland (a member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe) and actor LeVar Burton.
It's important for Sherman to make sure NATIFS owns its own spaces when it can — a principle of the Land Back Movement. He bought the Seward Creamery Co-op building partly because it was along the American Indian Cultural Corridor, a prominent eight-block stretch where Sherman wants to create an anchor for Indigenous businesses. It was also a good opportunity to rename the building, he says. Now called Wóyute Thipi, meaning 'food building' in Dakota, the former Seward Creamery Co-op was named for William Henry Seward, President Abraham Lincoln's Secretary of State from 1861 to 1869. It was during that administration that Lincoln ordered the executions of 38 Dakota warriors in what is now Mankato, Minnesota — the largest mass execution in U.S. history. Seward also oversaw the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867, a sale of stolen land that further degraded Indigenous sovereignty. 'So his name doesn't need to be on the building. Not at all,' Sherman says.
Since launching the Sioux Chef in 2014, Sherman and his nonprofit have had the wind at their backs with new projects and collaborations. This spring, he published a new cookbook, Turtle Island , a follow-up to his James Beard Award-winning The Sioux Chef's Indigenous Kitchen . But now, Sherman is about to embark on one of his biggest projects yet, making good on a long-stewing vision to increase Indigenous representation in the dining industry and access to decolonized foods for tribal communities, not just within the U.S., but all over North America by expanding Indigenous Food Lab locations.
Sherman plans to open up another Indigenous Food Lab location in Bozeman, Montana, ideally in late 2025 or early 2026. Sherman says they're getting ready to hire for a regional position who will manage the Montana expansion as a NATIFS employee, but with a lot of freedom to build their own team.
Like its Twin Cities location, the Bozeman Indigenous Food Lab will offer food made by Indigenous makers like beans, wild rice, juniper ash, maple syrup, roasted crickets, kelp hot sauce, and teas, alongside game meats like elk and bison. Additionally, it will feature a counter serving tacos and grain bowls. The Bozeman branch will also process and ship wholesale Indigenous foods across the state to tribal communities for greater access to healthy, ancestral, culturally specific foods. Space will be provided for Indigenous food creators to make educational videos and hold cooking classes. Eventually, Sherman says, they'll open up a full-service restaurant in Bozeman. 'That's where the job creation and product movement will really come in. We'll be able to push a ton of food dollars to the producers we want to support. And it'll drive people to be proud and aware of having this Indigenous-focused restaurant in their community.'
NATIFS is also planning to expand the Indigenous Food Lab to Anchorage, Alaska. NATIFS outreach manager, Rob Kinneen, is an Alaska native from the Tlingit tribe and his connections are playing a vital role in establishing the new location. Sherman is hoping for partnerships with community organizations like the Alaska Native Medical Center and the Alaska Native Heritage Center.
'Our goal was to build a nonprofit that was replicable so that we could expand and create support systems in regions everywhere.' Sherman would also like to add a location in Rapid City, South Dakota; it's a site that's especially important to him because it's closer to Pine Ridge Reservation, the fourth largest Native American reservation within U.S. borders. Pine Ridge also happens to be where he grew up.
Other potential sites are also on the horizon: 'We have people in Seattle, Portland, parts of California that are very interested in us. I could see us easily in Albuquerque or Phoenix, and definitely someplace in the Northeast, although I'm not really sure which would be the best pinpoint out there.'
He aims to expand past colonial borders and build deeper partnerships with Indigenous communities in Canada and Mexico. For Sherman, the importance of Indigenous solidarity expands past even this continent. 'I just want to go beyond because we're creating these really strong connections in South America, west and south Africa, and Australia, and New Zealand. There's a lot of opportunity to grow internationally in the future.'
Related Brunch, Decolonized
The biggest challenge, Sherman reiterates, is solidifying funding to grow their staff and start project rollouts. 'We're so close. I was trying to raise six million just to launch this space [for Šhotá], and I still have about one million left, which is not bad for starting in January. But I still have some ways to go.'
Sherman's dreams are sky-high even in the best of climates, but it's hard to ignore that the Trump administration's budget cuts to DEI initiatives at universities, environmental programs, projects aimed at reducing racial inequities, and tribal programs might make Sherman's plans difficult, even though NATIFS doesn't rely too much on government funds. Still, Sherman has hope in NATIFS and its partners' abilities to weather the storm and keep creating transformative projects. 'It's not a friendly environment for people of color under this administration. But regardless of who is in office, the work remains the same, and we're going to keep doing it.'
Šhotá Indigenous BBQ by Owamni is headed to 2601 Franklin Avenue, planned for a late 2025 or early 2026 opening.
Sign up for our newsletter.