Discover Native American Minneapolis

During Native American Heritage Month, there are many ways to honor Indigenous culture throughout Minneapolis

Winning the 2022 James Beard Best New Restaurant in the nation, Owamni by the Sioux Chef, has brought Native American cuisine to the forefront of fine dining in the eyes of foodies. Once you’ve secured the prized reservation at this hot spot on the Mississippi riverfront, you’ll want to round out your experience with some more of Minneapolis’ Native and Indigenous community offerings.

Dining

Owamni by The Sioux Chef serves foods that have been decolonized, removing all dairy, wheat, refined sugar, beef, chicken and pork from the menu. They serve dishes with plants, game and fish, primarily from the area, and other North American Indigenous ingredients and methods. The space, built in the ruins of the flour mills that once inhabited the spot, was also sacred ground to the Dakota and Anishinaabe people for at least thousands of years.

Chef Sean Sherman (Oglala Lakota) and co-owner Dana Thompson (lineal descendant of the Wahpeton-Sisseton and Mdewakanton Dakota tribes) hired primarily Native American staff.

Owamni‘s owners also oversee their nonprofit North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NATIFS), where they strive to educate and train others on Indigenous foods and restaurant ownership/management.

In addition to Owamni, here are other places you can try Native American food and beverages in the area:

Indigenous Food Lab Market will open in December 2022, also at Midtown Global Market. Showcasing local and national Indigenous food makers, craft creators and more.

Four Sisters Farmers Market is an Indigenous-focused farmers market centered on providing increased access to affordable, healthy, culturally appropriate local foods within the American Indian Cultural Corridor.

Makwa Coffee opened in Roseville, just north of Minneapolis, in summer 2022.

Gatherings Café (by Executive Chef Brian Yazzie) at the Minneapolis American Indian Center will reopen after a building renovation in 2024; until that time, they’ll focus on feeding elders.

Shopping

Birchbark Books is located near Lake of the Isles and owned by renowned Minnesota author Louise Erdrich (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa), winner of the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (The Night Watchman) and multiple other awards.

Northland Visions is a gallery and retail space selling original items made by Native peoples from the Woodland and Plains tribes of the upper Midwest in what is now Minnesota, the Dakotas, Wisconsin and other northern states, as well as Canada.

Native Roots Trading Post at the Dayton’s Project Winter Maker’s Market in downtown Minneapolis opens Nov. 17 through Jan. 13, 2023.

Museums & Arts

Minnesota History Center – Our Home, Native Minnesota this exhibit encompasses tales of survival, resiliency and adaptation of Native communities in Minnesota.

Historic Fort Snelling shares stories of the Native Americans who lived in this region from its location at the Bdote, “where the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers meet,” a sacred spot for the Dakota people.

Minneapolis Sculpture Garden – Okciyapi (Help Each Other) by Angela Two Stars, is simultaneously a sculptural form, a gathering space and a participatory work that provides a site for visitors to engage with Dakota language.

Minneapolis Institute of Art’s Native American collection includes many items on view in the galleries in this free museum.

Makwa Studio is a creative space with focus on textiles, art and fashion.

Dakota Spirit Walk is an augmented reality art installation by Marlena Myles, located nearby in St. Paul.

Sacred Hoop Walk at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, is an augmented reality art exhibition created by Digital Artist Marlena Myles, a member of the Spirit Lake Dakota Tribe. Visitors can use an app on their mobile phones to view digital images and audio at stops along the walk.

Arts@MSP has an all-digital art gallery at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport featuring Minnesota Ojibwe Artist Jonathan Thunder and his Manifest’o exhibit, located in the terminal connector to Concourse B.

Attractions

Water Works Park (Owamni’s location is in the pavilion) features Dakota names on native plants and other acknowledgements at this sacred location for the Dakota people at St. Anthony Falls.

Mystic Lake – Minnesota’s largest casino, with a hotel and entertainment complex, is owned by Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux community.

Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux community Hoċokata Ti Cultural Center is a cultural gathering space with a public exhibit.

For information, and more ways to celebrate Native American Heritage Month in Minneapolis.

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