[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 88 (Friday, May 20, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E546]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            HONORING OWAMNI

                                  _____
                                 

                            HON. ILHAN OMAR

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, May 20, 2022

  Ms. OMAR. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Owamni, its visionary 
founder Sean Sherman, the Sioux Chef, and co-owner Dana Thompson. 
Through years of extensive studies and direct engagement with Tribal 
communities, Mr. Sherman and Ms. Thompson have become two of the 
nation's foremost Indigenous food scholars. Their tireless drive to 
learn and share our region's culinary history has breathed new life 
into indigenous cooking--a history that had been stolen through 
generations of oppression and forced assimilation. Their unparalleled 
scholarship and advocacy in the food sovereignty movement has led their 
inaugural restaurant, Owamni, to be nominated for the prestigious James 
Beard Award for Best New Restaurant. I am so proud to represent 
Owamni--and the mission it represents--in Congress.
  Owamni's decolonized dining experience is more than just spectacular 
food--it is a reclaiming of who and what Minnesota was for thousands of 
years before it was given this Anglicized name. It is a deeply 
thoughtful remembrance of Mni Sota down to the name Owamni, which 
derives from the Dakota name for the swirling waters at the base of 
what European settlers named St. Anthony Falls. Owamni is a celebration 
of what is native to this home: the plants, the animals, and culture 
that is our beloved State in the deepest sense.
  As we reexamine the story settlers have told about Minnesota, Owamni 
serves as an example of what we gain by telling the truth about this 
land and its people, both past and present. I am grateful that the 
James Beard Foundation has named Owamni one of the country's Best New 
Restaurants, and I look forward to the continued success of Mr. 
Sherman, Ms. Thompson, and Owamni.

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