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- [Lidia] I meet Sean in 
downtown Minneapolis at Owamni,

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an upscale restaurant showcasing 
the fruits of Sean's labor.

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(gentle music)

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- This is a white sweet potato,

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grilled and seared, 
topped with our maple

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chili crisp oil and 
fresh scallions.

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- So we have things 
like this true wild rice

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that comes from Minnesota.

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We have a wonderful 
hominy and bison stew.

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And we've got some 
tepary bean dip.

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We've got fresh made tostadas

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that we make ourselves 
from native corns.

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We've got some roasted bison.

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And just a whole 
bunch of ingredients,

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everything from crickets, 
to puffed rice, to sauces,

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to wild foods that are 
right outside the window.

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- So nutritionally, this 
is really balanced here.

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- Absolutely.

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Becoming a chef, I 
learned Italian cuisine,

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I learned Spanish, 
I learned French,

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I learned all these things.

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But I realized at 
a certain point

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that these are all 
colonial food bases.

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And I really knew nothing 
about my own heritage food,

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because our foods was taken 
from us in the colonial history.

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So I wanted to try and showcase

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that there's so much 
beautiful bounty here

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in North America to talk about,

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that's not European influenced.

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- Food is culture, 
food is who we are.

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- Absolutely.

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- And food tells a 
story from the way back.

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- Why don't we just put together 
a couple of these tacos,

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'cause this might look like

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what you might 
call Mexican food,

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But Mexican cuisine,

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it's way more indigenous than 
it is European influenced.

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Because we have things like the 
nixtamalized corn tortillas,

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and we have things like 
chilies, and beans, and squash.

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And then I'm just gonna build

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a couple of little tacos for us.

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So this is a chili 
and maple sauce.

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- Chili and maple sauce? 
- Yep.

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- And what are you 
putting on now?

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- [Sean] This is 
some braised bison

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that's cooked with cedar.

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- [Lidia] Wow, that's 
a lot of bison.

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- And then this is just a 
little bit of fresh cedar too.

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So I like to, just to 
put a little tiny bit.

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- So you, like us Italians,

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we use a lot of fresh 
herbs, and bay leaves,

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and rosemary, the little bushes.

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You're using the cedar 
in the same fashion.

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- [Sean] Yeah.

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Just take a quick taste of this.

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- Absolutely. 
- Okay.

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(gentle music)

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- Delicious. 
- Um hm.

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- A nice spice.

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There's some nice acidity.

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- Some crunch. 
- Um hm.

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- We're not trying to 
cook like the past.

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We're not trying to 
cook like it's 1491.

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We're not a museum 
piece, you know.

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We're trying to showcase 
what's possible for the future,

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what's possible for 
now moving forward.

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And so we want to get 
this food directly out

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to the indigenous 
communities to help curb

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a lot of the health 
epidemics that are out there

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with high rates of obesity, 
heart disease, diabetes.

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And some of our 
communities have upwards

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to 60% type two diabetes

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because of the poor 
nutrition that's out there.

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And the restaurant's just a 
place to help move this food,

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to create jobs and skills 
for people to develop,

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to create more restaurants and 
more workers in the industry.

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And to just, you know, 
try to figure out

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how do we create more 
food distribution,

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more education around this food.

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- [Lidia] What 
should I taste next?

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- [Sean] This is a 
tepary bean spread.

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And really cool bean because 
it's drought resistant,

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and it grows wild.

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- That's a tepary? 
- Tepary.

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As we're going through 
a lot of water crisis

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in North America, 
this could be a crop

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that could be really 
important to us.

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(gentle music)

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- Delicious.

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The sensibility, you know, as 
a chef, you like it mellow,

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you like it acidic, 
you like it sweet,

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you like it, the 
texture, crunchy.

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- We're creating something new.

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You know, we're 
creating something

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that should already be here.

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But we're doing it 
for the intention

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of this next generation.

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So when this next 
generation grows up,

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they're gonna see 
it being normal

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to see Native American 
restaurants out there,

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to see Native American 
food products.

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And being able to have 
access to eat them,

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and knowing what 
their body feels like

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when you're eating this 
healthy, beautiful food.

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And we're trying to do something 
to really set the stage

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for making massive change 
that's gonna be good

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for all of us as 
we move forward.