IN THE NEWS
JULY 10, 2024 | POLITICO
Weed drinks are everywhere in Minnesota. Other states are now embracing them.
State lawmakers — some with no clue what they were doing — voted with little fanfare two years ago to partially legalize cannabis. Many had missed a provision, tucked into a massive health care policy bill, permitting the sale of low-potency, hemp-derived beverages.
JUNE 21, 2024 | HEAVY TABLE
AT HOME WITH HETI LOW-DOSE THC-INFUSED BOTANICAL BEVERAGES
Heti is a new startup from Dana Thompson, a co-creator of Owamni restaurant, NĀTIFS (North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems) nonprofit, and the Indigenous Food Lab. But she left those organizations in 2023 for a new journey: Heti low-dose THC-infused botanical beverages. Thompson is a direct descendant of the Sisseton Wahpeton and Mdewakanton Dakota tribes, and her experiences feed directly into Heti Products.
JUNE 13, 2024 | MSP MAGAZINE
40 Eats Under $40: Heti and Nightingale
Dana Thompson is an original Twin Cities arts star and Indigenous entrepreneur. You might have seen her on stage at the Loring Block Party as a musician back in the day, or you might know her as a founder of Owamni and the Indigenous Food Lab, which she left last year. Her newest endeavor is Heti, a botanical-focused THC and CBD line of beverages launched in April 2024. She has plans to eventually debut gummies, and perhaps more in the future.
MAY 30, 2024 | RACKET
Weed Weviews: 4 Things I Tried in May
This new weed bubbly showcases Minnesota plants and flavors. It’s yet another excellent Indigenous-focused venture from Dana Thompson, co-founder of Owamni, The Sioux Chef, and NĀTIFS (North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems).
MAY 8, 2024 | FAST COMPANY
This cannabis seltzer from a Minnesota restaurateur pays tribute to Indigenous ancestry
Dana Thompson has spent much of the past decade thinking about food—be it advocating for food sovereignty or as cofounder of Minneapolis-based Owamni, which won the James Beard Award for best new restaurant in 2022. Now, she’s turned her attention to beverages, with a new line of low-dose THC/CBD cannabis seltzers called Heti.
MAY 6, 2024 | DULUTH NEWS TRIBUNE
Duluth East grad up to big things, inspired by Indigenous roots
Musical endeavors, food sovereignty and housing security for Indigenous communities are just a few passions Dana Thompson has pursued since graduating from Duluth East High School.
APRIL 10, 2024 | MPLS STAR TRIBUNE
Why an award-winning Minnesota restaurateur is getting into the THC beverage business
Dana Thompson vividly recalls the rough texture and distinctive tinny taste of river rocks she'd find while adventuring Minnesota as a child, encouraged by her mother to experience the world using all of her senses. It was in looking back and relishing nature — from its soothing sounds and even its stony flavors — that Thompson embarked on her newest adventure.
APRIL 10, 2024 | TRIBAL BUSINESS NEWS
Owamni co-founder launches social impact beverage brand rooted in Indigenous values
Entrepreneur Dana Thompson (Wahpeton-Sisseton, Mdewakanton Dakota), co-founder of the award-winning Owamni restaurant in Minneapolis, has launched a new social impact company and adult beverage brand called “Heti.” Thompson wants Heti, which means “home” in the Dakota language, to serve as an umbrella covering both products and social projects. The idea is that products like Heti’s THC seltzers can support infrastructure improvements or new housing on tribal land, for example.
APRIL 2, 2024 | CBS NEWS
New beverage brand Heti features Indigenous botanicals
Founder Dana Thompson talks about what goes into Heti, and how it gives back.
MARCH 28, 2024 | KARE 11
For 'Heti' beverage brand, Dana Thompson pulls from her roots
Heti means "home" in the Dakota language. When naming her new business, Dana Thompson found the word to be a perfect fit.
MARCH 27, 2024 | RED LAKE NATION NEWS
First-of-its-kind adult beverage and Indigenous social impact brand Heti coming soon from restaurateur Dana Thompson
A new hemp-derived, low-dose THC/CBD cannabis seltzer featuring the Indigenous botanicals of North America is coming next month to Minnesota. Dana Thompson, an award-winning creator and leader in the Indigenous food sovereignty movement, is launching the new social-impact adult beverage brand Heti (pronounced heh-tee).
MARCH 14, 2024 | BBC NEWS
A national awakening to the Great Plains' gourmet bounty
At Owamni and The Modern Indigenous, Thompson's newest venture in Minneapolis, the emerald-hued oil cuts through the bold flavours of squash soups or braised rabbit with palate-cleansing astringency. Thompson also harkens back to Indigenous preservation methods to smoke meat and vegetables with tree bark, grasses and leaves. ‘Just because a plant is non-edible doesn't mean we can't use it in the kitchen – it might be perfect for smoking, curing or colouring,’ she said.
FEBRUARY 26, 2024 | MIDWEST HOME
SEEKING SERENITY IN TWIN CITIES ENTREPRENEUR DANA THOMPSON’S PRIMARY BATHROOM
If you’re a Minnesotan with a love of ’90s music or taste for Indigenous flavors,
the name Dana Thompson might strike a chord. A lineal descendant of the Sisseton-
Wahpeton and Mdewakanton Dakota tribes, Thompson is a mother, musician, co-founder of several nonprofits, and, perhaps most famously, the former co-owner of The Sioux Chef—a time during which she co-founded Owamni, the 2022 James Beard Award winner for Best New Restaurant.
SEPTEMBER 26, 2022 | TOTAL FOOD
Dana Thompson Q&A
There’s all these different types of foods all over North America. And so, our work is to go and to look into these other communities and say, what do you want? How much access do you have to your ancestral foods? … What resources do you need? What barriers are there for you to access your own ancestral foods?
SEPTEMBER 14, 2022 | BLOOMBERG
Indigenous American Chefs Are Drawing Crowds, Hoping Funding Follows
Success brings responsibility—including educating people about the lasting effect of colonization on Indigenous food. Thompson says: “There’s so much beauty and sustainability and an incredible wealth of knowledge that people have been missing.
FEBRUARY 2024 | SWEET JULY MAGAZINE
Fuelers of the Indigenous Food Movement
“The ravages of colonialism and racism propelled widespread erasure of Indigenous culture. As a result, it's quite commonplace for communities across the country to not know much about the food native to the continent we live on, and how it inspires what we eat daily. Leaders of an ongoing Indigenous food sovereignty movement have stepped in to help, using food to reclaim their heritage and familiarize people with the Indigenous practices that have helped shape American cuisine.”
”Dana Thompson (lineal descendant: Mdewakaton Dakota, Sisseton Wahpeton) is one of the most influential drivers of the Indigenous food movement. Thompson partnered with her cofounder to build their brand, The Sioux Chef, which later developed into an eponymous cookbook and is behind the James Beard award-winning restaurant Owamni in Minneapolis. She's also behind the nonprofit North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NATIFS).
“Although she remains the cofounder of NATIFS and Owamni, Thompson is pursuing new projects. She's developing a social impact brand, Heti, that will build awareness of the health of ancestral foods and integrate job skills and wealth in tribal communities, with a focus on women. Launching in early 2024, Heti will begin by releasing a line of THC and CBD-infused herbal drinks inspired by Indigenous plant medicine.
"Historically, Indigenous communities had a deep reverence for women," said Thompson. "They were revered as healers, seed keepers, craftswomen, and the heart of the community, but the trauma of genocide and the [forced] residential schools created a trampling of the female spirit. Because of this, I intend to spend all of my energy with the support of my own ancestors to continue to lift up Indigenous women."
OCTOBER 11, 2021 | BBC NEWS
With a Menu of Indigenous Ingredients, Owamni Is a Must-Visit Dining Destination
Owamni is one of the most exciting new restaurants in the country, and to say it is a sacred place is no exaggeration. Burning sage before each shift is one way the staff sets the tone. “We use it for ceremony,” Thompson says, “to create a sacred space and set intentions.
2021 | NEW YORK TIMES
The Restaurant List
The menu at Owamni … highlights ingredients from Native American producers, like local venison sausages, green salad with toasted crickets and smoked Lake Superior trout served with seasonal berry wojape. And you won’t find items that … represent white settlers’ colonization of the country’s diet, like dairy and wheat flour.
DECEMBER 4, 2020 | NEW YORK TIMES
What Comfort Food Looks Like to People Around the World
I feel a sense of connection to the land around me. My chest is filled with the memories of being loved and nourished, of having a shared experience, not only with my mom, but with the land itselF.