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Author Talk: Crystal Wahpepah @North

Join Crystal Wahpepah for a discussion of her new cookbook, A Feather and a Fork:125 Intertribal Dishes from an Indigenous Food Warrior.

About A Feather and a Fork:

Somewhere between convenience and consumption, we lost our connection to food and the land it comes from. The rise of corporate agriculture has not only damaged our environment but has also eroded our physical and emotional well-being. Acclaimed Indigenous chef, Crystal Wahpepah has devoted her life to restoring that connection. Through her healing dishes and community work, she champions the movement for food sovereignty. In her first cookbook, A FEATHER AND A FORK: 125 Intertribal Dishes from an Indigenous Food
Warrior (Rodale, on sale March 17, 2025) Wahpepah offers a reconnection to the foodways that have nourished Indigenous people for generations.
Founder of Wahpepah’s Kitchen in Oakland—the first Native woman-owned restaurant in California— Wahpepah continues her mission to revitalize Indigenous cuisine and honor the ingredients that sustain both body and land. A FEATHER AND A FORK is a telling of Indigenous history through food, drawing on wisdom passed down through generations into contemporary cuisine. Her recipes celebrate local, seasonal foods such as wild rice, bison, berries, corn, and beans. Recipes include:
- Three Sisters Veggie Bowls
- Sweet Blue Cornbread with Huckleberry Compote
- Indigenous Popcorn Balls with Edible Flowers
- Strawberry-Sumac Salad with Maple-Sage Vinaigrette
- Bison Roast with Chokeberry Rub
- Smoked Salmon Dip with Red Chilies and Chips
- Acorn Muffins, and much more
In collaboration with ethnobotanist and food sovereignty advocate Linda Black Elk to explore the environmental, spiritual, physical, and social benefits of each dish as well as raise awareness of and support for indigenous food producers who are preserving heirloom foods and traditions.

About Crystal Wahpepah:

Crystal Wahpepah is a registered member of the Kickapoo Nation of Oklahoma. She is the creative tour de force behind the inventive, healthy, and delicious dishes served at her restaurant, Wahpepah’s Kitchen, in Oakland, CA. She is an inductee into the Native American Almanac, was a finalist for the James Beard Emerging Chef Award, and has appeared on National Geographic's Queens, CBS’s The Dish, Food Network’s Chopped and Beating Bobby Flay. She serves as a U.S. State Department culinary ambassador and has catered for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and for the American Indian Film Festival.

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