Indigenous Food Warriors with Chef Crystal Wahpepah

Guest Host Sara Moncada sits down with Chef Crystal Wahpepah in Wahpepah’s Kitchen, her newly opened Native-owned restaurant in Oakland, California. In a wide-ranging and intimate conversation, they discuss Crystal’s vision of what it means to be an Indigenous Food Warrior: nourishing community through cooking and serving Native foods and educating the next generation on the power and beauty of traditional Indigenous food systems. From her work as a traveling caterer to opening her first restaurant in the heart of the Bay Area Native community, Crystal shares her journey of exploring the deep connection with our foods and food traditions through knowing our ingredients’ origins, through revitalizing traditional trade networks, and by sourcing seeds and foods grown from trusted community rooted in land. Join us as Crystal and Sara talk story about the path of Wahpepah’s Kitchen, the healthy responsibility of traditional lands and foods tending, and what it means to be able to offer these kinds of connections to the next generation. This conversation was recorded on March 15, 2022 at Wahpepah’s Kitchen in Oakland, California.