Crystal Wahpepah is a true Indigenous food warrior and the first Native woman to own a restaurant in Northern California. A member of the Kickapoo Nation of Oklahoma, Wahpepah grew up in and around the urban Indigenous communities of Oakland, where her Fruitvale Village restaurant, Wahpepah’s Kitchen, reclaims Native foodways and connects guests to the vibrant, nourishing bounty of Native foods and intertribal cultures. By serving Kickapoo chili, Venison and Three Sisters Salad among other intertribal Indigenous dishes, Crystal honors the land and waters and the sustenance they provide while creating community and helping her community heal.

Crystal is an inductee into the Native American Almanac, was a finalist for the James Beard Emerging Chef Award, and has appeared on several Food Network’s TV shows. She served 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. Her cookbook, A Feather and a Fork, is forthcoming from Rodale-Penguin and Random house Books in Spring 2026. (Oakland, CA)