Crystal Wahpepah

Crystal Wahpepah (Kickapoo) is an enrolled member of the Kickapoo nation of Oklahoma.  She was born and raised in Oakland, California, on Ohlone land, surrounded by a multi-tribal, tight-knit, urban Native community. 

 In addition to Crystal’s inimitable experience with food in ancestral and community settings, Crystal has received extensive training from prominent organizations in Oakland and San Francisco on how to run her business.  She received the Indigenous Artist Activist Award and has been inducted into the Native American Almanac for being one of the first Native American women to own a catering business.  In 2016, she was the first Native American Chef to compete in the Food Network’s show, Chopped.  Crystal has also been featured in Oaklandside. 

Crystal has catered and done educational talks in many forums that span local community settings, the tech world, non-profit organizations and educational institutions.  Crystal has worked with the American Indian film festival, Facebook, Twitter, Google, Salesforce, WeWork, UC Berkeley, Cal Poly, UCSF and the National Indian Health Board.  This is a small sample that illustrates the diversity of Crystal’s reach.  She has traveled all over the country attending food summits and building networks with other Native American and Indigenous farmers, land stewards and chefs. 

Crystal values deeply the reciprocal practices of mindfully choosing Indigenous food sources with which she creates her cuisine.  Her ingredients come from people and lands to which she is connected and has a relationship.  She views her business as a portal to food sovereignty and a reclamation of ancestral knowledge in Native and Indigenous communities.  Crystal has plans for herself and her community that give voice and claim ground for an ethical and sustainable way to nourish ourselves on this planet.