Oakland's Native American frybread runs through Crystal Wahpepah's kitchen in Fruitvale. Bison and squash on a fried dough that traces to forced relocation.
Frybread originated with the Navajo, Apache and other tribes forced onto reservations in the 1860s. Government rations of flour, lard and salt produced the fried dough that became Native American comfort food. Crystal Wahpepah, an Oakland-raised Kickapoo tribal member and the first Native chef on Food Network's Chopped, opened Wahpepah's Kitchen in 2021 and was nominated for a James Beard award.
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