Apache chef Nephi Craig says cooking Native food saved his life
13 reported
Nephi Craig, founder of the Native American Culinary Association, credits eating, cooking and teaching about Indigenous food with saving his life. Craig became addicted to alcohol and drugs at an early age, and after his first DUI, a judge gave him the option of three months' probation if he agreed to get a job or go to college. He enrolled in cooking classes at Scottsdale Community College, where he initially felt like an "oddball" due to unfamiliarity with culinary terms. Craig later worked at a high-end French restaurant in Phoenix but lost the job after a relapse, eventually landing in jail where he worked in the kitchen. Now sober, he works as the nutritional recovery program coordinator at the White Mountain Apache tribe-owned Rainbow Treatment Center in Whiteriver, Ariz., and opened Café Gozhóó on the reservation in 2021. His new memoir is titled "Our Knives Will Save Us: Dispatches from a White Mountain Apache Chef."
What’s reported
Nephi Craig is the founder of the Native American Culinary Association.
He became addicted to alcohol and drugs at an early age.
After his first DUI, a judge gave him the option of three months' probation if he agreed to get a job or go to college.
He enrolled in cooking classes at Scottsdale Community College.
He landed a job at one of Phoenix's top fine dining restaurants but lost it after a relapse.
He wound up in jail, where he worked in the kitchen designing meals for about 7,800 inmates a day.
Craig completed nine rehabs and ran away from five others.
He now works as the nutritional recovery program coordinator at the White Mountain Apache tribe-owned Rainbow Treatment Center in Whiteriver, Ariz.
In 2021, he opened Café Gozhóó, a restaurant on the reservation.
His new memoir is "Our Knives Will Save Us: Dispatches from a White Mountain Apache Chef."
Craig says frybread is not an Indigenous food but emerged from military food rations.
He experienced sexual abuse when he was 10 years old.
His parents were placed in a Mormon placement program in the 1950s-1970s, and he was named Nephi.
Misconceptions
The article addresses the misconception that frybread is an Indigenous food, stating it emerged from military food rations.
Key figures
Nephi Craig: Founder of the Native American Culinary Association, chef, author of "Our Knives Will Save Us"
Anna Bauman: Producer/editor of the interview
Joel Wolfram: Producer/editor of the interview
Bridget Bentz: Adapted the interview for the web
Molly Seavy-Nesper: Adapted the interview for the web
Meghan Sullivan: Adapted the interview for the web
Sources: NPR
