Her new book, "A Feather and a Fork: 125 Intertribal Recipes From an Indigenous Food Warrior," which releases in March, weaves together Indigenous stories about Native American food, perspectives on today's monocultural farming versus the Indigenous "Three Sisters" crops, and how prioritizing seasonal crops re-establishes a connection with the land.
As a child growing up on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota in the 1970s and 80s, Sean Sherman, an Oglala Lakota member and a James Beard award-winning chef, recalls pounding dried bison and mixing it with chokeberry to create a snack called wasna. He and his cousins would often hunt for pheasants and grouse, or harvest wild berries and Thipsila, a wild prairie turnip that's a staple Lakota food.
"With Thanksgiving on the horizon, and the marathon cooking sessions many undertake about to begin in earnest, one new cookbook is here to challenge some of the assumptions that underlie the holiday - while providing over 100 modern and historic recipes."
I believe food is a powerful way to connect people to culture, land, and history, said Woods. My goal is to continue creating spaces where we can all come together, embrace native and locally grown ingredients that not only honour the environment but also preserve the sustainable practices that have been passed down through generations.