The second annual Ilimpa'chi' Indigenous Food Sovereignty Day will take place Saturday, Aug. 23! Enjoy live demonstrations and a panel presentation from special guests, Stephanie "Pyet" DeSpain, Taylor Barton, Nico Albert Williams and Jason Champagne. It will be a day you don’t want to miss!
10 a.m. – Noon : Ayowa Tours with Aaimpa' Cafe staff. Must register to attend. Contact Special Events to signup by emailing SpecialEventsCCC@chickasaw.net or by calling (580) 622-7130. Click here to learn more about the Ayowa: Garden to Gourmet Agritours.
Anoli' Theater Agenda:
1 p.m. – Welcome by Executive Chef Josh Faulkner
1 p.m. – Presentation by Nico Albert Williams (Cherokee) titled “Reclaiming Ancestral Foodways and Holistic Wellness”
2 p.m. – Cooking demonstration followed by Q&A with Chec Stephanie “Pyet” DeSpain (Prairie Band Potawatomi)
3 p.m. – Cooking demonstration with Chef Jason Champagne, MPH (Red Lake Band of Chippewa)
4 p.m. – Cooking demonstration with Chec Taelor Barton (Cherokee)
Stephanie "Pyet" DeSpain
Stephanie “Pyet” DeSpain is a member of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation. Pyet is short for her inherited First American name “Pyetwetmokwe.”
She is an award-winning, global private chef who was the first winner of Gordon Ramsay's new groundbreaking TV show, “Next Level Chef.” In addition, Pyet has competed on Food Network’s “Tournament of Champions.”
In 2021, Pyet was named one of the top 25 best private chefs in Los Angeles by Entrepreneur Magazine. Her life's work is dedicated to Indigenous fusion cuisine, where she combines the food of her heritage — both First American and Mexican. Pyet's passion is to uplift Indigenous culture and traditions via storytelling and cooking.
Taylor Barton
Taelor Barton is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. She is a passionate chef with more than 17 years of professional culinary experience, rooted in Tulsa and Stilwell, Oklahoma. Barton studied culinary arts at the Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology, where she developed a strong foundation in cooking techniques. She has honed her craft in restaurant kitchens while mentoring the next generation of chefs.
Since 2019, she has served as an assistant and instructor at the Chickasaw Arts Academy, teaching cooking skills to youth and aspiring culinarians. Known for weaving Cherokee storytelling into her culinary instruction, Barton blends cultural heritage with modern techniques, creating a unique and enriching experience for both diners and students alike.
Nico Albert Williams
Nico Albert Williams is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and the founder and executive director of Burning Cedar Sovereign Wellness, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and urban Indigenous communal space. The nonprofit’s mission is to address socioeconomic disparities, health crises and cultural disconnection affecting the Tulsa First American community by reestablishing ancestral foodways and wellness practices, educating future generations of Indigenous cooks, supporting Indigenous food producers, teaching sustainable and environmentally restorative practices. It also provides resources for First American people to improve their spiritual, mental, emotional and physical health through ancestral ways of knowing.
Williams spends her time growing, foraging, cooking, eating, studying, writing and speaking about the traditional foodways of Turtle Island. She is the recipient of the 2021 Greater Tulsa Indian Affairs Commission Dream Keeper's Award for Leadership in Business, the 2022 Cherokee Phoenix Seven Feathers Award for Culture and serves as a culinary diplomat for the U.S. Department of State Arts Envoy program, representing North American Indigenous foodways in international spaces. Williams’ recipes have been featured in “The Blue Zones American Kitchen” cookbook, “The Good Berry” cookbook, “Smithsonian American Table” and the forthcoming book, “Turtle Island: Foods and Traditions of the Indigenous Peoples of North America” by Sioux chef Sean Sherman. Her work has also been featured by Food Network, USA Today, Southern Living, Hulu, BBC, Cherokee Nation's OsiyoTV, Smithsonian Institution, King Arthur Baking Company, PBS and PRX, among others.
Williams shares a fireplace and plays music in the Indigenous sludge metal band Medicine Horse with her husband, Kyle Williams Sr. (Ponca, Otoe-Missouria, Ioway).
Jason Champagne
Jason Champagne is a member of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa and owner of Native Chef LLC. He is a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Arts School. In addition, Champagne holds a bachelor’s degree in community nutrition from the University of North Dakota and a master’s degree in public health nutrition from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.
Through his business, Champagne’s goal is to help others understand that food can be a powerful, positive medicine and learning how to cook is the key to making it healthy, affordable and delicious.
