An Evening with our Chefs Series Event

An Evening with Indigenous Chefs Series: Part One "Eat the Right Thing"

Join us for a unique culinary experience at the Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center! Featuring Chefs Jason Vickers and Jeremy Thunderbird, this event celebrates the rich and diverse culinary traditions of Indigenous chefs and their journeys toward nourishing their communities. Guests will enjoy signature dishes and a wine tasting from Greywing Cellars, an Indigenous-owned winery in Portland, Oregon. All proceeds support Indigenous chefs and businesses.

About the chefs:

• Jason A. Vickers (Ohomous Nut Annokinam (Painting Owl), Hassanamisco Band, Nipmuc Nation) works with a variety of Tribal communities and health care providers sharing about the importance of caring for gardens and planting hands in the soil as a means of healing for formerly incarcerated folks. Jason believes it is as much a pleasure as it is an honor to share these foods and ways in our communities today. To learn more about Jason and his business, please visit: https://www.natoncksmetsu.com/.

• Jeremy Thunderbird is redefining contemporary Indigenous cuisine and diversifying the Seattle food scene with his hearty and flavourful creations. With the support of his community, he launched his now thriving business Native Soul Cuisine. Thunderbird's menu includes the traditional foods and ingredients that he was raised with. He offers native fusion plates like smoked salmon mac n cheese, buffalo chili, the renowned Navajo taco, and much more. He finds pride and joy in showcasing and sharing his culture through his meals.

About the winemaker:

• Brandy Grey (Cherokee/Shawnee) left a career in journalism in 2009 to study winemaking, seeking to tell her family’s story through wines grown on her and her partner’s small vineyard (Greywing Cellars) and sourced from sustainably minded growers. Her work is rooted in honoring the land and the Indigenous communities who have long cared for these ecosystems that make the Willamette Valley’s bounty possible.

About the moderator:

• Dr. Charlotte Coté (Nuu-chah-nulth, Tseshaht) will be moderating the conversation. She is Professor and Chair of American Indian Studies at the University of Washington. She is the founder of the Living Breath of wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ Indigenous Foods Symposium and author of A Drum in One Hand, A Sockeye in the Other (UW Press, 2022). Her work centers on Indigenous food sovereignty, cultural resurgence, and community well-being.

This event is made possible by the Living Breath Indigenous Foods Collective & UW’s American Indian Studies Department. Purchasing a ticket means supporting Indigenous businesses and your ticket includes a full tasting menu of Indigenous-inspired dishes and wine tasting. All proceeds go directly toward supporting Indigenous chefs and Indigenous-owned businesses.

The Living Breath Collective is composed of Indigenous women who represent interdisciplinary academic fields of study and philanthropy in the Northwest Coast; women who are committed to Indigenous food sovereignty and environmental justice, and whose lived and scholarly experiences, personal passions, and academic research are firmly grounded in their homelands and communities. We volunteer our time to host this annual community-driven event as we recognize the need to come together in dialogue and action as we build collaborative networks to sustain our Indigenous food practices and preserve our healthy relationships to the land, water, and all living things. To learn more about our collective and symposium, please visit us at https://livingbreathfoodsymposium.org/.