Toasted Sister Podcast

I'm pretty glad I found out about Nikki Tsabetsaye (Zuni) and her knife sharpening skills via a post/ad that was shared across my way. She's a pretty awesome person and her family owns Major Market grocery store in Zuni, New Mexico. In this episode (recorded while she sharpens my knives), we talk about sharp knives, knife stories and injuries.

Also, we hear a preview of a special episode by the Unpacked podcast by AFAR that's about Native tourism. Here's the link to that episode: https://link.chtbl.com/mlOXPdeX

In this episode I talk with Natalie Benally (Diné) about her film, “Indigenize the Plate” at a screening hosted by Tiny Grocer ABQ in Old Town Albuquerque. We talk about her journey to Peru for the film and how that inspired her to remember and revitalize traditional family ways of growing and eating. She’s the founder of Tse’Nato’, a digital storytelling company.

Cherokee chef Nico Albert Williams is just trying to make some corn soup. She’s the executive director of the Burning Cedar Sovereign Wellness in Tulsa (grand opening Sept. 14) and the vocalist for a badass doom/sludge metal band, Medicine Horse (debut album drop Sept. 8). In this music-filled episode, Nico and I talk about storytelling in music, religious horror and how she pivoted from the restaurant chef life to community leader.

From the big city of Chicago, I bring you this episode featuring 2023 James Beard Award Best Chef of the Northeast, Sherry Pocknett (Wampanoag). We talk about her win, her battle with cancer and how her past shaped the chef she is today. Photo by Huge Galdones courtesy of the James Beard Foundation.

Things get a little switched up in this episode. This time, my sister, Alisha Murphy, economist for the Navajo Nation Division of Economic Development, takes over an interview with Victoria Largo, new owner of Victoria’s Pizza brick-and-mortar restaurant in Crownpoint, New Mexico, our Navajo Nation hometown. She talks about the real struggles and triumphs of operating a food business on the Navajo Nation. It’s inspiring to hear from this enthusiastic and strong entrepreneurial spirit!

In this episode, I talk with Becky Webster (Oneida Nation), or Rebecca M. Webster, as it’s written on her new book “In Defense of Sovereignty: Protecting the Oneida Nation’s Inherent Right to Self-Determination.” She does a lot of passion work and is a founder of Ukwakhwa: Our Foods, a farm and community learning, cooking, trading and growing space in Oneida, Wisconsin. We start with Oneida history, because, “hey, Oneidas aren’t from Wisconsin…” and move through the origins of the farm, the tribe’s food system and the process of winging it.

She’s beauty, she’s grace, she’s got a couple of hours to butcher a sheep and make three dishes over an open fire. The Miss Navajo Nation Pageant is one of the most unique contests that happens every year as part of the Navajo Nation Fair in Window Rock, Arizona. In this episode, I talk with the former Miss Navajo, Niagara Rockbridge, and the new, current Miss Navajo, Valentina Clitso, about the importance of sheep butchering and Navajo foods. I also chat a little with the Navajo Nation president, Jonathan Nez, and the sheep butchering judges.

How can I say this without sounding egotistical? … This episode is about me; the creator, producer and host of this show. Yes! It is. In this episode, my sister, Alisha Murphy, interviews me and I get to share more about my mental health journey, important things I learned while producing this podcast and why vibes are important to me.

Live at the 4th Annual New Mexico Prickly Pear Festival, Sept. 24, 2022

In my first-ever live podcast recording, I talk with chef Ray Naranjo (Santa Clara Pueblo/Odawa), owner of Manko: Native American Fusion, Addie Lucero (Taos Pueblo), owner of Dancing Butterfly Naturals, and Andrea Garza (Tap Pilam Coahuiltecan) about the "Changing Culinary Narrative of Native America."

In this episode, I take you to the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development’s Reservation Economic Summit in Las Vegas, Nevada. It’s the largest annual conference focusing on Native economics. This year’s event included, for the first time, a panel series called “Food Sovereignty is Economic Sovereignty.” I went to every one of them and heard from economists, entrepreneurs and some of the heavy hitters in Native food. In this show, you’ll hear from Alisha Murphy, Navajo economist, Lance Morgan, lawyer and economist who is the president and CEO of Ho-Chunk Inc., Aaron LaPointe, agribusiness manager for Ho-Chunk Farms, Heather Dawn Thompson, director of the office of tribal relations for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Tomie Peterson, regenerative economies specialist with the Intertribal Agriculture Council.

Mentioned in the show:

2022 4th annual New Mexico Prickly Pear Festival: https://navajoeconomy.org/