Apache chef Nephi Craig says cooking Native food saved his life

Nephi Craig’s mother is White Mountain Apache and his father is Diné Navajo. He grew up on both reservations. Ari Carter Craig/Penguin Random House

Ari Carter Craig/Penguin Random House

Nephi Craig, the 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. After his first DUI, the judge gave him the option of three