Twila Cassadore

Twila Cassadore is an Arizona-based forager, food educator, advocate for Indigenous food sovereignty, and member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe who teaches Indigenous food traditions throughout the Western Apache tribes. Through her work, Cassadore promotes the importance of foods consumed by Apaches prior to the forcible relocation of Native Americans to reservations and subsequent reliance on government rations. She interviewed over 100 tribal elders, ultimately helping to identify more than 200 traditional Apache edible plants and nearly as many traditional Apache recipes for a database funded with a 2013 grant of $37,500 by the First Nations’ Native Agriculture and Food Systems Initiative.

Limited access to foods with high nutritional content and sedentary lifestyles are linked to health problems in the Western Apache population, including high levels of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease; substance abuse, domestic violence, and suicide are also prevalent.

One component of Cassadore's foraging includes leading hunts for the gloscho (desert woodrat), hunts that were in the past led only by men.

She has appeared with television host Padma Lakshmi on the series Taste the Nation. She is also featured in Gather, a documentary film on Indigenous food sovereignty.