Wisconsin Dells, WI. April 2020. I first met Elena through my friend Yusuf. It was one of my last nights in Madison, Wisconsin before deciding to move back home to Texas to take my business further. I had met up with Yusuf at The Crystal Corner to watch a local hip-hop show, but he always has another cool thing up his sleeve or another chef that he wants to introduce me to. So after the show, we headed over to one of UW's test kitchens where I had the opportunity to meet Sean Sherman, who Yusuf was already talking me up to about the ways I connect with my clients. So we got to talking and Sean told me all about his approach to cooking, noting that his style is based on pre-colonial Indigenous food systems; where he only uses ingredients that are native to North America. TBH, at that moment I didn't know who I was talking to - as Sean or should I say the Sioux Chef has made an incredible impact on indigenious food culture. As it has been through his activism and advocacy, that he has helped to reclaim and celebrate the rich culinary heritage of Indigenous communities around the world - and that’s damn impressive.
But meeting Sean was just a bonus, the real person Yusuf wanted me to meet that night was Elena. So we walked down the street, through an alley and someone's backyard, and into a random house where Elena was grabbing Indigenous ingredients from various mason jars and coffee tins lining the kitchen. In that brief moment, she was making magic from her ancestral roots. We didn't stay long, as she was in the middle of her culinary art piece, but that moment left a stamp in my mind. A few months later, I get a message from Chef Elena Terry, asking if I could work my magic like I had done for our mutual friends Chef Bee Khang & Chef Yusuf Bin-Rella, but for her and no doubt I was in!
Chef Elena Terry is a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation, a tribe from Wisconsin whose culture have been in the area since the early 1800s. But aside from cooking amazing food from Indigenous roots she is also the founder of Wild Bearies, a non-profit with goals of building stronger tribal communities through food. For the last 8 years, their mentorship program has provided an educational and community outreach experience that strives to bring ancestral foods to communities in a nurturing and nourishing way. A mission so beautiful that in late 2025 a visual story produced about Wild Bearies and Chef Elena Terry by Discover Wisconsin won an Emmy in Lifestyle Storytelling.
With a client this moving already, I had to make the stars align for her too. Like all of my clients, we started with choosing a blade that spoke to her and checked all of her boxes regarding performance and style - for Elena this was a Kurosaki 219mm VG10 Megumi with a sexy hammered finish.
But then we got into it! As she requested that her work of functional art to have nods to her heritage. So the composition of this work-of-art is a direct influence to her favorite color, ceremonial dress, and the translations of Ho-Chunk (Hoocąąk Waazija Haa Chi meaning "people of the sacred voice") as well as her own personal tribe name (Haahemaani meaning “walks at night”). The design of the saya came to me, as the claro walnut felt like a tide coming to shore at night. So I sculpted the saya to emulate the wet beach displaying a sacred wampum shell just aching to be picked up.
But it doesn't stop there. I always have something new up my sleeve. For the last couple of years I've been experimenting with adding a glow feature to my work and I think I finally figured it out with pigment powder and the art of refraction. As I mentioned previously, Elena's name in the Ho-Chunk Nation is Haahemaani which translates to “walks at night”. So I thought what better way to bring realness to this entire piece, than by making the night sky in the handle glow like the milky way. Now, she who "walks at night" has light as her guide. And better yet, you can watch her use it to fight her way through the ranks with Michael Voltaggio on her team on Season 5 of Food Network’s BBQ Brawl filmed just down the road at Star Hill Ranch right outside of Dripping Springs, Texas.
“I’m so stoked you made my day and beyond. I’ll forever look at her as hope in a time of need. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Alton!” - Chef Elena Terry