When Sean Sherman holds his new book, “Turtle Island,” he can feel the weight of it, both literally and symbolically.

The James Beard Award–winning chef behind Owamni, the Indigenous Food Lab and the nonprofit NATIFS has created what he calls an “essential” volume: a vast, 400-plus-page journey through North America’s Indigenous foodways.

“It was a massive amount of work,” Sherman said. And necessary, he added, “because the book just didn’t exist before.”

On the surface, “Turtle Island” is a cookbook. Look a little deeper and it doubles as a history textbook and even a travel guide, one Sherman and a team of writers and photographers spent three years building. “It feels like an encyclopedia,” Sherman said.

The recipes, organized by regions such as the Great Plains, Great Lakes and Desert Lands, are touchpoints through North America’s landscapes and seasons, offering culinary histories that often have been erased.

The title comes from a creation story that the world was formed on the back of a turtle, Sherman explained. “Turtle Island” spans 13 chapters — echoing the 13 segments of a turtle’s shell and the 13 moons many tribes recognize in their calendars — and features contributions from collaborators Kate Nelson and Kristin Donnelly, with photography from Jaida Grey Eagle and David Alvarado.