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“Watching from Los Angeles.”

“Love from Frisco, Texas.”

“Listening from Florida.”

“Saunders County, New England here.”

These comments and more popped up on Facebook as Lynette Two Bulls (Oglala Lakota) and Phillip Whiteman, Jr. (Northern Cheyenne) went live with an evening of traditional storytelling. The COVID-19 crisis continues to cause mass cancellations of performing and visual arts events across the country, including storytelling. Still, culture bearers like Lynette and Phillip are turning these challenging times into an opportunity to reach people across the U.S. and around the world. Viewers tuned in from Canada, France, Italy, and African countries.

Lynnette and Phillip are 2016 First Peoples Fund (FPF) Community Spirit Award Honorees, and Philip was awarded a 2007 Artist in Business Leadership Fellowship. They founded Medicine Wheel Model, LLC; Medicine Wheel Model—Beyond Horsemanship; and Yellow Bird, a grassroots, nonprofit organization. They teach their life model and do traditional storytelling throughout the U.S. and Canada to share the lifeways of Native people with teens, adults, and elders.

When Lynnette and Phillip started seeing their events being canceled in March, they decided to push through and learn how they could best connect with people online.

“Actually I like it, though it was challenging at first just getting used to doing things a different way,” Lynette says. “Especially with technology, it’s harder as you get older. But at the same time, I think it’s good to challenge yourself with all the available platforms. Artists are creative already, so we need to go with that and be creative in the way we reach people.”

Lynette and Phillip asked elders in their area if they would be willing to share traditional stories on camera for a multi-part online series. They hosted the special events through the Yellow Bird Facebook page. After the live recordings end, the videos are shared widely. The first has 5,000+ views and counting.

“We have to slow down and be quiet, listen to the stories because these stories have a very powerful message. I think that’s what resonates with people because the messages are timeless.

“It’s something that connects with people,” Lynette says. “We have to slow down and be quiet, listen to the stories because these stories have a very powerful message. I think that’s what resonates with people because the messages are timeless. The stories are not just history of long ago. No, this is a way of life that we live today, so it brings it to the present.”

Lynnette and Phillip only planned to host the traditional storytellings through March, but after the response they received, they brought them back for April, plus added more innovative ways to help bring light into peoples’ homes. They added Morning Coffee with Yellow Bird and Talk for Teens with Yellow Bird while continuing their wellness coaching through online video conferencing.

“I’m almost busier now than I was before,” Lynette says. “It’s exciting because we’re doing something different and something creative. We’re resilient people.”

The COVID-19 crisis hit performing artists hard when spring bookings were suddenly canceled. Kaloku Holt (Native Hawaiian), 2016 FPF Artist in Business Leadership fellow and executive director of the Ke Kukui Foundation, had a three-city tour lined up with other Native Hawaiian artists.

Now with much more time on his hands, Kaloku is using the time at home to pivot his work. He went live on Facebook with an informal music session, playing the piano and singing with his two-year-old son. To his surprise, someone in a mortgage company watched his performance, visited his website, and then booked Kaloku for a paid performance. Kaloku’s live performance for the company’s virtual party was a hit, and also directed viewers to his online tip fund.

A significant aspect of Kaloku’s work is event planning. Sponsored partly through an FPF Our Nations’ Spaces grant and hosted by Ke Kukui Foundation, the annual 4 Days of Aloha in July 2019 drew 40,000+ visitors to the Pacific Northwest for a celebration of Hawaiian art and culture. While Kaloku hopes the 2020 event goes as planned in July, they are prepared to scale it down or move it to later in the year.

With all the uncertainty, Kaloku is focused on the positives coming out for him, professionally and personally.

“Since I’m forced to be a homebody, I’ve noticed how much I was always on the go, go, go, and stressing myself out by being so busy,” he says. “But now I can really enjoy family time, spend time with my son. As far as work goes, and festival planning, doing shows, I got a chance to look over things and think, maybe I’m doing a little too much in a lot of different areas. Maybe scaling things down, but adding quality to the things that I can. I want to make sure I’m always creating. If I keep my mind busy creating, I think that’s what keeps me alive and energetic.”

Visual artists have experienced equal hardship with the crisis. Community Spirit Award  honoree, Artist in Business Leadership fellow and FPF trainer Theresa Secord (Penobscot) took it upon herself to create a valuable list of tips for fellow visual artists.

“As an FPF fellow (basketmaker) I wanted to share some things I'm working on during the pandemic to try to keep art income coming in,” Theresa says. “Basically, encouraging them to stay in touch with buyers, collectors, fans and to be as effective as possible in online art marketing and their social media presence.”

She also created a virtual sweet grass braiding workshop with her grand-nephews as part of their distance learning to continue teaching traditional arts during this time.

“I think their great, great, great, great grandfather, a Penobscot tribal chief and basket seller [shown here in 1920] would be proud,” she says.

““We constantly have to adapt and adjust and be like water and be able to go with the flow. This is another opportunity to reach a broader audience of people from all walks of life.”

— Lynette Two Bulls

During this time of art being generously shared, it is important to remember that many Native artists make their living through performances and markets. Please consider supporting them through purchasing their art online, giving monetary tips during streaming performances, and contributing to the Resilience Fund through FPF.

Delina White is an enrolled member of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Minnesota Chippewa Tribal Nation. An award-winning artist, Delina learned to create functional art — apparel and accessories such as moccasins, bags, and garments — using the traditional methods and designs reflective of the natural surroundings of the woodlands. She specializes in creating her own fabrics from her original beadwork designs. Her work mixes traditionally Indigenous materials with contemporary fabrics.

Delina is a 2020 First Peoples Fund Artist in Business Leadership fellow, residing in Walker, Minnesota.

Birchbark, wampum, shells, pearls, gemstones — Delina makes her material selections carefully. Indigenous materials that touch the heart. Blends of old and new, traditional and contemporary. The materials not only go into making a unique piece of jewelry; they serve a secondary purpose ever since Delina expanded her beadwork by using those beaded designs to create her own fabrics.

When her mother passed some years ago, Delina was left with the task of sewing regalia for the family. Sewing wasn’t something she had focused on, but circumstances forced her to learn. She started with ribbon skirts, bringing what she made into the everyday lives of her family. It led her down a new path that morphed into fashion shows and education.

“My work re-tells stories of the people who live on the great fresh waters, within its forests among the once bountiful fur-bearing animals,"

“My work re-tells stories of the people who live on the great fresh waters, within its forests among the once bountiful fur-bearing animals,” she says.

Delina enjoys doing beadwork for medicine bags, pipe bags, handbags, and bandolier bags, but had gotten away from those pieces for a time. She began looking at ways to bring her beadwork and sewing together.

“I wanted to do something contemporary, and to incorporate our traditional materials because I have an affinity for textures,”

“I wanted to do something contemporary, and to incorporate our traditional materials because I have an affinity for textures,” she says. “I use digital printing to create fabrics from photographs of my handmade beadwork on traditional velvets of the Great Lakes, and hand-tanned smoke hide. I use the fabrics to make apparel that is worn in today’s environment.”

Delina is using her First Peoples Fund Artist in Business Leadership funds to expand her art business, “I Am Anishinaabe.”

“I can either create a garment that is a replica showing this is how we dressed, or I can make it in contemporary clothing using my beadwork, which is the cultural foundation piece,” she says. “There has to be that foundation of my culture. I am inspired by the ancestral arts of my people, and contemporary works of all Indigenous people.”

Flora Jones (Red Lake Ojibwe) is a pillar of the Red Lake community in Red Lake, Minnesota. Her art includes quilt making, sewing traditional Ojibwe regalia, beading, and quillwork. She volunteers her time to children, young adults, and elders, sharing her skills. She has received numerous awards at fairs, powwows, and community events, and was awarded a 2020 First Peoples Fund Cultural Capital Fellowship.

It only took one yard of material for young Flora to make herself a pair of jeans. At boarding school in the 1960s, Flora learned to make her own clothes, and she continued sewing throughout her life. But she didn’t take it on as an art form until her daughter was at Red Lake high school in the 1990s, and Flora volunteered in the home economics classroom. It was there she learned the art of quilting.

“We started off making ‘trip around the world’ quilts, and I’ve been sewing ever since,” she says.

Flora began selling quilts and became proficient in star quilts. She shops sales at the local stores, gathering as much fabric as she can. At home, she lays out materials by shade and color, eyeing the combinations and picking out what catches her attention. Blues, blacks, reds, yellows. Her culture plays a substantial role, especially when she spots colors that remind her of the eagle or turtle.

“Some years ago, my sister, Earlene, bought me a new sewing machine, and it was then I decided I could do business with my sewing skills,” Flora says. “I have always wanted to start my own business in sewing and teaching others to make a star quilt, especially the younger children.”

After a few years, Flora found herself teaching people in her community how to quilt and to bead. Her First Peoples Fund Cultural Capital Fellowship is going toward hosting classes at the Northwest Indian Community Development Center located in Bemidji, Minn.

“I think it would have a great impact on the Indigenous community in Bemidji to learn the ways I was taught,” she says. “I want to thank you all [FPF] for everything you have given me and what I was able to buy with the money. It’s just a pleasure, and I wouldn’t have been able to do that without you.”

Grown from the little girl who could wear jeans made from one yard of material, Flora is now teaching her granddaughters to sew and bead.

“They are 17 and 15 years old,” she says. “I’ve been having them sew with me. One is kind of leery of the sewing machine, but she is learning. I told them you’ve just got to keep on. The most rewarding experience with my art is making people happy with what they can do and make when they come and sew with me.”

The aloha spirit flowed and coalesced to bring Hawai’i to the Pacific Northwest.  “Off the islands” Native Hawaiians and non-Natives came together in July 2019 at the 17th annual “4 Days Of Aloha” in Esther Short Park in Vancouver, Washington to experience true Hawaiian culture — singing, drumming, hula dancers of all ages and skills, vibrant leis, and Native arts.

Thanks to a 2019 First Peoples Fund Our Nations’ Spaces (ONS) grant, event host Ke Kukui Foundation was able to extend the three-day festival to a fourth day. The additional day included Pa’ina (a gathering that involves food and eating), Hapa Haole Hula Competition, Ho’ike (to showcase what they learned), a 5K Aloha Fun Run, coconut weaving workshops, and fresh lei making. It also highlighted other ethnic and Indigenous groups through a multicultural showcase that included Japanese Taiko drummers, Chinese lion dancing, Filipino dancing, and blessings from the Cowlitz Tribe. Attendance at the event nearly doubled from 23,000 visitors in 2018 to 42,000 in 2019.

“The thing I’m hearing about a lot now is the spirit within the people,” said Kaloku Holt (Native Hawaiian). “The people attending, the vendors, all the staff that is involved, presenters, instructors; there’s just a spirit of aloha that you [normally] only find in Hawai’i. You’re [now] finding it in Vancouver, Washington.”

When the longtime leader of the event, Deva Yamashiro (Native Hawaiian), passed a few years ago, her son Kaloku took the lead. Kaloku is a 2016 First Peoples Fund Artist in Business Leadership fellow and Executive Director of the Ke Kukui Foundation. Through funding from the ONS grant, he spearheaded expanding the “4 Days of Aloha.” The expansion created opportunities to involve more Hawaiian artists, bringing them from the islands to teach cultural workshops so that Native and non-native families could experience a one-of-a-kind encounter with Hawaiian culture in the Pacific Northwest.

“It’s an amazing thing to step back and watch it unfold,” Kaloku said.

“Teaching about Hawaiian cultural traditions is important to those family members that have moved to the Pacific Northwest that are far removed from their ancestral roots in Hawai’i,”

Ke Kukui Foundation, based in Vancouver, was founded in 2007. Its goal is to provide programs in and for the community, its elders (kupuna), and its youth so that the young ones can learn the traditions and ways of the Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders and become cultural bearers for future generations in the Pacific Northwest. In 2010, the foundation opened the Ke Kukui Arts and Cultural Center, which gave them a place to offer cultural programs and workshops, as well as a place for the youth to gather and learn from their kupuna. Ke Kukui Foundation believes it is essential for Native youth to learn about their cultural heritage even though they do not live on their homeland.

“Teaching about Hawaiian cultural traditions is important to those family members that have moved to the Pacific Northwest that are far removed from their ancestral roots in Hawai’i,” said Vicky Holt Takamine (Native Hawaiian). She is a longtime FPF partner, kumu hula (master teacher of Hawaiian dance), and Executive Director of the PAʻI Foundation. Known as the kumu of Hawai’i’s kumu, Aunty Vicky, as she is known by many, has traveled to share her mana’o (thoughts or ideas) and talents at the Days of Aloha event, offering participants a rare, unique experience to learn from renowned kumu.

“I taught two classes, and then we showcased that class at Esther Short Park with all the visitors and family and friends that came out to see what was happening,” Vicky said. “It’s been a wonderful opportunity to work with the Ke Kukui Foundation for the last 17 years. They’re so enthusiastic. It’s really amazing because people came from as far as New Jersey and Canada, and all along the Pacific Northwest, and California, to learn hula.”

Each year, the festival opens the door for Native artists to move beyond their own space to access a new market and for Native performing arts groups to share their history, talents, and culture before thousands of spectators. The festival is a vehicle for current and new Native artists to express their craft.

Since adding the fourth day and actively increasing the foundation’s presence in the community, the Ke Kukui Foundation now works with new vendors, officials, and other organizations in the community and beyond. This happened by continuing to promote the aloha spirit, reaching out to new Native artists, tapping their skill sets, and using that focus to strengthen ongoing and new relationships within and beyond the community.

The family-friendly event draws in thousands of visitors each year, gaining recognition and positive momentum for the foundation. It creates visibility in the community and sets an example of building positive impact for the youth. Families come to enjoy Hawaiian culture through workshops, the variety of products from Hawai’i, and watching performing arts on stage.

There is something for everyone, and it is encouraged to participate together in aloha. The foundation hopes people “walk away with their hearts feeling full from the friendships, knowledge, and meaningful memories gained.”

The spirit of aloha that comes from within, once demonstrated by Deva Yamashiro, now lives through the seeds she planted. Reconnecting Native Hawaiians with their culture is a huge part of the festival’s mission — a way of glueing the community together simply by sharing aloha.

Note: Our Nations' Spaces grants expand opportunities for Native performing artists within and beyond their own communities and are generously funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

As our artists and culture bearers adjust and adapt to this unprecedented and challenging time, First Peoples Fund (FFP) is pleased to announce that we have established a Resilience Fund to provide support to those artists who have experienced a loss of income due to the COVID-19 crisis.

With initial funding from key foundation partners, First Peoples Fund has awarded more than 100 artists and culture bearers in 24 states from throughout the lower-48 states, Alaska and Hawai'i with up to $1,000 in emergency relief funding to help with their housing, food, medical and caretaking expenses.

““Thank you First Peoples Fund for this grand grant. I’m not able to travel to teach through the University of Alaska-Bristol Bay campus at this time, where I teach carving and sell to interested peoples. This grant is much appreciated and my family thanks you all. God bless you for thinking of us during these limiting times.”

— Alfred Twilly Gosuk (Togiak Tribe, Yupik Eskimo), Carving Artist

The Resilience Fund is currently focused on the 350 artists and culture bearers who are already affiliated with First Peoples Fund -- Community Spirit Awards honorees, Artist in Business Leadership, Cultural Capital and Emerging Poets fellows, Rolling Rez Arts instructors, Native Artist Professional Development artist trainers, and community partners through our Indigenous Arts Ecology and Our Nations' Spaces initiatives.

Since the pandemic hit the U.S. earlier this spring, cancellations of performances, art markets, cultural gatherings, workshops, speaking engagements, etc. have resulted in 97 percent of First Peoples Fund artists surveyed reporting income losses ranging from $150 to $35,000-plus. Performance artists have been hardest hit and impacts have been swift, completely wiping out most income sources. Visual artists are experiencing a drop in demand from direct sales, as well as wholesale purchases from gift shops and the like. As spring and summer markets cancel or postpone, they will experience even more significant losses. For example, nearly 100 of FPF artists rely on Santa Fe Indian Market, the largest in the country, for a significant amount of their annual income. Just last month, the market, usually held in August, was cancelled.

Beyond providing monetary support, First Peoples Fund continues to fulfill its work of providing workshops and training, convenings and network building -- working closely with its artists and instructors to pivot and adapt its delivery of services and programs to the challenging times. The Native Artist Professional Development group is launching a series of Resilience webinars this week to help artists adjust their way of conducting business during the pandemic. Rolling Rez Arts will be hosting Facebook Live arts demonstrations, and Fellowships are facilitating virtual gatherings, as well as providing outreach and technical support where needed. Through social media, First Peoples Fund is also helping to promote the creative offerings FPF artists are delivering online -- live storytelling and performances, instructional videos, etc.

First Peoples Fund is guided by the conviction that culture bearers and artists are the heart and center in reclaiming and revitalizing art and culture to strengthen Indigenous communities through teaching, healing and creating holistic, shared wealth. The organization, founded in 1995, honors and supports Native artists and culture bearers who are vital in nurturing culturally informed, locally-led community development that enhances tribal economies, guides cultural healing, creates positive narratives and contributes to the rich cultural fabric of vibrant Native communities and the entire Indigenous Arts Ecology.

"We are working hard to raise more funding for the Resilience Fund so that we can provide additional emergency relief in the coming weeks and months," says First Peoples Fund President Lori Lea Pourier (Lakota). "We are resilient peoples, because we have a long history of working together and always lending a hand of generosity. The impact of COVID-19 is going to have a lasting effect on the world and our communities. First Peoples Fund wants to make sure we are a steadfast source of support to our Native artist and culture bearer community. They are critical to linking our past, present and future."

To make a contribution to the First Peoples Fund Resilience Fund, please visit the giving page.

““Wow!!!! Ahéhee!! Thank you so much! With everything going on in our lives as a whole I’ve been praying for healing and protection of all our communities and had placed this ask in the back of my mind. My family & I are beyond full of appreciation on this notice! The support and care of First Peoples Fund is widely known throughout the Indigenous Art world. I’ve always been honored to be a past fellow!”

— Shawna Shandiin Sunrise (Diné (Navajo) / Kewa (Santo Domingo Pueblo), weaver, filmmaker, producer, organizer, actor, multi-media artist, floral designer

Joanne Brings Thunder is an enrolled member of the Eastern Shoshone Tribe located on the Wind River Indian Reservation where she grew up in central Wyoming. She started learning traditional arts at age 5 from her mother and from her maternal grandmother Eva B. McAdams, a respected international beadwork artist.

An award-winning architect and interior designer for over 25 years, Joanne attended the Colorado Institute of Art and received her undergraduate degree in interior design. This was soon followed by a graduate degree in architecture from the University of Colorado. In 2012, she rediscovered her passion for traditional art and its healing properties. As a result, her day-to-day work reflects her love of culture and traditions mixed with a contemporary outlook. With her husband’s work, she currently splits her time between North Dakota and Wyoming.

When creating three-dimensional models for buildings, Joanne uses polycarbonate in the center of the foam core to straighten and strengthen the walls. It was when she was working on a 3D mock-up she was creating for a development group in Arizona, that Joanne suddenly started to view the architectural materials in a very different way.

At that moment, her jewelry art changed.

“I thought, ‘I wonder if I could use that [polycarbonate] as the backing for my earrings,’” she says.

After much frustration using parfleche and aspen wood for backings on her earring creations, Joanne switched to the new material three years ago.

Gripping a pair of aviation snippers, Joanne would cut the polycarbonate into chunky pieces, then use a utility knife to carve out her design.

But the toll on Joanne’s wrists and elbows quickly became evident; she developed carpal tunnel syndrome from hand cutting the polycarbonate.

The solution came through Greg Bellanger (White Earth Ojibwe), who owns Northland Visions in Minneapolis, Minn. where he promotes and mentors a multitude of artists. Greg showed Joanne the work of an artist in his shop who cuts sculptures with a laser. That was the beginning of yet another alteration she would make in her art making. And one that would ultimately introduce her to First Peoples Fund and its fellowship programs.

“He said, “You need to apply for that First Peoples Fund grant and see if you get it,” Joanne says. “And I did!”

Joanne applied for and was awarded a 2020 First Peoples Fund Artist in Business Leadership fellowship that will go toward purchasing a home-based 3D laser printer.

“The grant is such a godsend, and is going to help so much,” Joanne adds. “I no longer will be injuring myself by cutting jewelry by hand.”

The origin of Joanne’s art and determination for excellence goes back to when she was five, beading with her grandmother, who helped raise Joanne in the traditional way of their people.

“My grandmother was such a commanding force in who I am today,”

“My grandmother was such a commanding force in who I am today,” Joanne says. “She gave me such a good foundation of composition and color theory at a young age. Looking back, I know I was very privileged to grow up the way I did.”

Caitlin Newago (Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa) is a 2020 First Peoples Fund Artist in Business Leadership fellow residing in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Battling multiple, chronic health issues, Caitlin has found it nearly impossible to adopt traditional neurotypical work standards. However, as an artist from birth, she has dabbled in many mediums, currently focusing on mixed media art with wiigwaas (birchbark) and acrylics. She started her first business at age 21, opening Bizaanide’ewin Beadwork & Supplies in 2016 after leaving a toxic relationship and using the income to rebuild her life.

She is using the funds from the fellowship to break barriers by purchasing new equipment and securing her livelihood by growing her customer base.

The birchbark crackles and pops as the tree releases material that Caitlin needs to create her specialty jewelry pieces. She had carefully cut, then peeled away the bark from the birch tree. It was just a couple of years ago that her father taught her how to harvest the bark and to work with it. It’s now become a vital part of what she does in her art business. But more than that, working with the birchbark is therapy for Caitlin.

“Bizaanide’ewin translates to ‘peace of heart.’ I hope that my art will evoke the same emotions of joy, wonder, and contentment in others who view and wear it.”

She left her abuser in early fall of 2017 and has been working full-time from home ever since. Her five-year-old son, Makoons, is the driving force behind her healing and her art business.

“Taking my creative abilities and combining it with a historical medium, I thought it was the perfect way to do something I would enjoy and be able to support my son at the same time,” she says.

On the Bad River Indian Reservation, Caitlin harvests birchbark by hand. At home, she lays it flat to dry and presses it under weights to keep the flat shape. She cuts, files, then cleans the bark with a fast-drying disinfecting solvent. She meticulously hand paints the earrings she’s made with acrylic paints before adding any final touch-ups or Swarovski embellishments. Each piece goes through an in-depth sealing process to ensure quality and durability.

“I’ve come to find a place where I feel like I truly belong, and have finally found my calling in life. To have something feel so completely right is a blessing — I’ve never experienced anything remotely like it.”

“I’ve learned not only about my own culture, but about the unique characteristics of others as well,” Caitlin says. “I’ve come to find a place where I feel like I truly belong, and have finally found my calling in life. To have something feel so completely right is a blessing — I’ve never experienced anything remotely like it.”

She hopes she can promote healing as she connects with and uplifts other abuse survivors through the process of reconnecting with her culture.

“I try to use Ojibwe language on my website,” Caitlin says. “Bizaanide’ewin translates to ‘peace of heart.’ I hope that my art will evoke the same emotions of joy, wonder, and contentment in others who view and wear it.”

As a blizzard loomed on the horizon, a group of Indigenous women stood in a semi-circle — facing one another while connecting with their audience at the Ojibwe Language Symposium. The special event was held at the Fond du Lac Tribal & Community College in December 2019.

Filled with nerves and wondering how people would respond, it was hard for the Oshkii Giizhik Singers to think of the moment as their first “performance” for their new CD. It was more about sharing the language and culture with their own people.  But standing before everyone, firm in their 13-year history as a drum group gave them the confidence to play and sing songs of their ancestors’ and of their own making.

“It was more like an ‘informance,’ not just a performance, and I think it was well-received,” says Lyz Jaakola (Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior), a former First People’s Fund Community Spirit Award recipient (2012). Also known as Nitaa-Nagamokwe, Lyz intertwines art, music, and education. A wife, mother, and dedicated community member, Lyz teaches music and directs the Ojibwemowining Language and Culture Resource Center at the Fond du Lac Tribal & Community College in Cloquet, Minn., on the Fond du Lac Reservation.

The group she founded, Oshkii Giizhik Singers (OGS), received a 2019 First Peoples Fund Our Nations’ Spaces (ONS) grant for their concert and CD project, “Anishinaabekwe Inendamowin” (Women’s Thinking).

“We were a little nervous [at the performance] because you never know how people are going to respond, but they were right there paying attention,” Lyz says. “Some members of our community learned and acknowledged that women have been singing independently from men for centuries, which was new information for them.”

OGS is a community-based group of Native women singers from the Fond du Lac Reservation/Duluth area. Since 2006, over 45 women have sung with OGS in various forms and venues. Since being awarded “Best Traditional Recording” at the 2009 Nammys (Native American Music Awards), their focus is to give back to the community.

“My community hasn’t always been the most supportive of ladies hand drumming,” Lyz says. “But we were able to demonstrate the historical context to show that women were singing 110 years ago, and even 200 years ago. We’re following in the footsteps of our grandmas.”

"We’re following in the footsteps of our grandmas.”

Many women have come and gone from the group over the years. It’s a difficult commitment to make. This was alleviated in part by the ONS grant that went toward paying the singers and drummers for the time they invested in their CD project.

“Being able to offer compensation for this work felt so good,” Lyz says. “The ability to pay these women for their time and work felt correct and respectful to them.”

While six of the songs on the CD were newly composed tracks, 10 were gathered from 100-year-old recordings held within what is known as the Densmore Collection.

Beginning in 1907, Frances Densmore was employed by the Bureau for American Ethnology. Over her lengthy career, she took 79 field trips to 54 locations, made 3,500 recordings, transcribed more than 2,300 songs, and published 16 books and hundreds of articles. Densmore spent over 50 years studying and preserving American Indian music.

Plumbing the depths of the Densmore Collection, Lyz and the other women “rematriated” several of the songs.

“I think repatriation is crucial work,” she says. “But often in that narrative, we lose track of the women’s stories. To call attention to it by coining that term ‘rematriation’ is recognizing the importance in the women’s voices.”

One song OGS drew from the collection was “The Little Girls’ War Song.” They recruited four young girls to record on the project, lifting the words and melodies from a wax cylinder into their hearts and through their lips, giving life to their ancestors’ voices.

“One of Densmore’s most willing singers, a man named Odjibwe, recorded this song that little girls would sing when playing war,” Lyz says. “So an elder man recorded the little girls’ song, we retrieved it and taught it to our little girls who recorded it with us on the CD.”

The performance at the college was the first time many of these songs had a voice among their people in over 100 years.

"We did it because we love our ancestors, and we love our culture."

“We’re the conduit to update the recordings,” Lyz says. “Those wax cylinder recordings, even digitized, are hard to listen to. We were able to bring them up to today’s standards of recording. That was really humbling. We did it because we love our ancestors, and we love our culture. Because we led with these motivations, it’s apparent to our community that we are not trying to do anything but help our people grow in knowledge and strength. This is the best way to build community in Anishinaabe country.”

After the performance, they gifted CDs to the attendees. Remaining CDs that were purchased with the ONS grant are being used as a fundraiser for a possible gig the group was invited to perform at in July 2020— Riddu Riđđu, an International Indigenous Music Festival in Norway.

Through the project, each woman developed a new level of confidence in her language and singing skills.

““This has empowered them physically, intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually to do any of their work with more confidence. This has manifested itself in their ability to work better in their field, their job, their classroom, and some have been invited to take on more gigs or responsibility in their professional or cultural lives.”

— Lyz Jaakola

“Giving a concert, recording a CD, learning the language, painting art for the CD cover, rehearsing and singing songs for the sake of singing songs — all of these are measures of achievement in and of themselves,” Lyz says. “I think this project is considered a monumental effort by all involved. We want to do more of this type of rematriation of songs. We are very grateful for the opportunity afforded us by this grant.”

Note: Our Nations' Spaces grants expand opportunities for Native performing artists within and beyond their own communities and are generously funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

On a balmy -20 degree day in Minneapolis, Minn., Sarah Agaton Howes (Anishinaabe) stepped forward to wrap Oprah Winfrey in a “Renewal” blanket. Oprah had come to visit the KwePack, an Indigenous Women’s Running Group in Northern Minnesota. When they received an invitation to run during Oprah’s 2020 Vision: Your Life in Focus tour, Sarah seized the opportunity to share her culture and her business by honoring someone who has inspired millions. The “Renewal” blanket was designed by Sarah and created as part of the Eighth Generation label.

Sarah, owner of contemporary Anishinaabe art retailer Heart Berry, is a stellar success story among Native artists who collaborate with Eighth Generation through the Inspired Natives Project. Eighth Generation is a Seattle-based company founded by artist and FPF Artist in Business Leadership alumnus Louie Gong (Nooksack), a visionary leader who hustled for more than a decade to bring his art and his company to the mainstream. He invested and reinvested his life savings into Eighth Generation along with the emotional labor it took to bring the company to life. FPF’s Our Nation’s Spaces program also contributed support through Evergreen State College.

Now a fast-growing multi-million dollar company — arguably the largest Native-owned arts company in the U.S. and Canada — Eighth Generation has reached the point of being able to launch and help sustain the careers of numerous Native artists, like Sarah.

For years, Eighth Generation worked on developing Indigenous artists across the U.S.. Sarah was among their first.

“Sarah is a star in our Inspired Natives Project”

“Sarah is a star in our Inspired Natives Project,” Louie says. “She came to us about three years ago as a beadwork artist who hardly made any money from her art. Now, she is the primary breadwinner in her family.”

The moment Sarah wrapped Oprah in the “Renewal” blanket marked a milestone in Sarah’s life, crossing a new finish line for not only the running club she founded, but in her outstanding business success.

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“When people look at that picture, they see Oprah in a blanket, and I think that’s great,” Louie says. “But I see Sarah is also in the picture and, on behalf of Eighth Generation, I feel pride in our ability to share tools that artists like Sarah need to have opportunities to seize the day.”

The root of this opportunity, and all of those created by Eighth Generation, can be traced back to Louie, an Indigenous artist who began drawing on shoes in 2008. Though he was best known for his hand-drawn custom shoes, Louie’s journey as an artist led him to wonder what could be done to push Native artists and their creations into the mainstream. That eventually became Eighth Generation and the Inspired Natives Project.

“It’s not just my effort,” Louie says. “I’ve had a lot of support in my journey, including from First Peoples Fund.”

In 2014 and again in 2016, Louie was a First Peoples Fund Artist in Business Leadership Fellow. He remained in contact with artists from his cohort, hiring many of them as contractors.

Eighth Generation also received a First Peoples Fund Our Nations’ Spaces grant in 2016 to help grow a unique ecology for Native artists — one that supports individual artists in a way that filters money back into communities while reaching out on national and international levels. Eighth Generation is a model Indigenous Arts Ecology.

“I appreciate that kind of support, which we’ve received from key leaders within the Native communities like Lori [FPF President Lori Pourier], so thank you for that,” Louie says.

Fast forward to November 2019 when the Snoqualmie Tribe acquired the company,

“As Eighth Generation grew, the investment required to get to the next level got bigger,” Louie explains. “We reached the point where we needed to get some muscle behind the hustle.”

That meant selling the company — a big decision for Louie and his team, as well as the interested party — to the Snoqualmie Tribe, based in the Puget Sound region of Washington State. “The tribe want[ed] to demonstrate to their community that their resources are being used for investments aligned with their tradition and values,” Louie says. “And for me, there was no higher outcome for this labor of love than for hundreds of local Indigenous people to share ownership in Eighth Generation. There are a lot of dollars coming in from tribal communities, and we try to do our best to make sure the dollars Eighth Generation spends go back into some of those communities. If I look down at our activities from a high altitude, I like to see a cycle of support.”

One step at a time, Eighth Generation has become one of the fastest-growing companies in the U.S. and Canada, all while uplifting individual Native artists.

Louie is now in place as the CEO of Eighth Generation, ready to continue leading the company into new territory. This summer, they are opening a storefront near downtown Portland, Oregon, with cutting edge technology not yet widely used in retail stores. Interactive experiences and stunning Inspired Native art will draw in visitors to experience Indigenous cultures like never before.

Back in Seattle, the original Eighth Generation storefront has become a must-see stop for tourists. It is located in Pike Place Market, a destination that receives 10 million visitors annually.

Eighth Generation now leases 14,000 square feet of highly valuable and sought-after Seattle real estate. The Indigenous company is putting the space to good use with another groundbreaking endeavor — an urban manufacturing initiative.

“We’ll have a group of Native people developing expertise in technology that is absolutely the future of textiles. It’s revolutionary."

“From yarn all the way to a sales associate selling wool textiles to a customer in one of our brick and mortar stores, it will be Native people executing skills they learned on the job at Eighth Generation,” Louie says. “We’ll have a group of Native people developing expertise in technology that is absolutely the future of textiles. It’s revolutionary."

“By partnering with the Snoqualmie Tribe in this way, we’ll be able to bring our ideas like this to fruition faster and scale up the business so we can compete with more established national brands.”

It all starts with the individual artist taking a step in the right direction. Like Sarah. Louie. And John Pepion (Piikani), 2017 First Peoples Fund Artist in Business Leadership fellow and another artist in the Inspired Natives Project.

“We’re getting artists to think about the big picture and to start doing one thing a day that helps them move toward their long-term goal,” Louie says. “For the artists we work with, it’s the same long-term goal — to make the art form you love, sustainable.”

Darrell Eaglestaff is a 64-year-old Mnicojou Lakota man from the Red Scaffold tiyospaye. He grew up on four different reservations in the Great Plains area. He worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) for 23 years and retired as a Realty Specialist.

After taking up photography in 2010, Darrell chose to use it to capture positive moments of tribal members on the Cheyenne River Reservation where he lives. He has photographed weddings, high school seniors, sports (basketball, rodeo, Indian relay), pow wows, wildlife, and artifacts.

His mission is, “Helping to preserve my culture, one photograph at a time.”

The voice at the end of the history video asked the visitors to remain quiet and respectful as they entered Pearl Harbor. This was a place where people had died. That moment and memory deserved reverence.

As Darrell walked out to the memorial in Hawai’i, it struck him that they could do the same thing at the Wounded Knee Cemetery, near the site where a band of Lakota people was massacred in 1890. He envisioned having that quiet and respectful atmosphere for those who died.

“Just seeing the Pearl Harbor [National] Memorial and the respect there inspired me to bring that back to my community,” Darrell says.

One of Darrell’s relatives was among those killed. He found more details about this in probate papers where Darrell’s grandmother shared detailed family history, including testimony where she stated her husband’s nineteen-year-old half brother was killed at Wounded Knee. Through the document and family stories, Darrell discovered the young man had two names — Chase in the Winter and Afraid of Lightning.

“Not only is it my job to inform my children and grandchildren of their connection to the Wounded Knee Massacre, but all the children of Cheyenne River need to be informed.”

Darrell wants to share his family’s story through photography, and have answers available for people who want to learn the history. The Cheyenne River Preservation Office gave him their blessing to photograph Wounded Knee artifacts that are held in a climate-controlled room, including blood-stained ghost dance shirts and a baby bonnet.

“I would like to inform tribal people mainly, that those people killed at Wounded Knee were from Cheyenne River,” Darrell says. “Not only is it my job to inform my children and grandchildren of their connection to the Wounded Knee Massacre, but all the children of Cheyenne River need to be informed.”

Darrell’s 94-year-old mother, also retired from the BIA, volunteers at the Lakota Cultural Center in Eagle Butte on the Cheyenne River Reservation. She fields questions of those who desire to know more about this tragedy among their people. Darrell’s photos are on hand to help tell the stories.

He hopes his 2020 First Peoples Fund Cultural Capital Fellowship project of sharing the story of Wounded Knee will create the reverence that he maintains when visiting the site and cemetery.

Photographer Dawnee LeBeau is Itazipacola Oohenunpa of the Tetonwan Oyate. She was born and raised on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota, and was introduced to her love of photography when gifted her first Nikon film camera while working on a tribal youth project.

Dawnee is inspired by portrait, landscape, and documentary photography. She currently resides on the Cheyenne River Reservation with her two beautiful wakanyeja (children). She gardens, promotes wellness, the Lakota language, cultural values, and minimalism, all while photographing the beautiful and talented oyate (people) of her community.

“On this day, we had a successful hunt to nourish our family

On this day, we had a battle

On this day, we had a child born, and it was beautiful

Pictographs spread across a buffalo hide tell of specific moments in time, records of everyday happenings. This is how Dawnee understands how Winter Counts were used by her people to tell a visual story of their history. It aligns with her desire to capture moments within her family and her community.

Photography creates community connection for Dawnee whether she takes portrait studios in a cozy space in her home or in open spaces.

“I work and move within the idea that the entire world is your studio,” Dawnee says. “You can capture an image of anybody or any landscape where you’re at, as long as you have consent. I’m super aware of other people’s spaces. But my community here on the reservation have opened their homes and said, ‘Yes, use that space anytime.’”

“I believe photography helps us to continue with a modern form of documentation for our Indigenous people,”

With her 2020 First Peoples Fund Cultural Capital Fellowship, Dawnee plans to host photography camps for youth who will interact with family and community members of all ages.

“I want them to engage in how they’re doing preservation work within their families,” she says.

A similar time came for Dawnee when she took part in the Economic Hardship Reporting Project. The photojournalism project highlighted a diverse group of ranchers who live and work together on the Cheyenne River Reservation.

“It took a lot for me to ask, ‘Can I take these pictures of you and show them to the world?’” Dawnee says. “That’s asking a lot because this is our personal space, but I also feel the history should be told. Our wonderful livelihood and how we create community, that needs to be seen. My family and community were wonderful. They said, ‘Come on down. We’re feeding cows on this day; we’re giving shots to horses on that day.’”

Similar to Winter Counts, Dawnee is documenting everyday moments of life like her people have for centuries.

“I believe photography helps us to continue with a modern form of documentation for our Indigenous people,” she says.

Dawnee believes in the importance of combining today’s modern day lifestyle with the traditions of Tetonwan people. “It is essential for Indigenous people to have balance and to bring dialogue and diversity to conversations in the community and in the world,” she says.

Her project will bring the community together to share experiences while learning how to preserve the history of the community through photography.

First Peoples Fund (FPF) recently added new staff members who join our mission driven work of honoring culture bearers and being good allies. They bring additional knowledge and perspectives that will contribute to FPF’s work to serve Native artists and culture bearers in substantial ways.

Please join us in welcoming Sonya Paul Gavin, Sandra White Shield, and Hillary Presecan to the FPF family!

Meet Sonya Paul Gavin

Vice President of Advancement and Communication

“It’s so good to work in Indian Country once again.” That’s the feeling Sonya (Diné/Navajo) has as she joins the FPF team from Los Angeles, Calif.

When she was a young girl, Sonya’s mother, who was raised on the Navajo reservation, continually urged Sonya to pursue a good education and build a stable career. That mindset carried Sonya to the University of Colorado Boulder and on to work at the Native American Rights Fund and to the Alaska Public Radio Network. There, she helped empower Alaska Native villagers to operate their own stations.

Sonya and FPF President Lori Pourier (Oglala Lakota) met some thirty years ago when Sonya worked at the Native American Rights Fund in Colorado.

Sonya later went to work at UCLA where she spent over 15 years until recently deciding to refocus her career around her passion for non-profits and Native communities.

One of many moments that told Sonya she was in the right place with her new position at FPF came when she attended a reception at the National Museum of the American Indian in D.C. during her first week on the job in February 2020. In walked her director from the radio network in Alaska, someone she hadn’t seen since 1994.

““That’s when I knew I was supposed to be here, getting back into Indian Country with new skills and experiences that I can apply and make a difference. It was as if I had come full circle.”

— Sonya Paul Gavin

Her love for arts in her personal life is also reawakening as she explores creative writing and photography. She is already experiencing the immersion in Native arts that comes with the job at FPF. While in D.C., Sonya met Delores Churchill (Haida), a vibrant 90-year-old Alaska Native artist. Delores is an FPF Community Spirit Awards Honoree (2002), Cultural Capital Fellow (2006, 2015), and NEA National Heritage Fellow (2006).

“It was so serendipitous,” Sonya says. “We had a connection because of Alaska, and I became her unofficial escort for the day. Visiting with Delores and everything I experienced during the entire trip made for an outstanding experience in the world of Native arts. I am so happy to be here.”

Sonya will be focusing on diversifying funding sources for FPF and leading the communications efforts. She adds, “I’ve always been a mission-driven person. I truly love working in the Native space, uplifting and helping our communities.”

Meet Sandra White Shield

Executive Assistant/Grants Manager

Sandra (Sicangu Lakota) is a life-long resident of Rapid City, South Dakota where FPF is headquartered. She comes to FPF from the Graduate Studies Department of Oglala Lakota College on the Pine Ridge Reservation, where she served as administrative assistant.

“I chose First Peoples Fund because of the work they do in impacting cultural knowledge transference and in building the ability for both individuals and communities to grow economically,” Sandra says. “I hope the skills I have can be added to the effort First Peoples Fund is doing.”

“I chose First Peoples Fund because of the work they do in impacting cultural knowledge transference and in building the ability for both individuals and communities to grow economically,”

Sandra’s 3-hour daily commute to her previous job at the college did have its rewards, such as the sunrise that inspired one of her star quits. She makes star quilts to give away to family and people who have added to her knowledge base.

“The giving of the star quilt is the best way I have to outwardly show respect and honor for people who mentor me, or who make me understand in a way that I didn’t understand before,” she says.

One thing Sandra does in her role at FPF is uplift the culture bearers who undergird and guide every aspect of our work.

“It’s because of them that there is a resurgence in people reclaiming their culture in an Indigenous way,” she says. “Our young people today need to look at those people and recognize that this is where they came from. When they see someone who is truly of the culture and who truly exemplifies the virtues of the cultures [through FPF Community Spirit Award Honorings], they know it and respect it.”

Meet Hillary Presecan

Program Manager of Community Development

Hillary initially encountered FPF while presenting at the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums Conference in the summer of 2014.

“I was researching some of the partners and participants coming to the conference and noticed there was a representative from First Peoples Fund,” she says. “I loved their mission, vision, and values. I kept them in the back of my mind when I moved down here for a different job.”

Program Manager of Community Development, Hillary focuses on FPF’s Native Artist Professional Development Training (NAPD) by managing trainings, building relationships, and facilitating collaborations with tribal communities and FPF-certified NAPD Trainers.

“I enjoy getting to know tribal communities and learning about their needs and how we can bring technical assistance and other support with our trainings. I want to be a good ally.”

“I want to share resources and opportunities for Native artists anywhere that I can through this job,” she says. “I enjoy getting to know tribal communities and learning about their needs and how we can bring technical assistance and other support with our trainings. I want to be a good ally.”

Born and raised in southwest Michigan, Hillary earned her bachelor’s in art history from Kendall College of Art and Design before serving in the Peace Corps as a youth developer in Morocco. After Hillary completed her Peace Corps service, she was awarded the Peace Corps Coverdell Fellowship at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where she earned her master’s degree in Rural Development from the Department of Alaska Native Studies and Rural Development. She interned at the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center in Anchorage and worked with Indigenous peoples in the arts and Tribal public health before finding her professional home at FPF.

Hillary serves on boards for the annual Rapid City Native art market and cultural celebration, Native POP: People of the Plains, and the Rapid City Arts Council. She sees art as the doorway into different cultures.

“The best way to get to know another culture is through the arts where that connection of understanding and commonality binds us together,” she says. “Indigenous artists express their ways of knowing, their stories, their histories, and who they are through art. I feel art is one way to connect the rest of the world to Indigenous people and their ways of knowing to have a better understanding of who they are and to share that with the rest of the world.”