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By Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer (Choctaw Nation), Artist in Business Leadership Fellow 2015

Joseph Brophy Toledo (Jemez Pueblo) has served the Pueblo of Jemez in various capacities for over four decades. He works with Indigenous youth groups, is an adjunct instructor for the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA), and worked as a creative consultant for Robert Mirabal Productions. Brophy has served on the Native American Global Sports Committee and been instrumental in international indigenous projects.

His art includes pottery, painting, corn husk art, models of traditional structures, and the creation of traditional tools, weapons, and instruments.

Sitting at the top of Flower Hill, a sacred mountain for his people, Brophy shared with Roger Fragua (Jemez Pueblo) how he was tired of talking about needs in the community. It was time to take action.

They launched the Flower Hill Institute in 2016, a nonprofit which helps expand Brophy’s capacity to share art and language with his community.

“A lot of the tribal people have forgotten about the mountain,” Brophy says. “We’re reminding them, and now everybody wants to go back to Flower Hill. That’s the whole reason behind the name. This mountain is going to bring our people back.”

Through Flower Hill and his 2018 First Peoples Fund Cultural Capital fellowship, Brophy is leading a youth art project to paint the water tower overlooking the Pueblo of Jemez. They are telling the story of their community.

“We don’t just do art; we talk through art,” he says.

They reached out to elders to hear their stories and opinions, and Brophy shepherded the students in designing images.

“A lot of the designs for the tank are based on their stories,” he says. “The elders are very impressed with what we are doing with our youth. It’s something they’ve wanted, but it’s all been just talk. Now we have action, and everyone’s moving in. I want the elders to do a lot of the painting. It’s happening.”

“The elders are very impressed with what we are doing with our youth. It’s something they’ve wanted, but it’s all been just talk. Now we have action, and everyone’s moving in.”

Living in an agriculture community, it is critical for youth to understand how the ecosystem functions, from fish in the streams to bird migration routes. Drawing from his many artistic mediums, Brophy worked with the youth to create corn husk dragonflies and also perform what he calls the pollinator dance with butterfly wings.

During the culture and science youth camp in July, Brophy took students out on the Rio Grande River in canoes and kayaks to measure water levels, check for contaminants, and sample for macroinvertebrate as they learned the vitalness of understanding the water in their community.

Working through the interconnected Flower Hill Institute, Brophy sees the youth art project on the water tower as becoming a source of pride for everyone.

“I appreciate First Peoples Fund allowing us to do what we’re doing,” he says. “It means a lot to our kids and to everyone else that is a part of it now.”

Flower Hill, their sacred mountain, is bringing Brophy’s people back.

By Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer (Choctaw Nation), Artist in Business Leadership Fellow 2015

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Dynamic spoken word, the rhythm of rap, the captivating gentleness of acoustics. Artists for the REZILIENCE Indigenous Arts Experience brought a mixture of performing arts that ignited and energized their audience while sharing passion, hope, and healing at the family-friendly event.

The inspiration for REZILIENCE Indigenous Arts Experience, also known as REZARTX, came three years ago.

“I started seeing how people enjoyed community events around Native arts in a way that was more interactive,” says The REZILIENCE Organization’s Executive Director Warren Montoya (Santa Ana Pueblo).

A 2017 School for Advanced Research (SAR) fellow and accomplished muralist, Warren has gained recognition at Santa Fe Indian Market, Heard Indian Market, and has shown in several galleries. His business, REZONATE Art, produces events and public art projects. So for him, The REZILIENCE Organization and its annual REZARTX event is an extension of work he has been doing throughout his life.

The mission of The REZILIENCE Organization is to provide creative spaces and environments that promote imagining, learning, and practicing positive life-ways to encourage the well-being and achievements of Indigenous communities. REZILIENCE launched its first REZARTX event in 2016.

Once First Peoples Fund learned more about REZILIENCE, we invited them to apply for the Our Nations’ Spaces (ONS) grant program. Helping bring their annual REZARTX event to life in 2018 met the goals of the ONS grant to advance and foster support for Native arts.

For instance, over the past three years, REZILIENCE has fostered strong relationships with over 70 artists, giving them opportunities to showcase and educate the public about their work. The organization has created over 30 partnerships with various entities including community organizations, companies, schools, museums, tribal governments, behavioral health facilities, and youth programs.

The moment where all these partnerships coalesce is the REZARTX annual event. Directed by Indigenous philosophies for building community, the event is a mass collaboration. The REZILIENCE team handles logistics while inviting partners to take ownership of each focus area during the experience.

“What’s critical and unique with REZILIENCE is that it’s part of this movement to build a greater community by the people who it’s about,” says Jaclyn Roessel (Navajo), Warren’s wife and a volunteer for the organization.

“What’s critical and unique with REZILIENCE is that it’s part of this movement to build a greater community by the people who it’s about.”

— - Jaclyn Roessel (Navajo)

“It’s an examination of how do you build strong communities, how did our ancestors do it?” Warren adds. “It’s intimidating at times but we want it to become something people can utilize and look towards as a space to engage, to see it as their own space.”

REZARTX was held at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Their state-of-the-art Albuquerque Journal Theatre is one of the largest indoor theaters in New Mexico and provided optimal sound quality and three levels of seating.

Inside the plaza, attendees watched the stunning 8’x40’ video mural installation near the stage. Sponsored by Albuquerque’s Public Art and created by Joseph Hopkins (Muskogee Creek / Seminole) and Britney King (Navajo / Chippewa-Cree) four screens flashed the past, present, and future of Indigenous people in images and words to kick off the robust concert schedule.

Bobby Wilson (Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota) of the 1491s — a Native sketch comedy group — emceed the concert which captivated audiences with stellar performances by Native American, Alaskan and Hawaiian Native artists. Beats resounded from alternative rock, folk, island reggae, hip-hop, and soul along with cultural dances and traditional songs, all supported by visual effects and stage projections.

“It’s an examination of how do you build strong communities, how did our ancestors do it? [...] we want it to become something people can utilize and look towards as a space to engage, to see it as their own space.”

— Warren Montoya (Santa Ana Pueblo), The REZILIENCE Organization's Executive Director

Among the performers were two former First Peoples Fund fellows: Tall Paul (Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe) and Tanaya Winder (Duckwater Shoshone / Pyramid Lake Paiute / Southern Ute). This was Tanaya’s second appearance at REZARTX.

“Tanaya did poetry and an awesome acoustic session,” Warren says. “She was able to premiere some new pieces at REZARTX. And I can’t believe how amazing Tall Paul is as an artist. He’s quiet, but onstage, he’s rolling through those lyrics.”

By Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer (Choctaw Nation), Artist in Business Leadership Fellow 2015

Hailing from a long line of Native Hawaiian singers, musicians and performers on her mother’s side and Diné storytellers and medicine people on her father’s side, Heidi K Brandow is a painter and printmaker. Her work is commonly filled with whimsical characters and monsters often combined with poetry, stories, and personal reflections.

Represented by Form and Concept Gallery of Santa Fe, and by Chaco Gallery of Albuquerque, Heidi is a graduate of the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe. She studied design at the Harvard Graduate School of Design in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Istanbul Technical University in Turkey.

Heidi was selected for the inaugural cohort of the 2018 Story Maps Fellowship in Santa Fe, and is preparing for a pop-up show at the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts in August. Heidi is a 2018 Artist in Business Leadership Fellow.

When Heidi landed in Turkey for a student exchange trip, she did not expect the warm welcome and sense of kinship with the people. Their awareness of Native people drew her into a world far from her traditional Hawai’i and Diné upbringing, yet similarities connected her to the country.

“I love the place, the people, the land, the culture,” Heidi says. “I committed myself to keeping that relationship open over the years.”

Through her art — which draws inspiration from her cultural heritage, pop culture and critical theory — Heidi focuses on social engagement projects to meet global community needs.

“(in)dispensable” is a collaborative venture between Heidi and designer Sinem Sayar that documents individuals working in the solid waste + recycling industry in Turkey. As Heidi’s third social engagement project, it is the first time they accomplished everything planned. With experience, knowledge, and strong partnerships, the only element lacking was funding to explore the project fully. The final boost came from Heidi’s First Peoples Fund (FPF) 2018 Artist in Business Leadership program.

Her fellowship is also supporting reconfiguration and upgrades to Heidi’s art studio. “First Peoples Fund has been fundamental in allowing me to get the materials and tools I need to have a more streamlined process,” she says.

Finishing her FPF fellowship, Heidi hopes to return to Turkey this fall and produce a film of the “(in)dispensable” project.

While her day job as a retention specialist at the Institute of American Indian Arts allows Heidi to support her two boys, she is working toward a full-time career as an artist. “I believe my arts practice is a reflection of the true person I aspire to be — bold, free, passionate, and courageous.”

By Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer (Choctaw Nation), Artist in Business Leadership Fellow 2015

Bluedog is a five-member blues/rock band out of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Initially formed in 2001 by Joni (Weston) and Eric Buffalohead, it includes their daughter Alexandra on keyboard and backup vocals, Tom Suess on bass, and Greg Mans on drums.

Bluedog has released original albums and singles to multiple award nominations from the Native American Music Awards and the Indian Summer Music Awards.

Alexandra Buffalohead was awarded a 2018 First Peoples Fund Artist in Business Leadership program on behalf of the band.

“The blues came from our ancestors; our ancestors come from this land. This is native blues. This is who we are.”

— Bluedog

With the influence of powwows and cultural dances, the Buffalohead family’s blues music is Native first. Life experiences, lived and absorbed, flow out in a way that lets their audience know Native people are still here. Their music celebrates life — the good and bad.

“Depending on the song, it can be uplifting, sad, resilient,” lead vocalist Joni says. “Tons of emotions go into it.”  

Setting out in 2001, Joni and her husband, lead guitarist Eric, formed Bluedog.

“We’ve had the opportunity to play with legendary people,” Eric said. “It’s been incredible.” The band has fronted notable blues acts including: The Robert Cray Band, Indigenous, Los Lonely Boys, Corey Stevens, John Mayall, Kenny Neal Band, Lil Ed and the Blues Imperials, Coco Montoya, Ana Popovic, Walter Trout, Shannon Curfman, and the Jerry Garcia Band.

They coaxed their daughter, Alex, into putting her piano lessons to good use by playing keys for the band and singing backup for Joni. The family travels together, supporting each other through ups and downs on the road. They have gotten to know one another even more, especially through interactions with audiences. Bluedog takes the opportunity to be a role model as a family seriously.

“It’s scary sometimes because you see other musicians get burned out. They seem empty and can resort to drugs,” Joni says. “It can be lonely on the road. We look out for each other as a family.”

Alex applied for the First Peoples Fund Artist in Business Leadership program on behalf of Bluedog, and they were awarded in 2018. The band is working on their next album with support from their ALB.

Writing and recording original songs, Joni’s greatest struggle is remaining true to herself. Thankfully, she had aunties still alive who advised her on this when she and Eric first set out with Bluedog. She takes their advice above all others.

“We’re trying to get our foot into mainstream,” Joni says, “but we don’t want to give up who we are to do that.”

By Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer (Choctaw Nation), Artist in Business Leadership Fellow 2015

“Lakotiyapi thewahila Cha lechamun hechel oyate nipi kte.”
“I love the Lakota language, and I do this so the Nation will live.”

— Dorian Baldes (Oglala Lakota), Dances With Words Poet

Rearranging syllables and translating words in his mind came naturally for 16-year-old Dorian Baldes from a young age. He began writing poems and stories in first grade. When Dorian’s family moved to Pine Ridge, South Dakota, he started on a journey to fulfill one of his life goals: to learn the languages of his ancestry — Lakota, Hispanic, French, Navajo, and Shoshone.

At the Red Cloud Indian School, Dorian enrolled in the Lakota language class and persevered through embarrassment at his mistakes and lacking someone to speak the language with.

He speaks it in daydreams, in translating English lyrics in a song, and to his brother. He is revitalizing the Lakota language on his tongue and for his people. As a finalist for the Rising Star of the West scholarship on Black Hills FOX News TV, Dorian related thoughts on social issues, opinions, and solutions back to Lakota values still applicable to today.

But the thought of writing poetry in the Lakota language didn’t occur to Dorian until friends prodded him into joining Dances with Words™ (DWW) in 2017. A First Peoples Fund youth development initiative, DWW works with young people, adult mentors, high schools and nonprofit partners on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation to empower students and community leaders through literary, spoken word and other art forms.

Dorian decided to compete for a place on the Dances with Words™ team for the annual Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Slam Festival to represent his people and culture. He made the 2018 team with his poem composed entirely in Lakotiyapi.

“The Lakota language is poetry,” Dorian says. “The culture and the language always go together. That relationship with the earth is evident in the language and the way it’s spoken. As long as you can speak the Lakota language, you can create poetry with it.”

“The Lakota language is poetry. The culture and the language always go together. [...] As long as you can speak the Lakota language, you can create poetry with it.”

— Dorian Baldes

Springtime and the awakening of plants and life, the washing away of snow and pain as rain falls, the rejuvenation of the earth after the hardships of winter — Dorian wanted to convey those emotions in an unconventional way. He allows the flow of the Lakota language to bring depth and meaning to his poetry.

Though Dorian is not yet fluent in the language, he continues to learn and to use it every day. Dances with Words™, with its pilot program in the Pine Ridge Reservation and Rapid City, South Dakota areas, helped lay the foundation for Dorian to move into spoken word poetry, bringing together written poetry and his passion for the Lakota language.

“My understanding of the language has deepened because of poetry,” he says. “It’s been instrumental.”

Dusty Nelson (Oglala Lakota) witnessed the power of this program with her students at the Anpo Wicahpi Girls School in Porcupine, South Dakota. Former Language Arts Educator at the school — which centers on Lakota culture — Dusty is an adult learner of the language.

“I didn’t grow up speaking the Lakota language, but it’s a goal I set for myself to learn and become fluent in my lifetime,” Dusty says. “Within trying to accomplish that goal, I stumbled onto this healing process I wasn’t aware was going to take place. People always say that everything is in the language, so what I came to find is that the Lakota language it is essentially a blueprint for how to be Lakota, how to live Lakota.”

When Dusty brought her students to a DWW open mic, it was an eye-opening experience. She realized the natural connection between the language and poetry as the DWW spoken word poets performed.

“These young people were so real and raw,” she says. “Their ability to talk about their lives in such a deep manner was completely moving. It had a big impact on how I viewed the younger generations.”

Dusty talked to Laree Pourier (Oglala Lakota), First Peoples Fund Program Manager for Youth Development, about bringing the program to Porcupine and working with the  Anpo Wicahpi Girls School students through the DWW curriculum. Dusty watched as girls who had trouble expressing themselves creatively and emotionally opened up with Laree.

“She is an amazing facilitator,” Dusty says. “Her energy is so calming.”

With Laree’s guidance, the DWW curriculum gave the girls opportunity for expression and opened their minds to their own potential.

“Dances with Words gives them a sense of empowerment,” Dusty says. “They think, ‘If I want to be a spoken word poet, I can do that.’ That’s the power of Dances with Words.”

Dusty sees potential in creating an educational foundation of learning through cultural experiences, thereby teaching mainstream concepts through Lakota eyes.

“Poetry is a way to take that seriousness and that ceremony and the prayerfulness and to process it within ourselves and then express what it means to us,” Dusty says. “Dances with Words is invaluable to our community. Watching the youth in the program grow, I feel they became who they really were because Dances with Words gave them the opportunity to be poets and use that form of expression. It was an important stepping stone in their success.”

“Dances With Words is invaluable to our community. Watching the youth in the program grow, I feel they became who they really were because Dances With Words gave them the opportunity to be poets and use that form of expression.”

— Dusty Nelson (Oglala Lakota)

“We have seen how the affirmation and strength drawn from our program carries with the young people even after they graduate,” Laree says. “Our alumni are budding scholars, activists, workers and community organizers. We are so proud of them.”

In preparing for the Brave New Voices international poetry slam competition in July, the DWW team recently attended a community poetry workshop hosted by Layli Long Soldier (Oglala Lakota) and her auntie, Tilda St. Pierre (Oglala Lakota). Layli’s full-length collection Whereas (2017) won the National Books Critics Circle award and was a finalist for the National Book Awards. She has been an essential collaborator in Dances With Words and is currently working with Laree to expand First Peoples Fund’s Youth Development work in some exciting ways that will be announced in 2019.

“Hearing Layli as a professional poet and her incorporation of Lakota into poetry was awesome,” Dorian says. “We had read her poems in class. It was cool to realize there are poets out there, writers, that are Indigenous right around here. It’s hopeful.”

By Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer (Choctaw Nation), Artist in Business Leadership Fellow 2015

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Hula, leis, and partners from the mainland came together to honor a culture bearer on the island of Molokai. Kanoelani Davis (Native Hawaiian) was recognized as a 2018 Jennifer Easton Community Spirit Award (CSA) recipient for 30-plus years of practicing, preserving, and perpetuating her culture through art. Though CSA honorees like Kanoelani often do not view their work as significant, they represent vital strands woven into the fabric of their communities.

“The Community Spirit Award was definitely a surprise for me,” Kanoelani says. “It was an honor to be recognized by somebody in my community who sees the work I’ve been doing as a Hawaiian on our small island.”  

The CSA honoring held at the Molokai Community Health Center reflected the impact of Kanoelani’s art. Over 100 people gathered to recognize her work as an artist-leader. Culture bearers are at the heart of communities and the work of First Peoples Fund (FPF), and why we honor artists through the Community Spirit Award.

Duncan Ka’ohu Seto (Native Hawaiian), 2016 CSA recipient and FPF trainer, welcomed Kanoelani to the First Peoples Fund family.

“I shared with her the responsibility that comes with the award,” Ka’ohu says. “I know she’s on that road already.”

The youngest CSA honoree awarded in Hawai’i to date, Kanoelani took the opportunity at the gathering to honor those who made the way for her, including grandparents and mentors.

“It’s my responsibility before they pass and you can’t tell them ‘thank you,’ you can’t show them, ‘I am here because of you,’” Kanoelani says. “For me, the most important part of the ceremony was being able to bring them up and honor them.”

Before the gathering, she selected twelve maile leis, one of the highest adorning leis.

“As I’m giving them their leis and sharing their stories, you could see them crying, and that they felt uplifted. I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity and space to do that.”

For 37 years, Kanoelani has practiced hula, wood carving, weapon making, and gathering shells for lei. She integrates traditional and contemporary wear into her growing fashion design company, PōMahina Designs.

“I just finished the MAMo Wearable Art Show on two islands with 65 models total,” Kanoelani says.

She is respected as a leader in her community, a sustainer of Hawaiian culture. Brandon Jones, executive director of the Molokai Arts Center, has worked closely with Kanoelani and recognizes her hard work in the community. He nominated her for the CSA award.

“Kanoe is a powerful and vibrant force in the community,” Brandon says. “From the moment I met her, it became clear that her number one mission in life is to propel and care for her culture. She received the honor of becoming a Kuma Hula which means she’s been blessed by her teacher to teach hula. She was given that honor at an unusually young age. By carrying that honor, she carries a weight of leadership in the community.”

“Kanoe is a powerful and vibrant force in the community. From the moment I met her, it became clear that her number one mission in life is to propel and care for her culture.”

— Brandon Jones, Kanoelani's CSA nominator

Without culture bearers like Kanoelani, community values and traditions are lost to time and advancing change. These culture bearers strengthen communities and undergird the programs within First Peoples Fund. CSA honorees embody the Collective Spirit® and drive the work forward, integral to every piece. CSA nominations always come from within their own communities, from those impacted the most by their dedicated work.

The tapestry of Kanoelani’s art expanded internationally with the Pacific Fusion Fashion Show in New Zealand, and recently with an invitation to Fashion Week in New York and Paris.

Her tapestry also covers unification of communities. Kanoelani experienced this through her Intercultural Leadership Institute (ILI) fellowship and subsequent convenings where fellows discussed the importance of “showing up” to support one another. Three ILI fellows showed up for Kanoelani at her community for the honoring.

“They brought their tradition and their culture into our culture, showing unification as a people,” Kanoelani says. “It was special not only for me, but community members were able to see and experience this themselves.”

For culture bearers like Kanoelani, the significance of their work always flows back to their community’s needs. While her art brings traditions of the past into the contemporary world, Kanoelani passes on ancient practices to new generations to embody the spirit of their community.

“She is taking the sensibility she has and relating purely Native Hawaiian sensibility and using it to have a discussion through design about what it is to be Native Hawaiian and a contemporary Hawaiian,” Brandon says. “She is showing a younger generation that it’s possible to retain that precious sense of culture and identity and not lose that going forward. By being honored for this, I think another generation coming up sees that others understand the value of that.”

Though it was hard for Kanoelani to accept recognition as a CSA honoree, it was part of the process of moving her forward in preserving and perpetuating her culture through her art.

“I’m grateful to Lori Pourier and the Jennifer Easton Community Spirit Award because it has changed my entire consciousness regarding recognition,” Kanoelani says. “There are unheard stories and unseen heroes that are still working tirelessly and unconditionally for our people, our culture, and our community. This award has inspired me to work toward doing honorings like this for our people in Hawai’i. I understand how important that can be as an individual who’s receiving it. Sometimes it’s okay to be recognized. That’s a big life lesson for me.”

By Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer (Choctaw Nation), Artist in Business Leadership Fellow 2015

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Beats, lyrics, spoken word, and a message of hope from healing hearts. Five Native artists are bringing performing arts to boarding/residential schools and reaching into the lives of youth with the “Heal It” tour.

“All it takes is one moment of inspiration to change the course of a young Indigenous person’s life,” Tanaya Winder (Duckwater Shoshone Tribe) says. When she lost a close friend from her reservation community to suicide several years ago, it led to Tanaya’s journey of healing through poetry. She “re-members” with words, piecing communities back together.

Tanaya is a 2017 First Peoples Fund Artist in Business Leadership (ABL) fellow, spoken word poet, and founder of Dream Warriors Management. Dream Warriors Management advises and assists Indigenous artists and educators in pursuing their passions.

“A Dream Warrior is someone who uses their passion, dream, or gift to provide for their loved ones and community while understanding the responsibility in using the gifts he/she has been given,” Tanaya says.

“A Dream Warrior is someone who uses their passion, dream, or gift to provide for their loved ones and community while understanding the responsibility in using the gifts he/she has been given.”

— Tanaya Winder (Duckwater Shoshone), 2017 Artist in Business Leadership Fellow and founder of Dream Warriors Management, an Our Nations Spaces Grantee

A part of her 2017 ABL funds went toward a retreat for Dream Warriors artists, which led to them writing a song together: The History of Hearts Breaking.

“We visit a lot of reservations and communities, doing workshops and hearing the sad things happening in these communities,” Tanaya says. “We wanted to write that song to help process those things. Frank Waln uses the hashtag #healit. When artists are about to perform, sometimes audiences will say, “kill it,” or “you killed it,” but no, we healed it.”

Cafe Cultura serves as the Dream Warriors’ fiscal sponsor, and this year First Peoples Fund partnered with them to support their youth programming through the Our Nations' Spaces (ONS) grant program. For Tanaya, it helped several pieces fall into place for Dream Warriors Management. One of the Dream Warriors, Lyla June (Diné / Cheyenne) — public speaker, poet, hip-hop artist and acoustic singer-songwriter — felt a calling to reach out to Native youth at boarding schools. Combined with Frank Waln’s (Sicangu Lakota) hashtag #healit and the ONS grant opportunity, the artists agreed to do work visiting boarding schools, centered around sharing a message of healing.

“I realized we could use Our Nations’ Spaces to do Lyla’s idea about visiting the boarding schools and call it the “Heal It” tour because that’s what we’re going to do,” Tanaya explains.

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The ONS artist partners include several First Peoples Fund alumni — Frank Waln, Paul Wenell Jr. (Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe), who performs and records under the name Tall Paul, Mic Jordan (Ojibwe), and Tanaya Winder. The partners are collaborating with Razelle Benally (Oglala Lakota / Diné), 2017 First Peoples Fund fellow, to produce a music video to promote the tour.

The Dream Warrior artists are setting out on this group tour with a collaborative album/EP that highlights the journey of each of the artists to let youth know, we’ve been there. We know what you’re going through.

In 2017, Mic Jordan used his First Peoples Fund ABL fellowship to build on his #DearNativeYouth project.

“I truly believe that the arts saved me,” Mic says, “and it is only right that I use that gift of self-expression to empower those who are struggling. I do all of that through hip-hop.”

“I truly believe the arts saved me, and it is only right that I use that give of self-expression to empower those who are struggling. I do all of that through hip-hop.”

— Mic Jordan (Ojibwe), 2017 Artist in Business Leadership Fellow

At workshops and performances across the country, Dream Warriors see the change in their audiences.

“Our Native youth struggle with coping mechanisms to heal their traumas and without healthy methods of processing their mental and emotional needs, their lives are at stake,” Tanaya says. “Multiple times a Dream Warrior has had a young Native person struggling with depression, suicide and thoughts of not being enough tell them that our art has saved their life.”

“The Heal It Tour is important to me because we’ll be performing and speaking to Indigenous boarding school youth around the country,” Paul says. His 2017 ABL fellowship focused on a challenging concept album, G.O.A.T. (Greatest of All Time), inspired by Sac and Fox tribal member Jim Thorpe who went to Carlisle boarding school.

“Though I don’t have a grasp of what today’s boarding schools look like, I am aware of their origins and the abuse that went on,” Paul adds. “As a Native youth who went through the foster care system myself, I can relate to some of those issues.”

Dedicated to the hard work and heart work of this project, the Dream Warriors prepare for the 2018 fall launch of the “Heal It” tour. They will also apply to perform at the regional conference for the National Association for Campus Activities held in 2019.

They see this project continuing, and will spend time in December planning the next leg of marketing, promotion, and fundraising. They want to #healit.

“Each of the Dream Warriors has our own story of how music, how poetry, how art has helped us heal,” Tanaya says. “If we can help youth find healing pathways towards empowerment by sharing our journeys, we can help heal our people.”

Notes:

For booking information on any of the artists, please visit the Dream Warriors website: https://dreamwarriors.co

In 2011, First Peoples Fund began facilitating the Our Nations’ Spaces program with support from the Ford Foundation and expanded the program in 2015 with support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

By Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer (Choctaw Nation), Artist in Business Leadership Fellow 2015

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The kind of place everyone dreams of. That is how artist and First Peoples Fund staff member  Bryan Parker (White Mountain Apache, Muscogee Creek, Mississippi Choctaw) describes the Oglala Lakota Artspace, a first of its kind space slated to break ground this fall on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

A collaboration between Lakota Funds, First Peoples Fund, and Artspace, this 8,500-ft² Native arts and cultural center will provide not only a home-base for the work of the Rolling Rez Arts Bus, but an expanded opportunity for nurturing the creative economy and arts ecosystem on the reservation.

“Oglala Lakota Artspace has been years in the making,” says First Peoples Fund President Lori Pourier. “It’s incredibly exciting that through our strong partnerships we are now poised to break ground this September.”

The Oglala Lakota Artspace will be located in Kyle, South Dakota. The $2.75 million project is scheduled for completion near the end of 2019 and will be located in close proximity to the Pine Ridge Area Chamber of Commerce, the Lakota Prairie Ranch Resort, Oglala Lakota College, and Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation.

Oglala Lakota architect, Tammy Eagle Bull and her Omaha-based firm, Encompass Architects, have incorporated Indigenous artistry from the start, with the team turning to Lakota star knowledge in designing Oglala Lakota Artspace. Community engagement sessions have also helped shape the building's design and function, with more community engagement sessions happening in the future to help guide programming and events for the space.  As a result, the mixed-use facility itself will be a reflection the community it is serving. The facility will provide:

• Individual artist studios.

• Shared workspace for group collaboration that can double as a small performance space.

• A recording and sound studio.

• A computer lab and classroom space.

• Commercial space for arts-related businesses.

• A Native art gallery and gift shop, including a place to buy art materials and for visitors to shop.

• Storefront for Lakota Federal Credit Union.

• Home base for First Peoples Fund’s youth development spoken word program, Dances With Words, and a garage for the Rolling Rez Arts Bus.

“We’re all coming together to do something for the greater good of the community,” Bryan says. He is the Rolling Rez Arts coordinator, a painter, and a filmmaker. “It is a space that is going to help support existing artists in our community and hopefully inspire new ones as well.”

The new artspace is designed to provide access to the six resources identified in First Peoples Fund’s 2013 market study as the primary resources that artists need to create their work and develop as entrepreneurs. Here are some details on how the space will support each need:

By addressing these six needs, Oglala Lakota Artspace aims to increase opportunities for the whole artist ecosystem on Pine Ridge. Project partners at Lakota Funds and Lakota Federal Credit Union see the building as an exciting step forward in helping artists thrive.

“Lakota Funds and Lakota Federal Credit Union have been strong partners with First Peoples Fund and Artspace, from coming up with the concept of this building to seeing it through to fruition,” says Tawney Brunsch (Oglala Lakota), executive director of Lakota Funds. “Designs for the building allow for Lakota Federal Credit Union to have a designated space, like a miniature version of their only location in Kyle. Think of the benefit that will be to the artists who are already in the space working with First Peoples Fund — potentially doing a class or using the lab — if they had the ability to make a sale or purchase. We would have the credit union right there to provide access to those services.”

“Think of the benefit that will be to the artists who are already in the space working with First Peoples Fund - potentially doing a class or using the lab – if they had the ability to make a sale or purchase. We would have the credit union right there to provide access to those services.”

— Tawny Brunsch (Oglala Lakota), Lakota Funds executive director, on having a Lakota Federal Credit Union storefront in OLAS

By Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer (Choctaw Nation), Artist in Business Leadership Fellow 2015

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J. Waylon Miller (Northern Cheyenne) started playing in bands when he was 12 years old. One of his former bands, The Reddmen, gained nationwide popularity that included one of his songs being featured on the TV show Grey’s Anatomy.

He attended the Conservatory of Recording Arts & Science’s Master Recording Program and has recorded pop, rock, and Native American artists.

J. Waylon tours with his band, Friends of Cesar Romero, and resides in Rapid City, South Dakota.

Sorting through the shed, J. Waylon’s aunt found a cassette that had survived many harsh Dakota winters. It was of his grandfather, Ivan Young Bear (Three Affiliated Tribes), singing honor songs.

In traditional ways, when someone does something significant — such as joining the service — they are assigned a special song. It is the singer’s responsibility to know and be able to sing their song whenever called on.

J. Waylon’s grandfather was one of those singers, and he knew the songs were fading away with each generation. In 1986, he sat at the family’s kitchen table and hit record on a cassette player.

When J. Waylon’s aunt asked him to restore the cassette, he knew the importance of preserving not only his grandfather’s voice but songs dating back to the 1930s that few people know.

“It was crazy to hear this old recording of that era [1930s]. People don’t sing like that anymore. it doesn’t exist, or it’s slowly fading out. This needs to be preserved because it’s never going back to that.”

— J. Waylon Miller (Northern Cheyenne)

The recording was like a time machine transporting J. Waylon into his family’s past: his mother’s voice in the background. His grandfather tapping out beats on the kitchen table.

Using audio forensics, J. Waylon performed surgery on the weathered tape, cleaned up unwanted clicks and pops, and burned a copy on a CD for his aunt. She was grateful, and he was satisfied knowing he’d preserved a piece of his people’s culture and history.

J. Waylon is looking forward to more of these projects, whether bringing early 1900s wax cylinders to digital media or restoring tapes from tribal archives across the country.

His First Peoples Fund Cultural Capital fellowship will cover purchasing the high-quality equipment he needs for this delicate work.

“Every tribe has rituals and unlocking these songs are the keys to keeping those traditions alive. Songs, when they’re sung properly and passed on, keep going forever.”

By Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer (Choctaw Nation), Artist in Business Leadership Fellow 2015    

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Laura Youngbird (Minnesota Chippewa, Grand Portage Band) is an artist and art educator. She earned her BS, BFA, and MA from Minnesota State University at Moorhead with a minor in American Indian Studies. Laura currently lives in Breckenridge, Minnesota, and is the Director of Native American Art at the Plains Art Museum in Fargo, North Dakota.

The young boy came up to Laura after her art presentation, tears in his eyes. He was moved by her painting of the “No Face Boy.” Laura didn’t know the reason behind the tears until later when his teacher told her the young boy was Native but wanted nothing to do with his culture. He had been adopted out to a non-Native family and had feelings of abandonment, of not being wanted.

“I believe I gave him some hope,” Laura says, “that the story of not being wanted wasn’t necessarily true.”

Laura also paints the “No Face Girl,” drawing from stories and photos of her grandmother who was in boarding school. Later, in adulthood, her grandmother scratched her face out of every photo of herself from those days.

Laura’s art continues to focus on difficult social justice issues, of bringing to light the hard past in an effort to bring healing.

When she was a child, Laura learned how to draw from a professional artist who lived in their neighborhood. This is it, she thought, this is what I want to do in life. I want to be an artist!

With ribbons won in shows and taking art classes, Laura’s parents encouraged her to attend tech school, which she did, for mechanical drafting. But she didn’t stop creative drawing and painting in evenings and on weekends. Ten years later, she decided to pursue art solely.

After a BFA, MA, and BS in Art Education, Laura started her new day job as an art teacher while continuing as a working artist.

In recent years, Laura has completed First Peoples Fund training programs and Train the Trainer program. Her 2018 Artist in Business Leadership funds are helping her situate her business in preparation to go full-time as a professional artist.

As she looks toward retirement in a few years, Laura says, “While I love the work that I do, I can hardly wait to retire, so I can work!”

Even with developing a business plan and marketing skills, mentoring youth and helping other Native artists, Laura is still determined to continue producing her own art pieces. The memory of the young Native boy with tears in his eyes reminds her why she needs to create art.

By Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer (Choctaw Nation), Artist in Business Leadership Fellow 2015
Founded in 2001, the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement (CNHA) is a statewide and national network of well over 100 Native Hawaiian organizations. Their mission is to enhance the well being of Hawai’i through the cultural, economic, political and community development of Native Hawaiians.

When Cassandra Ohelo (Native Hawaiian) submitted the grant application for the First Peoples Fund Indigenous Arts Ecology (IAE) program, she knew the plans were ambitious. As capacity development manager of the CNHA, Cassandra views her community at a macro level. She dissects it, examining the pieces and putting them together.

“The ideas I wrote into the grant proposal were ambitious, but people are doing them,” Cassandra says. “It was just a matter of me observing. CNHA has such a large network of artists, and it was a matter of asking, ‘How do we prepare for this work, what does it look like?’”

At that macro level, the work looks like the CNHA’s nine policy caucus subject areas:

  • Arts & Culture

  • Blue Continent Pacific Region

  • Economic Development & Small Business

  • Education

  • Sovereignty & Civic Engagement

  • Healthcare

  • Homestead Trust Lands

  • Housing & Homelessness

  • Next Generation

These nine areas were at the center of conversations during CNHA’s Annual Native Hawaiian Convention in 2017. Artists and culture bearers were also asked to share their ideas and needs within the scope of CNHA’s caucus of Arts and Culture. Community members and leaders shared with CNHA the desire to bring more resources to artists.

Bringing more resources to artists became an even more compelling strategy for CHNA’s mission of ‘enhancing the wellbeing of Hawai’i after attending FPF’s Indigenous Arts Ecology Grantee Convening early this year. Advisor for CHNA’s Indigenous Arts Ecology grant and  2016 Community Spirit Award Honoree, Duncan Ka’ohu Seto (Native Hawaiian) has led many of FPF’s Native Artist Professional Development trainings, but the IAE Convening pulled together the pieces for him.

“Even Ka’ohu was taken aback,” Cassandra says. “To sit in the room and listen to Jeremy Staab [Santee Sioux and FPF’s program manager] break down how First Peoples Fund and Native artists have gotten this far was exciting for him.”

CNHA also brought two artists to the IAE convening — husband and wife Shane and Cheryl Pukahi (Native Hawaiians) — who are lauhala weavers.

“I believe the convening generated them momentum within them [the artists], not just for their own art practice or business, but to stir the momentum within our community back home.”

— Cassandra Ohelo (Native Hawaiian)

Reviewing her ambitious IAE plans and absorbing input from the artists, Cassandra is turning her attention to creating a directory for lauhala weavers like Shane and Cheryl. She also envisions building a marketplace specifically for artists at the CNHA Annual Native Hawaiian Convention, inspired by the Heard market model she experienced at the IAE Convening.

“Being able to identify everyone’s role in this process made it easier for us to imagine how to bring this to fruition, not only for each artist but for the community as a whole,” Cassandra says.

By Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer (Choctaw Nation), Artist in Business Leadership Fellow 2015

A lifelong learner, Bernice Akamine (Native Hawaiian) pursued a career in art later in life than many artists. She chose to raise a family, then return to school. She studied at the University of Hawai’i where she rediscovered art and chose to attend the Natural Resource Management Masters Program at Central Washington University, and the Hawaiian Ohana for Education in the Arts.

Bernice is recognized for her work with waiho’olu’u, Hawaiian natural dyes. She lives and creates her art in Volcano, Hawai’i.

Bernice’s weave grew tighter and tighter. She was beading sculptures for an installation art piece while listening to talk radio and thus absorbing discord from around the globe. What was in her heart and mind came through in what she was creating. When Bernice realized the tension within her, she turned to the ocean and sought its beauty. The brilliant shapes and vivid colors of sea creatures became inspiration for her art installation Hinalua’iko’a.

“Creating community and breaking down barriers through or with my artwork motivates me.”

With support from her First Peoples Fund Cultural Capital fellowship, Bernice is continuing her work to preserve culture through producing a color wheel poster from natural dyes created with material from the island. Appealing as wall art, the color wheel poster will draw from 18 native Hawaiian plants commonly listed in historical records as being traditionally used as waiho’olu’u — dye extracted from plants, sea creatures or earth pigments. The poster is the first of its kind, using only plants indigenous to Hawai’i.

Now that the weather has finally warmed, Bernice is beating the kapa, the bark cloth, that is the foundation of the color wheel. She explains, “Living at a slightly higher elevation where it has been very cool and rainy, it has taken months for the wauke, paper mulberry bast, to ferment.”

Bernice wants the color wheel poster to bring to life historical writings with the vast color possibilities one can achieve through traditional practices.

“While the poster is a tool for the present generation, it also preserves cultural knowledge for generations of Hawaiians should we lose any of the Native Hawaiian dye plants,” she says.

Bernice stands firm in the present to create a link to the past. She does it through art that reaches back into history to pull it forward into modern terms with traditional and conventional art. What is in her heart and mind comes out in what she creates.