Our Blog

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

‍
Moving aside tables and chairs, the group came together in a circle. No one was left out as the 25 Indigenous artists participating in the 2018 First Peoples Fund (FPF) Fellowship Convening came together a final time in solidarity as an intergenerational community to make music.

The presenter, performing artist Ehren Kee Natay (Dine), led the 2018 Artist in Business Leadership (ABL) and Cultural Capital (CC) fellows in associating sounds with visuals before creating two groups to use their art in making music. Working together, the groups soon had sounds flowing, and dancers joined in by moving to the beat in the center of the circle — a dancer from the desert Southwest and another from the Northwest in Alaska.

“We had some fun with it,” says Dana Warrington (Menominee/Prairie Band Potawatomi), a 2018 ABL fellow. “At the end, they asked, ‘what did you learn?’ For me, I think as artists we strive to be perfect. Everything we do has to be perfect. That’s the standard we put on ourselves. Somehow in that exercise, though maybe it wasn’t exactly perfect, to us it was. Everybody was smiling and having a good time. Enjoying ourselves is what made it perfect. That was a valuable lesson for all of us.”

The convening took place at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico. 2018 CC fellow Joseph “Brophy” Toledo (Jemez Pueblo) welcomed the diversity of artists to the space with a blessing and prayer. Throughout the convening, the 25 artist fellows had a chance to show their work with 3-minute artful introductions. The challenge allowed each fellow an opportunity to present their art and share a part of themselves.

“The convening brought together a very gifted group of artists, educators, writers, and musicians who all share a passion for perpetuating cultural traditions,” ABL fellow Jeff Peterson (Native Hawaiian) says. “The ‘artful introductions’ allowed everyone to share their stories, talents, feelings, and experiences. We had lots of opportunities to connect through the programs at IAIA, meals together, and exploring downtown Santa Fe.”

In the beginning, some fellows had trouble identifying themselves as an artist. But when they heard others had the same issue, doors began to open.

“A lot of them feel like they are just doing what they do,” FPF Communications Manager Cecily Engelhart (Ihanktonwan/Oglala Lakota) says. “I saw it multiple times that a fellow was struggling with calling themselves an artist, but then they see the work of another fellow –– who they would absolutely consider an artist –– also doubting whether or not they really can call themselves that, and it made it easier for them to think of themselves in those terms. That shared feeling seemed to really validate everyone's experiences with their work.”

Being at the IAIA, which holds one of the largest contemporary Native art collections in the country, inspired artists and staff alike. A tour of the space revealed what was available to artists.

With the creative side of art, comes the business and legal aspects which was covered with in-depth presentations by Amy Atzel (Atzel Tax Services), Andrew Johnson and Sean McGann (Underexposed Studios), and Leonard DuBoff (DuBoff Law Group). Since a portion of the fellows were CC recipients focused solely on community building, we included sessions geared toward them, including “Artists as Community Leaders with Native Youth Leadership Alliance” by leadership society member Amber Morningstar Byars (Choctaw) and Angel Two Bulls (Oglala Lakota), FPF Program Manager of Fellowships.

“We had such an array of mediums and types of artists,” says Mary Bordeaux (Sicangu/Oglala Lakota), FPF Vice President of Programs and Operation. “We tried not to be too specific in the presentations to meet a lot of different needs.”

Throughout the convening, the FPF core values were not only present but felt and practiced.

“One fellow said that it was a reflection of the organization, that even though everyone came from different places, there was this common core, these shared values,” Cecily says. “They felt less alone in their work and goals. Regardless of where they came from and everyone’s ages, there was a strong sense of camaraderie and connection.”

The notable range of ages broke down barriers. While younger fellows might have a stronger grip on social media marketing, they looked to the elder artists for wisdom and mentorship in teaching cultural art in their communities.

“The intergenerational learning and sharing was really important,” Cecily added. “For some of the younger fellows it was good to see how people have created mentorship in their work, but then also for the elders in the room to see the motivation and dedication of these younger artists. That was a beautiful piece of bringing everyone together.”

As the group grew closer to one another over the two days, the heartfelt “artful introductions” built up a sense of heavy emotion. This led to a unique piece of art being created the first day of the convening.

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

‍

Born on the Island of Maui, two-time Grammy Award nominee and eight-time Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award winner Jeff Peterson (Native Hawaiian) grew up on the slopes of Haleakala. Jeff has worked with a wide range of artists and groups in the fields of Hawaiian, classical, and jazz music. He has traveled to Europe, South America, Asia, Australia, Africa, India, and across the United States to perform.

Jeff taught the guitar at the University of Hawai’i for several years, and currently resides in Kailua, Hawai’i.

As the day ended and the sun set over the island of Maui — touching the ocean waves with brilliant splashes of crimson, fiery golds, and deepening the blues — Jeff’s father came in from work at Haleakala Ranch and picked up his guitar. A paniolo, a Hawaiian cowboy, he played and sang, introducing the rich heritage of Hawaiian music to his son.

“He loved singing traditional songs and played a very simple style of kī hō`alu or Hawaiian slack key guitar,” Jeff says. “I wouldn’t be playing music if not for him.”

Bringing this history together with masters in slack key guitar, Jeff expanded his style of traditional Hawaiian music to include jazz, classical, and contemporary music while preserving the pure, resonating sounds.

Jeff is continuing to preserve this technique by turning his attention to online teaching by building a subscription-based educational website focused on Hawaiian slack key guitar.

“The audience I intend to reach is global, but the most important is the keiki or youth of Hawai’i,” Jeff explains.

“The audience I intend to reach is global, but the most important is the keiki or youth of Hawai’i.”

Jeff’s First Peoples Fund (FPF) Artist in Business Leadership fellowship is not only helping him launch the educational website, it has brought him into a unique circle of artists and musicians. At the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, Jeff joined other FPF fellows for the 2018 Fellowship Convening last month. He had just finished a tour with performing solo concerts that ended in Santa Fe.

“I enjoyed getting to know the other fellows,” Jeff says. He met performing artist and singer/songwriter Raye Zaragoza (Pima/O'otham Descent), and they worked together on a song the first day that expressed the emotions the group felt. Jeff and Raye wrote, performed, and filmed the song at the convening.

Whether among fellow musicians or with a global audience, Jeff continues to share the rich heritage gifted to him through his ancestors.

“My family heritage on O’ahu goes back many generations,” he says. “My father taught me about our culture, music, and ways to both appreciate and make efforts to preserve the ways of our ancestors or kupuna. I want to educate aspiring musicians to study kī hō`alu so that the tradition can continue and evolve in ways that honor the kupuna.”

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

Jack Gladstone is widely known as “Montana’s Troubadour.” A citizen of the Blackfeet Nation, Jack illustrates American Indian culture through a mosaic of music, lyric poetry, and spoken word. A former college instructor, he co-founded Glacier National Park’s renowned lecture series, “Native America Speaks” in 1985.

Jack has released fifteen critically acclaimed CDs. He has received the C.M. Russell Heritage Award and was inducted into the University of Washington Alumni Hall of Fame.

In 2015, Jack was honored by the State of Montana with a Governor’s Humanities Award. He was recognized with a 2016 First Peoples Fund Community Spirit Award, and a Governor’s Art Award, Montana’s highest artistic achievement.

Like the ancient Blackfeet fire-carriers, Jack brings the embers of music to the world, to unleash the power of story throughout generations, cultures, and hearts. As a story-carrier, he gathers, prepares, and shares stories.

“While the fire-carrier’s task was to transport living, glowing campfire embers from one hearth to the next,” Jack says, “my duty is to carry narrative embers of Western and Native Americana well into the 21st century.”

His work spans generations as he sees young parents who were children themselves when they first heard his lecture series, “Native America Speaks.” Now they bring their children — even infant grandchildren — to hear the stories. That multi-generational impact is not lost on Jack.

“I hope to contribute to the ecological, cultural, and historical illumination of multiple generations. This has become a responsibility as well as an honor.”

Jack is now carrying stories into his most ambitious project to date: “Montana's Troubadour.” These epic stories span history from 1877 to 9/11. He is forging ancient, historical, and contemporary narratives of hero journeys to introduce K-12 audiences throughout Montana to the tenacious resiliency of the human spirit.

Encouraged after attending a First Peoples Fund Native Artist Professional Development Training last fall and receiving his 2018 Artist in Business Leadership fellowship, Jack is bringing into harmony his marketing strategies to diversify and improve his reach and impact with his newest album. He plans to revisit reliable areas from earlier in his career, enabling him to focus solely on the new album. He can focus on the stories.

Within a landscape glowing with stories, Jack carries the embers of story like the ancient fire-carriers of his people. He says, “Story holds the power to cradle and awaken the human heart.”

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

After 40 years in healthcare work, Cecelia Fire Thunder (Oglala Lakota) returned to school and was certified as a Lakota Language teacher. She taught as an adjunct instructor at Oglala Lakota College and is the president of the Little Wound School Board and Oglala Lakota Nation Education Coalition. In 2004, Cecelia ran for the highest office of her homeland and became the first woman president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe.

As an artist, Cecelia creates in her home office with an add-on work area for sewing, beading, doll-making, and other art. She resides in Martin, South Dakota.

‍

Rummaging through thrift stores where she lived in San Diego, Cecelia found the pieces of material she needed to make dolls for the first time. At age 39, she had been away from her homeland for many years. The dolls were a way to bring her homeland to her.

Cecelia sewed and stuffed dolls made of muslin, and cut bell bottoms of old dark navy sailor pants for the dresses. Soon, she began creating traditional Plains dresses and adornments for the dolls she made. This became a journey of healing, of showing who she was as a Lakota Winyan (woman).

When Cecelia returned home to South Dakota in 1988, she won a red ribbon at the Northern Plains Tribal Arts Show with one of her dolls. It was a catalyst in her life and doll making, which she continued throughout her healthcare work and political career.

In 2017, she won a blue ribbon at the same show, a testament to her journey as an artist.

“Each stitch in the creation is a stitch in my life, making it beautiful and stronger as it is about being Lakota,” Cecelia says. “My doll-making brought me home.”

For her First Peoples Fund Cultural Capital fellowship, Cecelia is reaching out to middle and high school girls with doll-making to take them through the four stages of life that correspond with the Four Directions:

Wiyohpeyata (west) represents childhood when students choose the underdress for their doll and begin cutting and sewing by hand.

Waziyata (north) is a girl’s transition to a young woman — they select the color of wool and adornments.

Wiyohinyanpata (east) takes the student into adult womanhood with a completed dress. They cut the moccasins and bead them.

Itokagata (south) reaches the elder stage and completing the doll by putting on her belt with a knife, strike-a-light bag, choker, breastplate, shawl, and a plume. The doll’s head goes on last with her hair braided.

Cecelia explains, “The dolls tell the story of what being a Lakota Winyan represents.”

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

‍
A collection of drums and rattles awaited in the middle of a room filled with 30 artists leaders from communities across the U.S.

Tbow Gonzales called the leaders forward, and let them each choose an instrument. An accomplished musician, Tbow, who teaches at the Carver Community Cultural Center, led the group in starting a beat.

Scattered at first, gradually the beats came together in a harmonious rhythm with one another — intercultural and intergenerational.

This was how Intercultural Leadership Institute (ILI) fellow Wesley May (Redlake Band of Chippewa) described one of his experiences during the ILI convening in San Antonio, Texas. Wesley, a painter and owner of Wesley May Studios, is a lead trainer for First Peoples Fund Native Artists Professional Development workshops and also a former  Artist in Business Leadership fellow.

“Tbow Gonzales brought us all together in a rhythm within a couple of minutes,” Wesley says. “The whole experience was empowering. It was using our voices together so we can come together, understanding each other’s cultural backgrounds.”

The National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (NALAC) hosted this final ILI convening for the 2017-2018 cohort. María López De León, President and CEO of NALAC, welcomed ILI fellows into a living Mexican American culture while opening the space for the fellows to share their experiences.

“The fellows led some of the presentations,” Maria says. “It was inspiring to learn from them and hear more about their work that is helping to shape a narrative of interculturality.”

As the first full cohort of ILI comes to a close, we see the impact of the program on the individual artist leaders and how they are taking lessons learned back to their communities.

ILI fellow and former First Peoples Fund fellow Hillary Kempenich (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa) went to each convening with an open mind. Hillary, also a painter, was determined to be a sponge, ready to absorb emotional energy and renew her faith and love in people.

“It’s taking the time to get to know people and building that willingness to work together. To put yourself in different frames of mind and seeing perspectives and figuring out how those correspond with your own beliefs and values.”

— Hillary Kempenich (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa)

“As an artist, I’ve always been aware that my work was to have a positive impact on society, breaking molds and stereotypes as an Indigenous person. That was always important for me, but I didn’t think of it in terms of being an advocate or an activist. I’m seeing myself and my work in a new light.”

Confidence, boldness, and a sense of not being alone. Seeing these things in action in other communities so different, yet so much like her own, are impacting Hillary’s community through her.

“I feel like I’m part of several communities,” she says. “Because of this, in the last few months, I’ve more actively put myself out there, and people are recognizing the work that I do. Building that respect and curiosity in my community has been wonderful.”

At the convenings, Wesley appreciated how the presenters, partners, and facilitators of ILI practiced what they were teaching, which gave him clear examples to take back to his community.

“Seeing other participants do what they’re good at gave me more confidence to step out and do it as well,” he says.

“Our journey together over the last year was insightful,” Maria added. “It was amazing to see how the fellows nurtured each other and coalesced in solidarity and support of one another. I believe in their vision and transformative work.”

— María López De León, President and CEO of NALAC

During the San Antonio convening, the group experienced art spaces and museums in a thriving cultural experience. It was Hillary’s first visit to the Lone Star state.

“It seemed like there was a general hospitality and politeness there,” she says. “I was amazed by all the work that’s being done for the community in certain areas, including a space for youth who are going into the arts. It’s something similar to what I’ve envisioned for North Dakota. It was great to see that in action.”

Throughout the ILI convening, fellows participated in interactive workshops from the Guadalupe Theater to the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center’s Casa de Cuentos.

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

‍
Tosa Gladys Two Heart (Lakota) was taught to keep her Lakota values with her wherever she went. Her mother, Iris Gay (Lakota), an elder and retired elementary school Lakota language teacher, instilled in her the importance of money management skills and to work hard to remove herself from their impoverished situation.

Tosa joined the First Peoples Fund staff earlier this Month as a Program Manager and works closely with Jeremy Staab (Santee Sioux), Program Manager.  She is supporting the Indigenous Arts Ecology (IAE) grant program as it continues to develop and grow.

“All Natives have art in their blood; it’s a part of our way of life,” Tosa says. “When you enrich that aspect of our culture, it impacts the rest of the community’s health and quality of life.”

During her first week at First Peoples Fund, Tosa attended the Indigenous Arts Ecology grantee convening in Phoenix, Arizona. She observed examples of what happens when organizations invest in artists and their community leadership.

“I met the grantees and the artists that are connected to them,” Tosa says. “Seeing how First Peoples Fund impacts artists firsthand was incredible.”

During that convening in March, they explored the Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair and Market. The debriefing at the end highlighted challenges emerging artists face and how communities can support them in breaking into larger art markets.

“All Natives have art in their blood; it’s a part of our way of life,” Tosa says. “When you enrich that aspect of our culture, it impacts the rest of the community’s health and quality of life.”

Tosa comes from a family of artists, including her grandmother, Gladys Gay (Lakota), who has made star quilts for over 50 years. Tosa and her mother help her grandmother with quilting, Tosa continues this art form, along with her many other mediums: drawing, painting, graphic design, fashion design, printing, mixed media, traditional and digital photography, creative writing, music, and paper sculptures. She experienced early art success in high school that included the Heard Museum Guild Student Art Show and being featured in a gallery at The Riverside Arts Walk in California.

Her values have carried her through higher education, including a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at the University of California at Los Angeles, a Master of Business Administration at Bentley University and through Native American nonprofit work since 2008. They took her to the 2015 Miss Indian World competition where she used Lakota traditional cooking as her Traditional Talent Presentation. Her late grandfather, Wilson Gay (Lakota), preserved these traditions and handed them down to Tosa through her mother and grandmother.

“The whole competition experience made me more comfortable in my own skin,” Tosa says, “of being in public and just being me.”

With her focus on higher education, Tosa had set aside her artistic endeavors for most of her adult life until she decided to live out a high school dream to become a fashion designer. It was after she had spent a summer at the Peabody Essex Museum as a Native American Fellow in Public Relations.

“That was a fire starter to bringing me back to practicing art,” she says. “I’ve come to the realization that art makes me truly happy, and it’s a lifelong passion.”

At a 2017 workshop presented by the American Indian Business Leaders Conference, Tosa learned how to run an online shop, and the Tosa Two Heart brand became a reality.

Tosa carried her Lakota values into her brand with providing meaningful apparel for everyday people. She loves fashion that is fun, and at the same time, tells her story. The star designs are inspired by her family’s star quilts. Tosa’s two heart designs represent the double beat of one of her favorite powwow dances.

“With my brand, it’s about tying humanity into fashion,” Tosa says. “We’re all ikce oyate, everyday people, trying to make it in this world.”

Realizing the importance of art to an individual and how that connects to communities as a whole is invaluable in Tosa’s new role as First Peoples Fund’s Program Manager of Community Development.

“When I launched my graphic art apparel brand, I was invited to sell at Racing Magpie in Rapid City,” Tosa explains. “That’s where I met more of the First Peoples Fund staff. I realized I would enjoy the culture, the philosophy, and the type of work of the organization. It aligns with my personal goals and what I believe in.”

“I’ve always been an artist, but to actually do it in a professional capacity is new to me. To be in the environment where supporting artists who want to develop themselves felt like fate tugging at me. I took a deep consideration and decided First Peoples Fund was meant for me.

“There have been numerous people who have helped me, and sometimes help was sharing a meal,” Tosa says. “They reinforced that idea of being a part of community.

“All my life, I’ve felt responsible for making sure I was supporting Native people, whether with my own or in general. We all share the same circumstances and struggles. Working together has always been important to me.”

David Moses Bridges (Passamaquoddy) became part of the First Peoples Fund family when he was nominated as a Jennifer Easton Community Spirit Award honoree in 2007. David's commitment to the traditional practices of the Passamaquoddy nation were recognized further by First Peoples Fund in the following years when he was selected as a 2008 Artist in Business Leadership Fellow and a 2009 Cultural Capital Fellow.

David's dedication to passing on ancestral knowledge was embodied in every facet of his life. His work was not only about the physical process of creating traditional art, but included the entire ecosystem surrounding traditional practices – from honoring his ancestors to advocating for the environment. David firmly believed that ancestral knowledge not only provided guidance in contemporary life, but that it also provided answers for how to approach the future in a way that created healthy, vibrant communities.

David passed away in 2017, however his legacy of commitment to First Peoples artists and culture bearers continues through the David Moses Bridges Scholarship. Provided through the Maine Community Foundation, the scholarship will support a First Peoples Fund Cultural Capital fellow every year. We are honored to be able to continue celebrating the life and work of David, whose impact will be felt in his community and among First Peoples artists for generations to come.

If you would like to donate to the David Moses Bridges Scholarship fund, you can do so by donating to either the Maine Community Foundation or to First Peoples Fund. Please note that your donation is going toward the David Moses Bridges Scholarship when submitting your donation. You can learn more about David's life, his work and his community by visiting DavidMosesBridges.com.

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

‍

Cecily Engelhart (Ihanktonwan and Oglala Lakota) has lived a life as though by design. Each step she’s taken opened up a path to the next one, leading her to the communications manager position at First Peoples Fund. But it started with a solid foundation from her youth.

Raising her in two separate households, Cecily’s parents aimed to work together to raise their daughter. She lived with her gentle, determined mother in Vermillion, South Dakota, and her warm-hearted, hardworking father in Greenwood, South Dakota on the Yankton Sioux Reservation. Her dad’s love for music, film and media helped to create the soundtrack of Cecily’s life.

“I credit him for helping me appreciate me how the world expresses itself,” Cecily says.

Part of that foundation were her grandmothers. As a retired dietician, her paternal grandmother Madonna Archambeau (Inhanktonwan) shifted the patriarchal structures on the Yankton Sioux Reservation when she became the first tribal chairwoman. Cecily’s maternal grandmother Ellen Libby (Oglala Lakota) was a tireless learner, gaining her Ph.D. and working as a speech-language pathologist.  She eventually became a professor at Northern University and received a Bush Foundation fellowship to help prospective teachers learn about fetal alcohol syndrome.

“Seeing my Grandma Madonna elected was a lesson that even if the odds seem insurmountable, you have to put one foot in front of the other and keep building relationships that strengthen your communities,” Cecily says, “And my Grandma Ellen’s drive to understand how we communicate with one another taught me that there is such a power not only in language, but in all ways of expression. Communication shapes what we believe about each other, what we believe about ourselves, what we hold as our values. I think that is part of why I ended up in this field.”

Her grandmothers, both powerhouse women, were foundational in Cecily’s life, feeding the desire in her to go to college. Her mother helped guide her along every step of the way, pushing her to finish high school and learn to navigate the demands of college, where she realized the power of the arts to promote social change.

Cecily was part of a team of Native students that created a short film with a title that played on the University of South Dakota’s diversity statement of “Everybody Belongs.” With the American Indian studies department located in a basement featuring duct-taped pipes and moldy walls, their video was titled, “Everybody Belongs…Out of the Basement.”

The next year, the American Indian studies department was moved to another facility — above ground. Though the school insisted the video hadn’t been the reason for the move, she was amazed at the stir it caused and the inspiration she felt from collaborating with her classmates. Motivated to keep learning, she applied for a Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholarship which she used to investigate Indigenous issues on a global scale in Aotearoa (New Zealand).

From there, she would meet someone who would change the course of her life through a single conversation. Another Rotary scholar mentioned a Masters program at the University of California Santa Cruz that combined social justice issues with filmmaking, meaning that the experience she had making a documentary with her classmates could become a career path.

While filming her thesis documentary (Siouxtable Food), Cecily began with her home reservation, interviewing community leader Faith Spotted Eagle (Ihanktonwan). Then through connecting with other communities she eventually interviewed Linda Black Elk (Catawba), Karlene Hunter (Oglala Lakota), Sean Sherman (Oglala Lakota) and Nick Tilsen (Oglala Lakota), the latter of which would later recruit her to the team at Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation in Porcupine, South Dakota.

When hearing that Sean Sherman aka “The Sioux Chef” would be catering 2016 First Peoples Fund’s Community Spirit Awards ceremony, Cecily jumped at the chance to volunteer preparing food, helping with kitchen clean-up and gathering footage during the event. It was there she learned that Sean was First Peoples Fund’s first-ever culinary artist fellow and learned more about the work First Peoples Fund does.

Though it was hard to leave her Thunder Valley CDC family, the communications manager position at First Peoples Fund fit Cecily’s skill set, fusing together her passion for communication, expression and art.

“First Peoples Fund recognizes art as an integral, core element of our communities, inextricable from who we are,” she says, “Whether creating networks within and between communities or providing direct support for individual artists, it’s so inspiring to see how First Peoples Fund is really aware of how the work of artists and culture bearers ripples out to impact our indigenous communities. I’m excited to help share those stories.”

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

‍
The Jennifer Easton Community Spirit Awards (CSA) recognizes exceptional artists who have shown a lifetime commitment to perpetuating their art and sharing it within their communities. These practicing artists embody the Collective Spirit®, and are nominated for the award by members of their communities.

“These culture bearers quietly, selflessly give of themselves in their communities year after year,” says Lori Pourier, president of First Peoples Fund. “Through the Community Spirit Awards, First Peoples Fund honors and shines a light on their work to restore and pass on ancestral knowledge and traditions, connecting their peoples to their greatest assets.”  

We are honored to introduce you to these culture bearers well deserving of their 2018 Community Spirit Award.

ELAINE GRINNELL

Jamestown S’Klallam and Lummi

Sequim, Washington

It began in frightening times for young Elaine. She sat near a potbelly stove with her grandfather, David Prince, during World War II blackouts along the Jamestown Beach. But as he calmly peeled apples and told stories, Elaine listened, her fears forgotten as she pressed each word into her mind. He gave her the gift of storytelling.

Today, this art medium overlaps with traditional cooking and basketry for Elaine.

She spent much of her life living around the Straights of Juan de Fuca (also known as the Salish Sea) where she digs clams, picks oysters, catches salmon, crab and octopus and prepares them in traditional ways.

“I have taught two generations of my family to do the same and am beginning to teach our third generation.”

— Elaine Grinnell

She is also showing them how to gather, prepare, and weave Western Red Cedar bark along with their stories.

Because of that dedication, Khia Grinnell (Jamestown S’Klallam and Lummi) nominated Elaine for the CSA.

“My grandmother has worked tirelessly to preserve and share our culture. She has served as an ambassador of our people in a manner that has made not only her family but her community proud.”

— Khia Grinnell

Following in the steps of her grandmother Elaine, Khia is a storyteller and serves on the Northwest Native American Basketweavers Association board alongside Elaine.

Elaine also serves on the Jamestown S’Klallam Culture Committee, the Native Elders Committee of the University of Washington, Northwest Native American Storytellers Association board, and is a certified Klallam language teacher.

KANOELANI DAVIS

Native Hawaiian

Kaunakakai, Hawai’i

For 37 years, Kanoelani has practiced hula, the Hawaiian dance form instilled in her being, along with other cultural practices like wood carving, weapon making, and gathering shells for lei. Her daily occupation, though, is bringing these practices into fashion design through her company, PōMahina Designs.

“It took over 34 years of understanding traditional wear to really grasp the meaning of integrating traditional and contemporary wear,” Kanoelani says.

She values the importance of understanding art and life lessons through the lens of her ancestors, and how vital it is to share those lessons.

“Once that is understood, it allows the creative to create contemporary art forms using ancestral thought process,” she says. “The idea is to allow an individual to take some ownership in the traditions of their ancestors and yet be an individual in today’s time. I foresee balance.”

In her role as Hawaiian Arts Program Director for the Molokai Arts Center, Kanoelani plans to continue holding classes with interested learners.

“Kanoelani Davis is a tireless advocate, supporter and practitioner of Native Hawaiian arts and culture,” Brandon Jones says. He is the executive director of the Molokai Arts Center. Brandon honored Kanoelani with the CSA nomination.

“Anytime she or her students perform hula, the community is confident they are witnessing an authentic act,” he says. “Kanoelani’s company, PōMahina Designs, was recently invited to show at the Pacific Fusion Fashion show in New Zealand. This sent a message to the young people of Molokai that success and recognition are possible for someone who is dedicated to culture.”

MARIE MEADE

Yup’ik

Anchorage, Alaska

“With flashes of color and escalating drum beats, Yup’ik dance envelopes the audience in a celebration of traditional sounds and culture, a blending of music, language and dance,” Marie says.

A traditional dancer, Marie embodies her belief that this gift of dance has taught her who she is as a Yup’ik person.

“Yup’ik dance can be a form of prayer that helps me connect to the core of my soul and spirit as a human being,” she says.

While maintaining strong relationships and family ties with her homeland and the Yup’ik community in Southwest Alaska, Marie travels to practice her art at public and private gatherings, festivals and celebrations. She also shares her dance with the larger global community.

Joy Demmert (Yup’ik) knows her through Marie’s son, Stephen, who performs worldwide with his Inuit soul music group, Pamyua.

“Through Marie, the traditional dancing and singing to tell stories of Yup’ik traditions and ways of life continue to be shared as they have for thousands of years,” Joy says. “She has not only strengthened our communities in Alaska through her art forms, but has spread them all over the world.”

Along with mentoring her sons, grandchildren and many relatives, Marie has taught Yup’ik dance at the University of Alaska Anchorage campus for many years. In 2015, Marie was inducted into the Alaska Women’s Hall of Fame for her contributions to the Alaskan community. She currently works at the University of Alaska Anchorage as a professor for Yup’ik Language, Yup’ik Orthography, and Alaska Native Dance.

‍

PETER B. JONES

Onondaga

Versailles, New York

Peter is a clay artist of the Onondaga tribe in New York State. Returning to his homeland in 1977 after studies at the Institute of American Indian Art, he has worked to bring Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) pottery back to life in his home communities.

These pots reflect what was originally made with clay gathered from stream beds and altered with the addition of crushed shell, crushed granitic rock and sand to create a clay body that was useful and durable after it was fired.

Peter works within the Six Nations Iroquois communities of the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk, and Tuscarora people.

“Because pot making had died out in our culture, I have studied our ancient pottery for over twenty-five years, trying to understand not only how it was made but also what it was used for and sometimes what the designs meant,” Peter says.

He shares this knowledge in classes and workshops throughout the Six Nations Communities. He says, “This returns to our people something that is uniquely ours.”

Carol Ann Lorenz nominated Peter for the CSA. She serves as a faculty member and museum curator at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York.

“I believe it is safe to say that Peter nearly single-handedly revived the making of clay pots in Iroquois country,” she says. “Largely through his efforts, there are dozens of Haudenosaunee artists working in clay today.

“Peter epitomizes the ideals of community connectedness and the giving spirit that the Community Spirit Award is designed to recognize and honor.”

Matilda “Tillie” Wilson has made traditional Atsugewi Indian Baby Baskets for fifteen years. A member of the Hat Creek Atsugewi Band of the Pit River Tribe, she was born in Redding, California and raised in Central Valley (now incorporated as Shasta Lake City). She has 30 years of work experience in education, health management systems, contract health service and health clinic transportation, and the Indian Child Welfare Act.

Matilda shares her knowledge and passion for traditional arts whenever she can. She has sold baskets to people all over the U.S. She is a 2018 First Peoples Fund Cultural Capital fellow.

“Wear old shoes and long pants.” These are the instructions Matilda gives students as they prepare to traverse brushy and wet areas for the springtime harvest of chokecherry, gray and red willow. Before the class on weaving traditional Indian Baby Baskets begins, Matilda scouts out ideal places for harvesting. Their tribe’s natural resources have dwindled, which is one reason she advocates the tribe to grow its own willow.

“If we cannot gather in our traditional spots we must create new ones,” she says, "otherwise the art and tradition of baskets and cradleboards will be gone."

When selecting local harvest locations, Matilda keeps in mind that some of her students have disabilities, or difficulties getting around because of age. She wants her classes to be accessible for all, with no restrictions. If the terrain still proves a challenge to someone, she gathers material for them. Anyone who wants to learn can.

“After we bring our harvest in, we make them (the students) do everything hands on, from framing to cross boarding and making the bonnet — putting everything together by stages,” Matilda explains. Her husband helps her with the harvesting and classes.

Materials have changed over the years — pitch is traded for wood glue, red willow shavings for red yarn. But the process and the heart of the work remains the same, including how Matilda teaches students to thank the Creator for the willow. She sees her students becoming the future teachers of traditional baby basket making.

“I am concerned that the next generation will only read about keeping babies in baskets,” she says.

But when Matilda watches young mothers using baskets they made themselves, she knows this work will live on.

“The main goal is to carry on our traditions so that they are no longer a thing of the past,” she says.

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

Award-winning artist Dana Warrington (Menominee / Prairie Band Potawatomi) was born and raised on Menominee Reservation in Wisconsin. His primary art medium is porcupine quillwork. His art also includes beadwork, bustle-making, moccasins, and cradleboards while adding silver work as a new form in the coming year.

Dana relocated with his family to Cherokee, North Carolina, in August 2016.

Whatever Dana’s mother touched she could do, but the time came when she transferred the work of making his powwow regalia to him. His dad told him, “You can have anything you want, as long as you’re willing to make it yourself.”

At seventeen, Dana picked up a needle and thread and began creating through trial and error over the next ten years. Then he bought his first quillwork pieces, and the dream of having a full set of quillwork was born.

“You can have anything you want, as long as you’re willing to make it yourself.”

Dana had absorbed his love of art through his grandmother. “She always stressed to never abuse your craft, and to always do right by people,” he says.

He followed her teachings through his beginning years, and it brought him to great places. After he spent several winters making new pieces for each powwow season, people began asking Dana who made his regalia. Orders came in.

Over the past two years, Dana has pursued art full-time. At his first major event, Eiteljorg Museum Indian Art Market, he received Best of Show. It left him speechless.

He renamed his art business — Young Blood Artwork — in honor of his grandmother, Dorothy Young. The business is a way of keeping her legacy alive.

In 2018, Dana is looking forward to more great places. With a tribal loan, he and his family are completing a studio next door to his house, giving him space to create his art. His First Peoples Fund Artist in Business Leadership fellowship will cover travel expenses for prestigious Indian art markets. This fellowship also opens network connections he’s never had.

Currently Dana is reaching out to other Native artists and inspiring them through his story to take their business and art to the next level. “The talent is definitely there,” he says.

In it all, he strives for balance between his business and his family while acknowledging the center of everything he does.

“I want to stay 100% focused on my art, my family, and what’s right in front of me,” Dana says. “I believe God is the center of everything, of our lives every day. I believe we have God-given talent — that’s what is pushing me to pursue it. The rest, I’ve just got to work hard for.”

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

‍

Roxanne Best (Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation) is a photographer, culinary artist and storyteller. She grew up on the Colville Indian Reservation, then spent a season of life as a scuba diving instructor where she took underwater photos and video at the Turks and Caicos Islands. She later moved to Kauai, Hawai’i where she honed her cooking and photography skills.

After the birth of her two sons, Roxanne returned to her home area so they could learn the traditions of her family. They now reside in Okanogan, Washington.

Roxanne is a certified Northwest Native Development Fund Indianpreneurship trainer and a First Peoples Fund trainer.

Sitting down for a comfortable chat with Grandma to learn the traditional foodways of her people. This is the feeling Roxanne wants to convey to readers through an Indigenous food blog that she can eventually publish as a book.

She is combining her passion for photography and food into the project to pass on ancestral knowledge to those who, like her, feel disconnected from their people. Though raised on the Colville Reservation, Roxanne was encouraged to get an education and not worry about the traditional ways.

“They won’t get you a job,” she was told.

So Roxanne set out on a journey that eventually took her to Hawai’i where she combined her love of teaching, scuba diving, exotic foods, and photography. But it was a trip to Fiji that ultimately brought her back home.

The warmth of the Indigenous people’s embrace and their ease of living within their cultural practices birthed a desire in Roxanne to learn about her own culture. But even when she moved back to the reservation area, it was hard to find reliable information. There was only one way to truly learn — from elders. Yet Roxanne felt like many in her generation. Disconnected. Unqualified. Afraid to ask.

For ten years, she held onto the dream of documenting the foodways of her people through photos and stories. Then a way opened through an encounter with Leon Rattler (Blackfeet) at a First Peoples Fund training last fall.

“He heard my story and approached me,” Roxanne explained. “He said he would love for me to be on the committee working on an elder’s heritage manual for the Colville Confederated Tribes. That’s huge. We’re talking about traditions around food, burial, every aspect of our people. It’s been amazing. I’m the only non-elder on the committee.”

With support from her 2018 First Peoples Fund Artist in Business Leadership program, Roxanne is gathering information into a reliable resource for traditional foods. It will help others begin to fold their Native heritage into their lives.

“What you consume becomes a part of you,” Roxanne said. “I’m inspired by the stories that people have surrounding food. Being able to create those moments as a cook and also capture the process on film or in story brings me great joy.”