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A fresh look — evolved, expanded, and with room to grow. First Peoples Fund recently completed a revision of our Native Artist Professional Development Training curriculum, weaving in the business needs of performing artists. As the number of these artists coming in for training increased, we recognized the call to address their unique business development needs.

Thanks to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Native Artist Professional Development training (NAPD), which was originally developed primarily for visual artists, now includes specific issues performing artists face.

"Led by our Community Spirit Award culture bearers, First Peoples Fund worked closely with our artist fellows and alumni and community partners from within our network for over two years to thoughtfully adapt the curriculum to be more relevant to the needs of Native performing artists," said First Peoples Fund President and CEO Lori Pourier (Oglala Lakota).

"Performing artists have always been an important part of our family, and now we are able to more effectively help them grow as entrepreneurs and support them as leaders within their communities."

FPF staff worked with Native performing artist fellows and CSA alumni Wade Fernandez (Menominee), Pura Fe Crescioni (Tuscarora) and Jennifer Kreisberg (Tuscarora) and performing arts organizations from within our network, such as the PA'I Foundation, National Performance Network and Pangea World Theater, as well as consultant Julie Dalgleish, and veteran NAPD trainers Kimberly Tilsen-Brave Heart (Oglala Lakota) and Ron Martinez-Looking Elk (Isleta/Taos Pueblo), to complete the new curriculum.

“Native people have been performing artists for a very, very long time,” Kimberly said. “Sometimes, they are unaware of their own value and the business aspects of transactional relationships. What is the expectation for a performing artist? How do they manage relationships, contracts and logistics with an event producer, manager or booking agent? This new curriculum is built to give people a better understanding of those aspects.”

Several current and past performing artist fellows, a past Community Spirit Award honoree, and spoken poets who are part of the Dances with Words program attended a recent pilot training on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota led by Kimberly and Ron. The poets who attended were surprised by the notion of being paid for presenting their poetry. Even the concept of an honorarium was foreign until they learned their value through the NAPD training.

“Understanding an artist’s value is a huge step in the success of their career,” Kimberly said. “When you understand your value, you can advocate for yourself.”

First Peoples Fund Program Manager Jeremy Staab (Santee Sioux) emphasized this by illustrating how undervaluing performances not only impacts the individual artist but the industry as a whole.

“Some of the young poets are just invited to share their poems but haven’t thought about charging for them,” Jeremy said. “Then they learned how not charging undervalues spoken word. This is true of many artists across disciplines. There are traveling artists like First Peoples Fund fellow Tanaya Winder who do charge for performances. Not charging affects the industry.”

Working with Partners, Evolving the Curriculum

Previously, the NAPD focused on business needs from the perspective of visual artists. Though all artists begin in the same place, there are different approaches moving forward when it comes to the various mediums. The NAPD kept bumping into performing artists who needed more than the curriculum offered.  

To expand the NAPD training, we started two years ago with trusted partners in the performing arts field to get their insight on what these artists need for their businesses to allow them to continue with the heart of their work. We held a convening at the Pangea World Theater in Minneapolis and gathered information there. We also went to the PA’I Foundation for their knowledge of what performing arts looks like with their Native Hawaiian artists.

We worked closely with the National Performance Network. NPN reviewed our previous manual, made suggestions on what could be added on, and they shared parts of their curriculum that could be included in the NAPD.

“We had to decide whether to add performing arts at the end of each chapter or work it into the manual,” Jeremy said. “We did a mixture of both to make it as seamless as possible.”

Julie Dagleish had the role of developing and writing add-ons along with a new section in the manual.

The revised curriculum took shape.

Piloting the Revised Curriculum

Once we had a solid draft, we invited First Peoples Fund performing artist fellows and Dances with Words poets to offer suggestions at pilot trainings with Ron and Kimberly. From hip-hop and Native blues to culture bearers and young poets, conversations happened.

“We were able to call on our Native performing artists and ask for their input,” Ron said. “That was one of the most valuable things.”

Ron, an international award-winning traditional potter, has worked with Indigenous artists, leaders, and organizers from many countries including New Zealand, Japan, Greece, South Korea, Africa, Bolivia, Peru and with tribes throughout the U.S.

“We put the curriculum together based on our knowledge of working with performing artists,” Ron said, “but once we got them in the room and started delivering the curriculum, that’s when everything started to mesh.”

“We also talked about marketing,” Kim said, “how impactful social media is, and about being well-produced in putting out work you’re proud of, that represents your brand. In all the trainings, the marketing component was a huge success.”

Tightening the Training Weave

This revision of the NAPD serves to tighten the weave across and within First Peoples Fund’s programs.

“We’ve always had performing artists in the room,” Ron said, “and we’ve tailored our discussions so they’re included. But this is the first time it’s been formally introduced in the curriculum.”

Upcoming in February and March, First Peoples Fund will hold trainings for national trainers to update their certifications with the new content woven through the NAPD curriculum. They will be prepared to work more deeply with performing artists.

“We found there was this large component of Native performing artists who have no training or education available,” Kimberly said. “We wanted to fulfill that need.”

Native artist sought for downtown Rapid City public art project

DEADLINE EXTENDED TO FEBRUARY 12TH, 2018

First Peoples Fund is part of a collaborative of Rapid City-based nonprofits that is seeking a Native artist affiliated with a South Dakota tribe to carve and/or sandblast a piece of granite located in the center of a Lakota medicine in front of Main Street Square in downtown Rapid City.

The stone to be carved is a large granite bench in front of the two granite spires at the intersection of Main and Sixth Streets. It is located in the center of a large Lakota medicine wheel made of colored concrete embedded in the walkway. An optional additional element at the artist’s discretion is carving a large granite boulder that is part of a Lucite wall near the central granite piece.

The artist will be selected by a committee made up of representatives from First Peoples Fund and Native POP Art Market and Cultural Celebration. The project is privately funded and the artist’s fee, to include all materials and fabrication costs, is $30,000.

“Masayuki Nagase, the sculptor who carved the 21 pieces of granite around Main Street Square that make up Passage of Wind and Water, did not include this stone in his project design because of its location in the medicine wheel,” explained Mary Bordeaux, chair of the selection committee, program manager for fellowships at First Peoples Fund, and a founding member of the Native POP organizing committee. “The artist selected for the project will develop a design that is considerate of this location as well as harmonizing with Masayuki’s work.”

This invitation is open to artists who generally work in 2-dimensional forms, as well as those who work in 3-D forms. Artists may propose 2-D designs that can be transferred to the stone/s through a sandblasting process.

The application can be found on the online system Submittables under Main Street Square Medicine Wheel Bench Call. The extended application deadline is February 12th, 2018. The selected artist will be notified in February. Work may begin on site in June and must be completed by September 1, 2018.

For more information about the project, please contact Mary Bordeaux, mary@firstpeoplesfund.org, or Anna Huntington, anna@firstpeoplesfund.org, at First Peoples Fund, 605-348-0324.

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

‍Angel Two Bulls was born and raised on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and is a member of the Oglala Lakota Nation. With a background in mental health, Angel received a bachelor’s in psychology from Portland State University and a master’s in counseling from the University of New Mexico.

Angel is a fellow of the Native Youth Leadership Alliance (NYLA) and co-founder of the annual Indigenous Film Festival on Pine Ridge. Integrating healing through art within the individual and community are vision areas for Angel’s work within the First Peoples Fund Indigenous Art Ecology.

Weaving between complex work — making connections, building integration, and deepening impact. This is part of First Peoples Fund’s vision in tightening the weave throughout our programs. For this, we created the new Program Weaver position, and found the right person to fill it.

Angel Two Bulls (Oglala Lakota) comes from a background of nonprofits and mental health work. It was Angel’s mother, Verola Spider, who laid a foundation for Angel’s work.

Verola had many chores for her children when they were growing up: popping corn kernels off the cob for drying, grinding chokecherries, or taking quills out of porcupines for their mother’s cultural artwork. During those chores, their mother would tell stories of the life of their great-great-grandmother, of their heritage. And Verola would always be fully present with them.

“My mom doesn’t know how to text or email,” Angel said. “When I visit her, I get 100% of her attention.”

This instilled a value of generosity in Angel of being client-centered and a good listener.

Weaving into First Peoples Fund

Angel attended the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA), earning an associates degree in New Media Arts: Moving Images in 2014. At the IAIA, Angel met future life-partner Micheal Two Bulls. Micheal is an artist and former First Peoples Fund Artist in Business Leadership recipient.

When they decided to move back home, Angel planned to find work in a mental health position but was pleasantly surprised at the opening of Program Weaver for First Peoples Fund.

“I had previous experience in the nonprofit world through the Native Youth Leadership Alliance,” Angel said.

Angel had connected with First Peoples Fund in other ways, including through David Cournoyer (Sicangu Lakota), a board member of First Peoples Fund and the Native Youth Leadership Alliance (NYLA). Co-founding the first film festival on Pine Ridge in 2015 gave Angel an opportunity to work with the Rolling Rez Arts Mobile Unit.

The Rolling Rez Arts was part of the past two film festivals, providing a platform for facilitating information, screenings and classes. In the mobile unit, Angel taught a workshop on beginner filmmaking.

“I’d already seen First Peoples Fund within the community work I do,” Angel said. “That’s why I was attracted to them.”

Surrounded by a family of artists, Angel understands the philosophies behind First Peoples Fund’s Indigenous Arts Ecology.

“Because of my husband’s positive experience with First Peoples Fund, and coming from a family of artists on both sides including my in-laws, it seemed a natural transition for me,” Angel said. “First Peoples Fund’s Indigenous Arts Ecology model makes sense to me because I’ve lived it.”

“Because of my husband’s positive experience with First Peoples Fund, and coming from a family of artists on both sides including my in-laws, it seemed a natural transition for me,” Angel said. “First Peoples Fund’s Indigenous Arts Ecology model makes sense to me because I’ve lived it.”

Knowing the work of First Peoples Fund in communities — starting with individual artists — motivated Angel to become a part of the process. “I saw how much of an impact this work can have, and it was something I wanted to be a part of. When we came back home after school, I wanted to work in the community. Being at First Peoples Fund translates to working with communities.”

The Program Weaver ensures connections are made where they need to be, encouraging programs to overlap, and ultimately tightening the weave.

“My role is to help the programs work together,” Angel said, “and be that bridge between the programs.”

Angel is also becoming a certified community coach through funding provided by NYLA. This translates to moving work forward in strategic planning, intention and next steps — useful qualities in nonprofits such as First Peoples Fund.

Angel is a creative as well, and recently had quillwork featured in the Tapun Sa Win show hosted by the Center for American Indian Research and Native Studies, and has worked with Native POP: People of the Plains in Rapid City.

“Culture often comes out in art,” Angel said. “It’s how we express the moments we live in and what’s going on in the world right now. When an artist creates a piece of work, a lot of times it’s on their current experience. Like a snapshot in time that will last forever.”

The Value of Generosity

Angel’s mother is still a model for community work, and for being someone who is completely present for whatever she’s doing, even listening.

“My mother is like that with everyone,” Angel said. “They feel close to her. She gives them so much attention, love, and respect. It’s nice to aspire to, knowing that in our community, people value her because she’s loving and giving. She shares her knowledge with everyone.”

Generosity is one of the values Angel brings to the Program Weaver position, a value integral to the heart our work.

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

Lydia Apatiki (Sivuqaghhmii) is a traditional St. Lawrence Island skin sewer who uses materials harvested and gathered by her family to create intricate traditional Yup’ik dolls, game kick balls, and bird skin parkas. She is a speaker of St. Lawrence Island Yup’ik and taught the bilingual program for many years at the Gambell school, where she developed a language workbook for elementary grades.

In 2015, Lydia was recognized by Senator Donald Olson for preserving culture and ways of life on the St. Lawrence Island.

Thousands of birds flocked overhead, but the wind blew the wrong direction, and the men did not catch a single bird. Weather, location, timing. These are traditional harvesting practices Lydia’s bird catching husband, Jerome (Sivuqaghhmii) wants to document. He is her helper and partner in the curriculum she is working to develop on sewing traditional bird skin parkas.

When Lydia committed to making her first bird skin parka a decade ago, her aunt and stern mentor gave her no opportunity to fail, even when she wanted to give up on that most challenging project of her life.

“You start your parka, and I want to see you finish it completely,” Aunt Adeline said.

Lydia kept going, learning traditional stitching and eventually, she finished the parka.

“Thank goodness for Aunt Adeline,” Lydia said with a chuckle. “I’ve finished five bird skin parkas now.”

Lydia travels to the mainland, to events such as the elder’s conference in Nome, to seek knowledge of traditional stitches, of who can teach her more correct practices than she knows.

When Lydia finds material, she adds it to her new computer, slowly collecting information she needs to create a sewing curriculum with the help of the Kawerak, Inc. staff and Northwest Campus staff. Her First Peoples Fund Cultural Capital fellowship supports the process as she gathers knowledge, much like her people still gather berries and roseroot for the winter.

“It broke my heart when a young lady wanted to learn how to make a bird skin parka but had no one to teach her,” Lydia said. She wants this curriculum to educate youth in these practices.

“I am so pleased to do this, finally,” Lydia added. “I didn’t know how to go about compiling a sewing curriculum. I am so pleased with the help of this (First Peoples Fund) program.”

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

In 2013 Crystal Worl (Athabascan Tlingit) earned a Bachelor of Fine Art in jewelry metals and an Associate of Fine Art in moving images from the Institute of American Indian Arts. The majority of her art consists of painting, printmaking, graphic design, and clothing design. Her work explores the relationships and bonds between her people, the land, and the animals. She lives in Juneau, Alaska, working as a co-owner of Trickster Company.

Swimming in an ocean of projects every day, all over the world, Crystal embodies the creative lifestyle. Aerial dancer, visual artist, and now, Indigenous clothing designer.

At Trickster Company co-owners Crystal and her brother, Rico Worl, strive to represent a prestigious lineage of art in fresh and energetic ways as a celebration of Northwest Coast culture as it lives today. They launched their first clothing line in October 2016.

With all the new and hip work, Crystal still looks to mastering the ancient Northwest Coast formline design. It is essential to run a modern business while keeping the heart of her culture in the forefront, which is why she travels to meet with masters of formline design.

“I want to be fluent in it, to continue to study and better my formline for the rest of my life,” she said. “That applies to my business, too. I exist between traditional and modern worlds.”

When Crystal began her 2017 Artist in Business Leadership fellowship, she had just started to design clothing. But she learned by doing and kept growing into whatever was in front of her, never letting an opportunity pass by.

This led to a collaboration with Jared Yazzie (Diné - Navajo) of OXDX. They set up a pop-up shop at the Santa Fe Indian Market where Crystal was a featured designer. She looks forward to more collaborations with artists like First Peoples Fund fellow John Pepion (Piikani).

“Part of Trickster Company’s mission is to work with other Indigenous artists,” Crystal said, “and create a strong platform for artists who are into fashion and putting their designs on modern products.”

With Alaska undergoing growth, Indigenous fashion is catching on. “I’m excited to be involved with helping Indigenous fashion be recognized here,” Crystal said. “I think my business and clothing line has helped uplift Alaskan Native fashion.”

Her creative lifestyle is overwhelming at times, but when Crystal is at a show and youth come up and say how her work inspires them, it’s all worth it. She said, “I hope that’s what young people see — that literally, anything is possible.”

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

Mist settled over the pine trees clustered on the mountainside backdrop of the stunning Sealaska Heritage Institute in Juneau, Alaska. First Peoples Fund’s Indigenous Arts Ecology (IAE) program regional convening was underway, though not in the way we’d planned. Mechanical issues on the ferry and too much fog for a plane ride prevented us from visiting the Chilkat Indian Village in Klukwan.

Past Community Spirit Award recipient Lani Hotch (Tlingit) had planned to host us to see their thriving arts ecology. In a community of fewer than 100 people, they have built a strong tourist destination with a culture center, public art, and artists’ work to celebrate and preserve their culture.

“A main component of the IAE grant itself is for these regional convenings,” said Jeremy Staab (Santee Sioux), First Peoples Fund program manager. “The grantees come together with First Peoples Fund and the site managers to meet and share collective knowledge between the sites. They also get professional training from our lead consultants, Ben Sherman and Theresa Secord.”

Since we were unable to witness the work in the Chilkat community firsthand, the Sealaska Heritage Institute in Juneau welcomed our convening into their facility.

The group settled in the Clan House — built by past Community Spirit Award (CSA) recipients David A. Boxley (Tsimshian) and his son David R. Boxley (Tsimshian) — within the Sealaska building. The facility also highlights art by former CSA recipients Nathan Jackson (Tlingit), and Chilkat weaver Anna Brown Ehlers (Tlingit), a 2017 National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellow.

We shared introductions between staff, facilitators and representatives of the IAE grantees — Four Directions Development Fund (Red Lake), Lakota Funds (Pine Ridge), Northwest Native Development Fund (Colville) and Native American Community Development Corporation (Browning).

Each area partner brought one or two artists because, at its heart, an Indigenous Arts Ecology is an artist-led movement. The program is about building better infrastructure for artists within tribal communities.

“Any program like this has to be artist-led,” said Theresa Secord (Penobscot), co-organizer, IAE site manager, and FPF trainer. “What do artists need, what are their strengths, what can they look to others for in the way of assistance or in sharing their gifts?”

Theresa, a former FPF board member, CSA honoreee, and National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellow, recognized the symbol of success the Juneau area represents for Indigenous artists in the modern economy.

“Meeting in Juneau at Sealaska was a very rich experience,” she said. “It’s a showcase of Alaska Native culture; an amazing building and meeting space.”

“The First Nations people of that land treated us very well,” said First Peoples Fund artist fellow and trainer John Pepion (Piikani). He represented the Northwest Native Development Fund at the convening.

FPF staff brought together our relations in the Juneau area to create an Indigenous Arts Ecology experience for the grantees. Crystal Worl — 2017 Artist in Business Leadership fellow and co-owner of Trickster Company — made time in the chaos of her schedule to come to Sealaska and introduce herself.

She was amazed to see three people wearing Trickster apparel as she shared her story of how helpful First Peoples Fund was to her and her Juneau-based business that promotes Indigenous design. Her brother Rico Worl — who had opened the convening with a blessing — and Crystal started Trickster Company with a long-term vision of being part of the growing art mecca in Alaska.

“Often, individual artists don’t have the capability to open a shop,” Crystal said. “One long-term goal of Trickster Company is to give artists that space to sell their designs on skateboards, clothing, and accessories.”

Crystal invited five of the IAE guest artists to her home, where she served seal she’d butchered and salmon she’d caught.

“We talked about each other’s art and exchanged art ideas,” Crystal said. “I spoke with John Pepion about using some of his designs on a product to be featured through Trickster Company and doing cross-branding with him. It was short but super sweet to have them (the artists) here.”

“Everyone we met in Alaska was knowledgeable, kind and generous,” John said. He enjoyed his first experience in that state. With the constant mist and fog, it felt like a chilly rainforest as a group from the convening hiked up the Mendenhall Glacier and took in the view. On the banks of the lake near Nugget Falls, a black bear ambled out in front of them.

John became a fan of the unique Northwest Coast formline art designs. “I was inspired by the local scene,” he said. “Some of the artists had their own shops and studios right downtown. I feel like that community supports their Indigenous artists because their art is everywhere, even on signs and coffee shop menus. It was awesome to see.”

By Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer (Choctaw Nation), Artist in Business Leadership Fellow 2015
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“I expect you to change the world.”

Mary Bordeaux’s (Sicangu / Oglala) father spoke those words to her at her high school graduation. At the time, Mary, who joined FPF as program manager for fellowships earlier this month, had no idea how she could change the world. It weighed on her, an impossible expectation.

It wasn’t until years later that Mary understood her dad’s statement. When her oldest son Austin was born and looked into his eyes, she realized she was his whole world at that time. Did Mary’s dad mean she was to change the world or to change her world?  

“I started to think of it as a statement of empowerment,” Mary said. “That I need to change how I interact with the world and how the world interacts with me. That’s what I need to be changing.”

Mary decided from then on to try harder, to push herself, to leap.

“First Peoples Fund’s entire board and staff are thrilled to welcome Mary to our team,” said Lori Pourier, FPF’s president and CEO. “We have worked with Mary on Pine Ridge and through a variety of programs for many years. The breadth of her knowledge and experience with Native art and artists is already fueling our programs in exciting ways.”

Born and raised on the Pine Ridge Reservation, Mary moved to Santa Fe in 1998 to attend the Institute of American Indian Arts where she earned her bachelor’s degree in museum studies. Being at IAIA let her be around art, let it envelop her, to take classes but not be an artist yet.

“I wish I could be an artist, but my skin’s not thick enough,” Mary said. “So I do my best to support artists and art in the best way I know how.”

After graduation and an internship at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., Mary came home to Pine Ridge. She found a job at The Heritage Center at Red Cloud Indian School.

“It was supposed to be a one-year position, and I ended up staying ten years,” she said with a laugh. She worked in all capacities at the museum, eventually leaving as interim director.

Mary gained her Master’s of Fine Arts in exhibition planning and design from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia while still working for The Heritage Center from afar.

After she came home, Mary eventually moved to the Indian Museum of North America at the Crazy Horse Memorial in the Black Hills. She became the museum curator and director of cultural affairs where she helped develop and expand their artist programs.

In 2016, she shifted focus to begin working on her doctorate at St. Mary’s and also take her accumulated knowledge to open an art gallery, Racing Magpie, with her husband, Peter Strong. Racing Magpie, founded in 2016, is an Indigenous art gallery and artists space in downtown Rapid City. That became a place where Mary could fulfill her heart’s desire to work with artists.

“It’s so humbling to be a part of,” she said, “working in museums, in collections, and giving access to communities and artists so they can see art created by their ancestors. I want to be here as a helper.”

Mary has seen the power of art to heal, and how it draws old and young people to one another, people with different political and socio-economical backgrounds. It brings people together who wouldn’t connect if they weren’t in front of or interacting with art.

“It gives people the opportunity to have dialogue with each other,” Mary said. “I want to be there to facilitate art and to help it do its job. Sometimes artists have a hard time communicating their message to the rest of the world. I want to help the world understand what artists are saying.”

Having witnessed the work of Lori Pourier (Oglala Lakota) and First Peoples Fund for many years, Mary was excited to move into the position of program manager for fellowships earlier this month.

“I have such a desire to work with artists, to help them amplify their voices,” she said. “I couldn’t think of a better place to do that than with First Peoples Fund as their program manager for  fellowships. I get to work directly with artists. They spend so much time being such great artists; I want to help them be better at the business side of things, giving them more brain power or energy to spend on their art. First Peoples Fund gives me the opportunity to do that.”

With her husband managing Racing Magpie, Mary still sees herself continuing to curate shows that push boundaries, that won’t be the romantic view of who Native people are, exhibitions that talk about current issues.

“I’m interested in interactive art that people can experience,” she said. “It doesn’t happen a lot in our area. I’m excited to have a space where artists can do that.”

Thovugh Mary still doesn’t claim the title of “artist,” she has found herself changing the world for Native artists and others. Her oldest son is now a junior at the IAIA in Santa Fe, and she spends as much time as possible with her youngest son, a creative eight-year-old. They build projects together as she teaches him about his world.

“I expect you to change the world.”

“I always work to do things that are going to empower Native people,” Mary said, “and so that my sons see that you can be Native in this world and be good at things and be okay even if you’re uncomfortable. That’s what that statement from my dad has come to mean.”

The Ford Foundation announced today that First Peoples Fund President and CEO Lori Pourier (Oglala Lakota) is one of 25 new Art of Change fellows. The fellowship supports visionary artists and cultural leaders in creating powerful works of art that help advance freedom, justice, and inclusion and strengthen our democracy.

“First Peoples Fund has spent nearly 20 years advocating for the advancement of Native artists and culture bearers at the tribal level.  It is an honor to be recognized by the Ford Foundation for our important work,” Lori said. “The award will give us the opportunity to uplift the voices of culture bearers and artists who are restoring and rebuilding the very fabric of their tribal communities through art and cultural expression.”

Pourier is joined in the award by diverse arts and culture luminaries such as dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov, writers Edwidge Danticat, Sandra Cisneros and Joy Harjo (Creek, Muscogee). Alternate ROOTs executive director Carlton Turner, a member of First Peoples Fund’s board of directors and a partner in Intercultural Leadership Institute, is also a fellowship recipient.

“Lori has devoted her career to supporting Native artists and culture bearers and the communities in which they live, particularly through the work of First Peoples Fund,” said Sherry Salway Black, chair of First Peoples Fund’s board of directors. “She leads this important effort to strengthen tribal communities now and for future generations — this award will help to elevate and continue this work.”  

The artists and cultural leaders selected for Art of Change fellowships all have a demonstrated commitment to social justice, and reflect a powerful diversity of experiences and creative voices. Drawn from a wide range of artistic fields, the fellows span generations, backgrounds, geographies and life experiences — and together tell a rich and varied American story.

The Art of Change fellowship builds on the Ford Foundation’s decades-long commitment to advancing the arts and creative expression. Today, the foundation’s Creativity and Free Expression program explores how culture affects and shapes our world, and how the arts, journalism and film can contribute to fairer and more just societies.

“Art is essential in a free and flourishing society. Artists are the visionaries who can shine light on complexity and possibility, and inspire us to make those societies more just and more beautiful,” said Elizabeth Alexander, the Ford Foundation’s director of Creativity and Free Expression. “This fellowship recognizes an extraordinarily diverse group of brilliant artists and innovators whose works embody social justice, and enables them to come together and collaborate toward a more just and inclusive future.”

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

A strong wind blew across the grasslands as we huddled together, sheltering between vehicles. It was a quiet moment for a group of 50, a time of silence as all gathered close and waited. We stood at the top of a hill near the Wounded Knee Cemetery and the site where a band of Lakota people were massacred in 1890.

We prepared for this time at the Lakota College Historical Center in Kyle where we viewed photos and heard the story of Wounded Knee. The time came to experience the place and feel the emotions.

First Peoples Fund President Lori Pourier (Oglala Lakota) introduced Tashina Banks Rama (Oglala Lakota / Ojibwe), daughter of Dennis Banks, to share a piece of the second Wounded Knee story when the American Indian Movement occupied the town in 1973. After tearful stories, Tashina went around to those gathered, offering tobacco for ceremony and was embraced with long hugs by the those in the group.

Led with a prayer song by Guss Yellow Hair (Oglala Lakota), who bore the Eagle Staff, the group fell in line to enter the cemetery and pray as we slowly walked around the chain link fence that marked and protected the mass grave. Circling to the front again, Guss opened up the time for anyone to sing or pray. Hawaiians in the group offered chants and wove the braided lauhala leaves they’d brought with them for this purpose they around the top of the fence. “We wanted to bring deep aloha,” said Vicky Holt Takamine (PA’I Foundation Executive Director).

American Indians used the hand drum for prayer songs or gave a warrior’s cry. African Americans offered brown sugar. Some people knelt on the earth and prayed for healing. Intercultural Leadership Institute (ILI) fellow Angie Durrell played “Closer to my God” on violin.

“It was so beautiful,” Lori Pourier said. “That’s never happened, for someone to play a violin there.”

Across the cultures, we felt the pain of the past and connection with that place.

This moving time at Wounded Knee came in the middle of the Intercultural Leadership Institute — Lakota Territory, hosted by First Peoples Fund (FPF). The journey had begun a few days before in the Black Hills, HeSapa, sacred ground for the Lakota People.

Ron Martinez Looking Elk (Isleta / Taos Pueblos), FPF trainer and board member, organized the opening circle. Carlton Turner, Alternate Roots Executive Director, officially passed ILI to Lori Pourier and FPF from the institute’s previous immersion experience in Jackson, Mississippi in March.

The circle continued around with fellows, partners, and guest introductions. People from Hawai’i and California, across to New York and Rhode Island and states in between came to South Dakota where they learned about Lakota people and their homelands.

The focus throughout was immersion in Lakota Territory, giving the 30 ILI fellows an opportunity to experience that place. One fellow commented that it was “a privilege to be in this space, that Lori trusts us to bring us here to learn about their history and culture.”

It wasn’t always an easy experience. Emotional, physical and mental drain on the group was brought up by some of the fellows. Leaders of the partner organizations that founded ILI adjusted the schedule and allowed for time to process the traumatic history and the pain of similarities woven through all cultures.

The group covered hard topics about the structure of ILI and how to address issues in the future. The partners welcomed input about the previous convening, and fellows voiced concerns and also their appreciation for the collaboration efforts to grow interculturally as leaders and embody the purpose of the institute. ILI aims to develop an innovative, arts-centered, bold demonstration of intercultural collaboration, learning, and leadership development.

“The work you do is rooted in your heart and your values,” Lori said. “Take these 18 months to build relationships.”

The fellows have made many connections through the institute so far. “I’m here to learn, and I’m enjoying learning from every one of you,” said ILI fellow and First Peoples Fund Artist in Business Leadership fellow Wesley May (Red Lake Band of Chippewa). “We interconnect and share goals. We learn the most from each other.”

That was a takeaway for everyone — the commonalities we have and the efforts to reclaim what was taken or lost. It’s complex work.

“We knew we wanted to help create a different paradigm of the way arts, culture and our communities are supported,” said Maria López De León (NALAC President and CEO). “With shared understanding, we have a greater voice. We’re asking you (ILI fellows) to come along with us and together, find those answers and develop that new paradigm. You’re a part of creating this.”

The fellows acknowledged the importance of building solid foundations on common goals. ILI nurtures community, an atmosphere of like minds coming together with their different perspectives yet same thoughts.

“All these cultural experiences and these shared celebrations,” ILI fellow Jonathan Clark said, “It’s beautiful that humanity crosses all those different things.”

““All these cultural experiences and these shared celebrations. It’s beautiful that humanity crosses all those different things.”

— ILI fellow Jonathan Clark

“Most of all I see harmony,” Cassius Spears (Narragansett/Niantic) said. “What we’re doing is important, and I’m proud to be a part of it.”

Closing the Lakota Territory ILI Convening

On the final day, there was an opportunity for everyone’s voice to be heard in the closing circle when facilitator Tufara Waller Muhammad asked everyone to share what was resonating with them in that moment after all they’d experienced during five days of immersion in Lakota Territory. Responses ranged from sincere gratitude to Lori and First Peoples Fund for hosting the journey, to the emotional bonding and support for one another among the fellows.

Throughout ILI there were moments of honoring, gifts given to speakers and leaders after sessions. After the final sharing, Lori gifted parfleche boxes made by FPF fellow Mike Marshall (Sicangu Lakota) and filled with sage bundles tucked inside by her daughter.

The convening concluded with intercultural leadership at work. Lori asked Angie Durrell to close out the Lakota Territory convening with a tune on her violin. ILI fellow Adam Horowitz planned to stay two extra days and shoot a video with Bryan Parker, FPF Rolling Rez program coordinator, about the importance of acknowledging place.

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

Jason Garcia (Santa Clara Pueblo Tewa) earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in printmaking within his 20-plus-year art career. He has participated in the Comic Art Indigene at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fe, and Native Pop! at the New Mexico Museum of Art. His work has led to top awards and honors, including a Ronald N. and Susan Dubin Fellowship at the School for Advanced Research, and Best of Classification and Artist’s Choice awards at the Santa Fe Indian Market.

In 2017, Jason participated in numerous shows and exhibits, including “A Grand Celebration” at The Poeh Museum. Jason resides in Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico.

Okuu Pin — strong like a mountain and the patience of a turtle. Like the meaning behind his traditional Tewa name, Jason has learned the best things take a little time, but it’s worth it in the end.

Jason brings the ancient into the present, inspired by everything around him. Hand gathering clay, native clay slips, outdoor firings — he fuses modern icons with these traditional practices. Jason examines life and interprets those things through his art. His finished works, often clay tiles created in the traditional Pueblo way, offer a rich visual mix. His art is always telling a story.

Jason’s first graphic tile in 2002 solidified his lifetime calling and expanded the norms of contemporary Pueblo art. He experiments with blending ancient Pueblo designs, his people’s stories, and stunning landscape with Western pop culture.

He values his tribal community’s acceptance of his work. His art also reaches the non-Native world with interpretations of his people and their past, but also their often overlooked present.

“I feel I am always educating the public about my work and my process,” Jason said.

With his First Peoples Fund Artist in Business Leadership fellowship, Jason is creating a serigraphy/silkscreen print studio to expand his work as a full-time artist. “Serigraphy is a wonderful medium to get across many of the stories and ideas that my artwork portrays,” he explained.

Whether through traditional or modern mediums, Jason knows it is important to keep ceramic practices alive and to pass them down, as they were passed to him from time immemorial. He said, “I feel these materials and techniques connect me not only to my ancestral past and landscape but also connect myself and future generations to our Tewa cultural traditions.”

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

Through this series, we highlight the extraordinary people who serve as First Peoples Fund’s board of directors. They are the culture bearers and leaders from national nonprofits within and beyond Indian Country who graciously guide First Peoples Fund and strengthen the Collective Spirit®.

MEET CARLTON TURNER

Carlton Turner works across the country as a performing artist, arts advocate, policy shaper, lecturer, consultant, and facilitator. He is the Executive Director of Alternate ROOTS, a regional arts organization based in the South supporting artists working at the intersection of arts and social justice.

Carlton is co-founder and co-artistic director, along with his brother Maurice Turner, of the group M.U.G.A.B.E.E. (Men Under Guidance Acting Before Early Extinction). M.U.G.A.B.E.E. is a Mississippi-based performing arts group blending jazz, hip-hop, spoken word poetry and soul music together with non-traditional storytelling.

Carlton currently serves on the boards of First Peoples Fund, Imagining America, and Project South for the Elimination of Poverty and Genocide. He is the founder of the Mississippi Center for Cultural Production, an arts and agriculture venture to support rural community, cultural, and economic development in his hometown of Utica, Mississippi where he lives with his wife Brandi and three children.  

Q&A

Carlton, we appreciate your taking time for this Q&A. Who taught you the values you hold closest? What role did that person play in your life and what lessons did you learn from them?

My mother and father were instrumental in the lives of myself and my siblings. We were grounded in knowing who our family was, and connected to the history of our community. That gave us a sense of place that made everything else flow. It allowed us to be solid in our identity no matter where we went or what we encountered.

That sense of place is the thing I think is most important in the raising of my own family: keeping them in a community that values them as individuals.

What professional accomplishment do you believe says the most about who you are and what’s important to you?

Development and collaboration with my peers, mentors, and friends in the Intercultural Leadership Institute (ILI). Working with people on things I know are important — intercultural relationships and strategies, and to acknowledge our shared connection in this world and the power we have as a collective body. The leaders of First Peoples Fund, the National Association of Latino Arts & Culture and the PA’I Foundation have become my family, my mentors, my aunties.

ILI is a great summary of some of the most important work I’ve ever done.

How long have you served on the First Peoples Fund board and why did you get involved?

This is my second year on the First Peoples Fund board. I got involved with FPF through our common relationships with the Ford Foundation. The way Lori Pourier spoke about her people, her community, their struggle, their triumphs and their dreams for a better life resonated with me in the way I think about my own community. It was a great opportunity to work together because we already had so much in common. That was 13 years ago.

I’ve been to Pine Ridge multiple times and Lori’s been to Mississippi. We’ve worked together in at least 20 states. Joining the board was a logical step to help support her leadership at First Peoples Fund.

What are the most significant challenges Native nonprofits face? How does FPF overcome those challenges?

I think the primary challenge is that their work is too often viewed as secondary. The way First Peoples Fund negates that is they look first for validation within their communities before seeking validation from communities outside.

Culture bearers are being nominated from within the communities for the Community Spirit Award. The community is telling you who’s important to their cultural existence and to the continuation of their practices. That’s an important process FPF upholds that shifts the way they are able to validate the work of their people.

What do you wish others knew about First Peoples Fund?

As a leader of an organization, I know it’s not about the individual because it takes a whole team to sustain the work. But I can absolutely say that being around Lori for the past decade-plus — seeing her work, seeing the depth and breadth of her relationships, her knowledge — that Lori is a genius. I don’t know that she’s recognized for her brilliant leadership as much as she should be. People should know that this woman has transformed the organization and carved out a space for Native artists to be recognized at the highest level of excellence.

How do you see First Peoples Fund changing lives and communities?

They’re not working in philosophical ways; they’re working in tangible ways. They take this idea of how important the spirit of their community is to their work, and that’s how they develop the programs.

The Rolling Rez Arts Unit is taking the work and space to people’s homes, bringing it to your community center. It has financial institutions embedded in it, and it has connectivity there through their training modules around economic development. This is about transforming the material conditions of their community.

That work is not lofty; it’s tangible. You can see the difference in the people they’ve worked with and their ability to make a living from their art, to be able to sustain their work and to be recognized as both business people and culture bearers, and for those things not to exist in a contradiction.

Do you consider yourself an artist? What is your art form?

I’m primarily a writer, but I’m also a musician and a theater artist. I’ve done all of those things professionally. Those are the places where I spend the bulk of my artistic time.

I’m working on a new piece with Pangea World Theater in Minneapolis that will premiere in the fall of 2018. I’m in the process of writing that piece with another artist.

What else would you like to share that we haven’t asked about?

First Peoples Fund is a people’s organization. It is for the people, and it is for the community. I’m moved by the balance the board achieves in doing the business of the organization. The business is important, but those elements of spirit, tradition, ceremony, ritual, and story are all a part of our board meetings. You’re not going just to do finances and minutes. You’re going to understand who the people are in the room, understand the land you’re on, be introduced to the local artists, engage in story and ceremony.

Lori planned a sweat lodge for the partners of ILI before we entered the Intercultural Leadership Institute — Lakota Territory in September. That’s the kind of person she is, that’s the kind of work First Peoples Fund does, and that’s what sets them apart from traditional arts organizations.

A Q&A SESSION WITH "REAL ARTISTS DON'T STARVE" AUTHOR, JEFF GOINS.

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

I’d like to share this special book with my family at First Peoples Fund. After writing dozens of FPF artist stories the past few years, I wanted to spread the word about an inspiring book by one of my favorite authors, Jeff Goins.

Jeff is the best-selling author of five books including The Art of Work and Real Artists Don’t Starve, and teaches online courses (including the popular Tribe Writers). He’s also a speaker and consultant.

On his blog, GoinsWriter.com, Jeff shares his thoughts on writing, life, and creative work. He says, “We all have a creative gift worth sharing with the world, and that is our art. So whether you have a business idea, a book in you, or some other project you want to start, my goal is to help you get that work out of you and into the world. And here’s the thing: you don’t have to starve to share your best work. If you have a passion for creativity and changing the world, this is the place for you.”

I asked Jeff to share about his newest book, Real Artists Don’t Starve, with my family here at First Peoples Fund. I hope you are as inspired and encouraged as an artist as I was by his answers.

Q&A

Welcome, Jeff. Let’s start with the chapter in Real Artists Don’t Starve about apprenticeships. It speaks especially to Native artists, many of whom learn from elders and culture bearers. Why do you think learning from a master is important to an artist’s career?

Because how else do you become great? Greatness is caught more than it’s taught. You have to see mastery in action. It’s an experience, not just an education. This is a lost art in most cultures.

Many Native artists struggle to gain recognition and respect for their art within their communities. What is one key thing they can do that would help them thrive locally?

Practice in public. Find a way to share a part or piece of your work with an audience every single day. As your audience grows, so will demand for your work.

What advice would you give artists who are working to create an “art scene” in their community?

Be patient. Scenes take time. Be flexible. The community you need may or not be the one you expect. And be generous. Build the kind of community you'd love to be part of.

What would you say to someone preparing to leap from part-time to full-time artist?

Don’t take a leap. Build a bridge. Slow and steady wins the race. It’s better to build a creative career gradually over time.

What else would you like to share that we haven’t asked about?

Whatever you do, please understand that we need you. If your art is your duty, that something that you can't not do, then I hope you'll create anyway. In spite of the fear. In spite of the shame. I hope you make your art in spite of the thousand reasons not to. Because there's one voice we’ve still not heard.

Yours.

Jeff, thank you for that, and for taking time for this Q&A!

If you’re an artist and not sure how to make the transition to full-time, I recommend you read Real Artists Don’t Starve. Let it set you on a path from Starving Artist to Thriving Artist. Check it out here: DontStarve.com

You can read my full review of Jeff’s book on my blog at SarahElisabethWrites.com

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