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By Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer, Artist in Business Leadership Fellow 2015

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A space that illuminates the human condition, celebrates cultural differences and promotes human rights is leading two groundbreaking projects with funding in part by First Peoples Fund’s Our Nations Spaces (ONS) grant program. Pangea World Theater of Minneapolis has worked with artists from many communities locally, nationally and internationally to create new aesthetic realities for an increasingly diverse audience.

Founded in 1995 and led by Dipankar Mukherjee and Meena Natarajan, Pangea is a progressive space for transformation. Collectively, their work serves 8,000-10,000 youth and adults annually. Apart from producing and presenting plays, Pangea has created four series and two community-based programs that speak to minority and immigrant cultures and that serve a broad and diverse (both ethnically and generationally) public. Pangea’s education program works with teachers and students to build leadership and capacity for young people, and creates authentic spaces for real conversations.

“We start with acknowledging the land we’re on and its ties to the local Indigenous people,” Meena said. “We start with acknowledging the land we’re on and its ties to the local Indigenous people,” Meena said. With support from their Our Nations’ Spaces grant from First Peoples Fund, they are “Foregrounding First Nations Voices” with a youth theater project and an institute for Indigenous directors.With support from their ONS grant, they are “Foregrounding First Nations Voices” with a youth theater project and an institute for Indigenous directors.

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES TASK FORCE’S IKIDOWIN YOUTH THEATER PROJECT

Powerful. Honest. A scene brought to life on stage by Ikidowin youth, a scene set in the reality of their friends and peers that handles the difficult subjects of teen pregnancy and teen parenthood. Pangea World Theater took the opportunity of hosting the opening reception of the 2017 First Peoples Fund fellows convening to showcase a scene from “Wait.” The audience was moved by the young peoples’ emerging talent and courage.

With guidance from Pangea, this play was developed and written by Indigenous Peoples Task Force’s (IPTF) Ikidowin Peer Educators and Acting Ensemble. Supported by First Peoples Fund’s Our Nations Spaces program and in partnership with IPTF Ikidowin youth, Pangea is also developing a new play around the issue of water.

“We believe this particular program with Indigenous youth is very important because, in spite of their challenging background, the youth have come through as strong participants and creators,” Meena Natarajan said. “We are engaging with the youth with the current water project, advising on script, helping with staging, directing, writing some of the scenes, dramaturging and also planning a future piece. It’s a ground up program — we are activating and creating original work with youth over a period of time so that we see the growth of these youth into leaders engaged in finding their own voice. More importantly, these shows are seen by other Native youth in different reservations and high schools which is impactful both for them and the communities they perform in. Some of these communities — both in urban and reservation settings — have never seen Native youth perform their own stories.”

“We are activating and creating original work with youth over a period of time so that we see the growth of these youth into leaders engaged in finding their own voice. More importantly, these shows are seen by other Native youth in different reservations and high schools which is impactful both for them and the communities they perform in. Some of these communities — both in urban and rural settings — have never seen Native youth perform their own stories.”

— Meena Natarajan, Pangea World Theater Executive/Literary Director

The roots of Ikidowin began in 1990 when executive director of the Indigenous Peoples Task Force (IPTF) Sharon Day started a young peoples theater (Ogitchidag Gikinooamaagad). The theater is still going strong as Ikidowin Peer Educators and Acting Ensemble. This led to a longstanding and sustained relationship with Pangea World Theater, and recently, Sharon, who also serves on Pangea’s board of directors, invited Pangea to teach the IPTF’s Ikidowin youth theater skills and to create a play.

The Ikidowin youth — 12 to 18 years old — are Ojibwa, Lakota, Dakota, and some have parents indigenous to Mexico. The youth are often inspired to apply for Ikidowin when they see their peers and the older students perform. They see the way they are treated, how they are accepted.

The program affects their lives in many ways, a catalyst for opportunities and future careers. The long-term impact from this program shows in former students who are now filmmakers, national poetry slam winners, actors, and a children’s hospital innovator. Even as youth, they are sought after in the community when organizers need young adults to be involved in presentations, speaking, and poetry readings. They are exposed to professional artists and creative people from dance to painters.

Their plays are not skits — they are theater performances. Their diverse audiences of youth, parents and community members number up to 500. With the Ikidowin plays, Natives began to realize theater is for them after all, that it’s simply another form of storytelling.

Sharon says she loves working with Pangea, now collaborating with them for the First Peoples Fund’s Our Nations Spaces program to write and perform an original play with the IPTF’s Ikidowin youth.

NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR DIRECTING AND ENSEMBLE CREATION

This summer, Pangea will launch the National Institute for Directing and Ensemble Creation as part of their Our Nations’ Spaces grant. An important focus of the project is bringing together Native directors to begin to build a curriculum for Indigenous artists and offering scholarships for Native Next Generation participants in order to strengthen the voice of First Nations directors and ensemble leaders.

CIRCLES OF TRANSFORMATION

“This has been a year of working with Indigenous community in our space,” Meena Natarajan said.  Pangea believes in impacting in circles of transformation, to build relationships that are transformative — socially, politically and culturally, and to impact the times.

“Pangea believes in impacting in circles of transformation, to build relationships that are transformative — socially, politically and culturally, and to impact the times.”

— Meena Natarajan, Pangea World Theater

On the Ikidowin youth play and work with Indigenous people, Meena added, “In that circle, First Peoples Fund’s leadership and presence shapes our thinking and artistic grounding. Over the years, Lori Pourier has been an advisor and we feel that we have built this relationship based on mutual respect. We are honored to have this close relationship and learn from FPF’s practices and share what we know and have done. We are grateful that FPF has stepped in to resource this imperative work we are doing with Ikidowin youth.”

By Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer, Artist in Business Leadership Fellow 2015

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Marlena Myles (Spirit Lake Dakota) is a self-taught artist gaining recognition through her digital vector work. Her art has shown at All My Relations Gallery in Minneapolis and Red Cloud Heritage Center in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, as well as a solo show at the Sioux Indian Museum in Rapid City, South Dakota. She’s currently an artist-in-residence at Nawayee Center School in Minneapolis, working with Native students for the Mde Maka Ska festival. Marlena is a 2017 First Peoples Fund Artists in Business Leadership fellow.

At the 2016 Horse Nation exhibit, children rushed forward, pulling their parents along, to see Marlena’s vibrant art. In a world of superheroes and computers, digital art is a way Marlena can instill cultural values, knowledge and stories into young people. The children’s attraction to Marlena’s vector art inspired her to preserve the at-risk Dakota language through children’s books.

Marlena’s art has evolved to not only share history but reflect her people’s lives today. Vector art — based on mathematical formulas — lets her create original works that aren’t imitative, even though her artwork is an output of the traditions and stories she learns about her people. She sees how they can update old ways and be relevant to their lives in the modern world. The contemporary tools behind her art become a channel to youth, inspiring them to create a future that connects with their pasts, a future alive with their cultural values.

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With help from Dakota elders and language specialists, Marlena is creating e-books, educational posters, flash cards, and coloring/workbooks to make learning the language fresh, accessible, and entertaining for children. First Peoples Fund's support is helping Marlena towards completing the sacred hoop she believes connects us: sharing knowledge of elders and looping it back to younger generations, and in the process rebuilding what was lost, letting youth see the old ways in the same light as superheroes in pop culture.

At that opening reception during the Horse Nation exhibit, Marlena’s eyes were opened to illustrating children’s Indigenous-language books. Books for parents to read to their children, to teach them about their native heritage and reclaim the language as their own. Marlena makes art that belongs to all.

A heartfelt thank you to the New York Times for highlighting the importance of the National Endowment of the Arts funding for Lakota Country. If approved by Congress, the national budget proposal would mean the elimination of NEA grants to Native artists and the organizations and institutions that support them across Indian Country.

In 2016 alone, the NEA awarded 2,400 grants that provided support to dancers, musicians, writers, filmmakers, weavers, beaders, painters and others throughout the country. Many of these grants funded activities in rural tribal communities where access to arts and cultural activities and other resources is extremely limited and loss of NEA support would be potentially devastating.

As described in the Times today, NEA funding supports First Peoples Fund’s Rolling Rez Arts bus, enabling us and our partner Lakota Funds to work together to bring art education by Native culture bearers, business training customized for Native artists, and mobile banking and financial literacy training across the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Rolling Rez Arts reconnects residents to their cultural assets and helps them build financial assets based in their unique culture and values.

In 2016, four of the NEA’s nine National Heritage Fellows were Native artists. Two former First Peoples Fund Community Spirit Award honorees, Tlingit ceremonial regalia maker Clarissa Rizal and Penobscot basket maker Theresa Secord were among the 2016 fellows.

Since the beginning of the National Heritage Awards in 1982, 71 of the fellows have been Native, and seven have also been Community Spirit Award honorees. These culture bearers carry and connect their communities to the ancient knowledge, traditions and lifeways of our ancestors.

The NEA’s recognition honors their contributions as critical agents of cultural equity for tribal communities. First Peoples Fund honors our partnership with the NEA.

“The federal government must uphold its trust responsibilities to tribal communities. The elimination of the NEA represents an abrogation of these responsibilities to Native artists and culture bearers who are deeply rooted in their tribal homelands,” says First Peoples Fund President and CEO Lori Pourier. “For centuries, art and culture have been the heart of Native communities, and they are what will sustain us going forward.”

“For centuries, art and culture have been the heart of Native communities, and they are what sustain us going forward.”

— Lori Pourier, President and CEO

NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE LINK

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Join us on the Rolling Rez Arts mobile unit next week, April 24 to April 26, on the Pine Ridge Reservation for a free arts workshop, Oil Pastels, Matting & Framing with Wade Patton, 2017 Artists in Business Leadership Fellow.

Wade Patton (Oglala Lakota) is most known for his oil pastel and ledger work and is skilled in most mediums. He is a graduate of Black Hills State College with a Bachelors of Fine Arts degree. Wade has had a professional experience in framing priceless works of art by Warhol, Chuck Close, and Edgar Degas to name a few.

EVENTS SCHEDULE

APRIL 24

9 am - 12 pm // Pejuta Haka OLC Campus (Kyle)

1 pm - 4 pm // Eagle Nest OLC Campus (Wanblee)

APRIL 25

9 am - 12 pm // LaCreek OLC Campus (Martin)

1 pm - 4 pm // Pass Creek OLC Campus (Allen)

APRIL 26

9 am - 12 pm // Pine Ridge OLC Campus (Pine Ridge)

1 pm - 4 pm // White Clay OLC Campus (Oglala)

GET TO KNOW THE ARTIST

Take a listen to this short interview with Wade Patton about his upcoming workshop on the Rolling Rez Arts, his work and why he is excited to be back home working and teaching.

Do you know a Native artist who has dedicated his or her life and work to sustaining cultural traditions within their community? First Peoples Fund has opened nominations for the 2018 Jennifer Easton Community Spirit Awards, and we want to hear from you.

“If your life has been touched by a Native American, Alaska Native or Native Hawaiian artist who embodies the Indigenous values of generosity, integrity, humility, and wisdom, consider nominating them for the Community Spirit Awards,” said Lori Pourier, president of First Peoples Fund.

The Jennifer Easton Community Spirit Awards, launched in 1999, are national grants for established Native culture bearers who demonstrate substantial contributions to their communities through their careers as artists. Each year, First Peoples Fund seats a national panel to select four to six Community Spirit honorees from tribes across the country.

In March, First Peoples Fund announced the following 2017 Community Spirit honorees:

• Cliff Fragua (Jemez Pueblo) – stone sculpture; Jemez Pueblo, New Mexico
• Jonathan James-Perry (Aquinnah Wampanoag) – wood carving; North Providence, Rhode Island
• Norma Blacksmith (Oglala Lakota) – quilting and sewing; Oglala, South Dakota
• Timara Lotah Link (Chumash Coastal Band) – weaving; Pasadena, California

“The process of bringing spirit back to a community is an important responsibility of artists — it is part of a sacred honor system,” said Bud Lane, a basket maker of the Siletz Nation in Oregon who was a Community Spirit honoree in 2009 and is a member of First Peoples Fund’s board of directors. “Through the Community Spirit Awards, First Peoples Fund strengthens that honor system by recognizing these exceptional artists for knowing themselves, honoring others, and sustaining spirit in their own communities.”

Nominations close July 31, 2017. Full applications are then mailed to the artist/nominee and nominator after nominations close and are due back to First Peoples Fund together by October 30, 2017.

NOMINATE AN ARTIST TODAY

If you would like to receive a nomination form by mail or to learn more, please contact First Peoples Fund Program Manager Jessica Miller, Jessica@firstpeoplesfund.org, 605.348.0324

HEADER IMAGE: 2016 Jennifer Easton Community Spirit Award Honorees Lynette Two Bulls (Oglala Lakota) and Philip Whiteman, Jr. (Northern Cheyenne). Image by Steve Wewerka.

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By Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer, Artist in Business Leadership Fellow 2015

Paul Wenell, Jr. is an Anishinaabe and Oneida hip-hop artist who performs and records under the name Tall Paul. The music video for his bilingual track titled “Prayers in a Song” reached over a quarter million views on YouTube, opening several media and performance opportunities. He’s enrolled in the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe in northern Minnesota, and he’s an artist with Dream Warriors Management and a 2017 First Peoples Fund Artists in Business Leadership fellow.

Paul’s first concept album, G.O.A.T. (Greatest of All Time), is inspired by the Sac and Fox tribal member Jim Thorpe, a Olympic decathlete and pentathlete and arguably the greatest athlete of all time. Surrounding the hip-hop songs Paul composes are music videos and vlogs — video blogs — he plans to shoot in places that honor Thorpe’s legacy. All this to capture the essence of Jim Thorpe’s greatness on camera with a musical rendition of his life.

In his time, Jim Thorpe, who also played professional football and baseball, demonstrated how Natives are still here — alive, competent and well, the embodiment of Indigenous excellence. Now Paul wants to share that spirit with his own generation. It’s important for him to perform music to the best of his ability and honor the same principles of hard work Jim Thorpe lived.

Paul is using Indigenous artists for the production and graphic artwork. The audio-visual project will speak of the capabilities and talent within Native people, illuminating their value and dismantling stereotypes.

The G.O.A.T project, supported by Paul’s First Peoples Fund fellowship, marks a turning point in his career. This career began with downloading beats from YouTube to create his own songs, to now a string of upcoming shows in Germany. The project is furthering Paul’s economic goals to sustain himself and his family by attracting new event organizers and fans.

But above that, the theme of Indigenous excellence throughout the project will raise esteem in his community and beyond. Paul’s music evokes substance and soul. His creative role in the world is one he chooses not to take lightly. The G.O.A.T. concept album and music videos challenge Paul to be the greatest artist he can be.

By Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer, Artist in Business Leadership Fellow 2015  

Through the Jennifer Easton Community Spirit Awards, we recognize the work of Native American, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian culture bearers who uphold the Collective Spirit®. Through their work and their lifeways, these artists embody the traditional values of First Peoples Fund — generosity and wisdom, respect and integrity, strength and humility.

These culture bearers are sustaining the arts of Indigenous people within their communities, growing arts ecologies, and teaching the next generation of artists and culture bearers of their People.

In 2017, we honor four outstanding culture bearers as they join nearly 100 past recipients of this prestigious award.

CLIFF FRAGUA

TRIBE: Jemez Pueblo

Jemez Pueblo, New Mexico

Anyone who desires to learn the traditional practices of stone carving is never turned away. For Cliff Fragua, stone carving has its place in Jemez Pueblo culture. It remains a vital part of their ceremonies.

“Teaching others how to carve stone for their own use is another way of passing on traditional cultural knowledge,” he says. He’s been asked why he shares his skills. To him, it not only helps the individual economically, but also moves the community to another level when they gain knowledge of the art form.

Over the past 40 years, Cliff has demonstrated his dedication to helping Native artists, whether through his award-winning art, committee and volunteer work, or teaching. In 1990, he was instrumental in founding the Towa Arts and Crafts Committee, which evolved into the Jemez Arts and Crafts Association. Cliff saw the need for such an organization early on to help local Jemez Pueblo artists. The association provided venues and shows for artists to sell their work, creating an art economy so they could provide for their families. Now he helps other Indigenous communities set up their own associations.

Chris Pappan (Kaw) chose to nominate his fellow artist for the Community Spirit Award because Cliff immerses himself in the cultural practices of the pueblo and the ways of his People, expressed through his sculptures.

“This deep sense of responsibility to sustaining the arts of Indigenous people is just one of the many reason I supported the nomination of Cliff Fragua,” said Chris, a ledger artist in Chicago and former First Peoples Fund Artists in Business Leadership fellow.

JONATHAN JAMES-PERRY

TRIBE: Aquinnah Wampanoag

North Providence, Rhode Island

Traditional singer, dancer, speaker and carver, Jonathan James-Perry is grounded in the traditions of his oceangoing ancestors. His vessels bring the community together. One of his projects, Mission Mishoon, became a community center with feasts created on the fires that burned diligently in the vessel as it was created. The community shared traditional foods — roasted whale meat, wild rice, turkey, venison, buffalo, bear, fish, mussels and the occasional doughnut.

Laughter, memories and prayers came together with people from the Aquinnah and Mashpee Wampanoag communities and brought in people from the Narragansett, Pequot, Mohegan, Passamaquoddy, Hunkpapa Lakota, Crow, Haliwa-Saponi, Navajo, Shinnecock, Cree, Apache and many other Nations. Visitors brought pieces of their communities to the boat, and those gifts are now the vessel’s existence.

“All the vessels that I have made have been paddled and cared for by people in our New England Woodlands communities and Native-owned-and-operated museums and cultural centers,” Jonathan said.

Elizabeth James-Perry, Jonathan’s sister and an accomplished artist, sees how Jonathan strengthens the Aquinnah tribal community through showing how Aquinnah Wampanoag people still exist in their homelands against the odds.

“That key element every tribe needs for their continuance is put into practice in Jonathan’s boat-making projects — the ability that develops over time to work together in a thoughtful, respectful way to learn our lifeways,” Elizabeth said in her nomination of Jonathan. “Before you know it, we’ll be watching the next generation of culture bearers on the ocean, racing boats, splashing each other, celebrating a successful harvest, watching whales, and bringing their children out to view the sunrise.”

NORMA BLACKSMITH

TRIBE: Oglala Lakota

Oglala, South Dakota

In Lakota tradition, the gift of a buffalo robe is considered a great honor, second only to receiving an eagle feather. When the government and settlers destroyed the buffalo herds, some women replaced the buffalo robe with handmade star quilts.

Taught at a young age by her mother, Norma Blacksmith has been a self-employed seamstress and quilter since 1986. In 1987, she approached the Oglala Lakota College with the idea of teaching students how to make star quilt tops as a Lakota traditional art. The board accepted the suggestion, and classes were presented to people in the community interested in learning the art form.

In 2011, with the help of Bruce BonFleur of Lakota Hope Ministry, Norma moved her business out of her home and opened Native Quilting Shop, a lifelong dream come true.

A highly respected elder in her community, Norma honors others by wrapping them in star quilts and singing songs over them. She honors people in all walks of life — men or women released from prison to Vietnam veterans.

Norma says, “I believe Wakan Tanka is a God of second chances. I believe this helps them to heal emotionally, mentally and spiritually.”

Bruce BonFleur, who helped Norma open her shop and runs Lakota Hope Ministry — an organization where Norma serves on the board — nominated her for the Community Spirit Award. “Like many women who have grown up on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, she has endured struggles that have only served to strengthen her and instill fortitude,” he said. “She is in her mid-70s. Her face is lined with deep experience of all that life on the reservation means. That quality, tempered with her contagious laugh and self-deprecating humor, exudes strength, and that extends out into the community that she loves and cares for so much.”

By Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer, Artist in Business Leadership Fellow 2015  

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Hip-hop artist and sought-after speaker Mic Jordan (Ojibwe) has served as a TedX speaker, was named 2016 North Dakota Hip Hop Artist of the Year, and is a Turnaround Artist, a project led by the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. Mic is an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwe Tribe in Belcourt, North Dakota. He's a 2017 First Peoples Fund Artists in Business Leadership fellow.

Mic Jordan believes keeping music in his heart saved him. No matter what he was going through, music took him to a better place. He used music to navigate everyday life. He creates music and tells stories from his heart. Music is not what he does. It’s who he is.

Mic’s songs come from deep within him and reach out to youth, giving them something to hope for. He teaches in schools and helps kids find themselves because he knows what they’re going through and how to help them through their unique struggles in Indian Country. Music is a powerful connection to one’s own emotions and experiences. He wants them to walk away from his work with music in their hearts.

First Peoples Fund believes in Native American artists like Mic. Having that support this year will bring a mobile recording studio into schools within Native communities, where he can offer students a chance to create original songs about issues youth face today. For the #DearNativeYouth project, Mic will fashion a space where they can build confidence and develop their creative expression through writing and music. They’ll find their voices, empowering them to overcome life’s obstacles.

The collaborative project ends with a fully mixed and mastered album featuring the schools he visited. The #DearNativeYouth project is the first of its kind.

But it’s more than music. Mic wants the youth to build confidence, learn how to collaborate as a team, empathize with others, and find hope and strength in community. He’ll teach them to bend the hip-hop genre and let indigenized music into their hearts. To let it save them.

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By Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer, Artist in Business Leadership Fellow 2015  

Throughout her long career, singer/songwriter Annie Humphrey (Anishinaabe/Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe) has collaborated with Keith Secola, Jim Boyd, Chris Eyre (movie soundtracks), Wayne Horvitz, Winona LaDuke, Keri Pickette and James Starkey. She partnered with John Trudell on the award-winning video “Spirit Horses.” Her CD projects include UnCombed Hair, The Sound of Ribbons, Edge of America and The Heron Smiled. Annie was raised on an Ojibwe Indian reservation. She now lives in Deer River, Minnesota.

Poetry+Music=Song

The world moves fast, too fast to care how Annie feels or what she has to say. But people slow down, they sit and listen to her sing. The words Annie wants to say to them are in her songs, powerful in their simplicity. There is so much beauty, injustice, sadness and love in the world. She heeds the words of her mother: “We can never do enough, but we can do too little. So don’t not do anything.” Annie will never run out of things to write.

Annie believes we all have a job to do, gifts we’re born with that come out. Sometimes, that’s simply taking care of tomatoes. During one of their projects, John Trudell told her, “You take care of the tomatoes, and I will keep the beast out of the garden.”

When John passed, Annie wondered who would keep the beast out of her garden. But she sees the next generation is coming up, ready to use their gifts.

Entertainment With Purpose

With her First Peoples Fund Artists in Business Leadership fellowship, Annie is working on her newest project, The Beast in the Garden. She’s sent reference tracks for the new songs to Mark Shark and Ricky Eckstein, members of the late John Trudell’s band Bad Dog, and to Fonz Kolb, the late Jim Boyd’s drummer. They’ll develop ideas for the music and send them to Annie. She’s looking toward a CD release tour in the fall.

The Beast and the Garden aims to impact her audiences at schools in her community, her reservation, neighboring reservation schools and beyond, out into Turtle Island.

For Annie, music is more than entertainment. She writes to help people and the earth. Her art will always be a part of that purpose.

INTRODUCING BRYAN PARKER, THE NEW ROLLING REZ ARTS COORDINATOR

By Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer, Artist in Business Leadership Fellow 2015    

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Bryan Parker (White Mountain Apache, Muscogee Creek, Mississippi Choctaw) knew it was his time and the right fit. When he learned of the position opening for the Rolling Rez Arts coordinator for First Peoples Fund, he was ready to get involved in the Native arts community on a deeper level. Rolling Rez Arts delivers state-of-the-art mobile services, including arts space, banking, retail and business training, to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

“I’m excited about being a part of a great program,” says Bryan, a painter and filmmaker. “Rolling Rez Arts prepares artists to go out into the world and be professionals.”

Jeremy Staab (Santee Sioux), First Peoples Fund program manager, knows it’s important that Bryan has the dual perspective of a practicing artist and an administrator. “Bryan’s a perfect fit for the position,” Jeremy says. “He really aligns with the mission and where the Rolling Rez Arts program is going to go. He wants to see people, and especially artists in the (local) community, succeed.”

After starting his new position in February 2017, Bryan went into the Pine Ridge Reservation community to introduce himself, to let them know about the Rolling Rez Arts mobile unit program. There is a lack of communication and technology to spread the word. He’s using the radio station, posting flyers, and going out to meet people.

“I can’t wait for the classes to start,” Bryan says, “to be immersed in everything creative and everything that is the arts, Native arts and culture.”

Originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma, Bryan enlisted in the army at age 22. Honorably discharged in 2005, he enrolled in the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) the following fall. He graduated in 2010 with a bachelor’s degree of fine arts in moving images.

While in Santa Fe, Bryan met his future wife, Molina, and when they were dating, she came across his sketchbook. She encouraged him to pursue 2-D art, and Bryan started painting and drawing more. A year after graduating from the IAIA, Bryan and his wife, Molina, moved back to Rapid City, where she is originally from. Molina was a First Peoples Fund artist fellow last year. Through their networks, he met other artists and learned what it means to be a professional, which motivated and inspired him to branch out.

Bryan has taken his art seriously the past five years, perfecting skills and putting himself and his work out to the public. Emotional energy gets pulled into his pieces, an extension of his personal well-being that gives life to the piece. The subjects in his work are mostly detailed portraits of iconic Native American people.

His dedication paid off with awards at the Red Cloud Heritage Center Art Show, Cherokee Holiday Art Show, He Sapa Wacipi (Black Hills PowWow) Art Show, and exhibitions, projects, and representation in California, Oklahoma, Minnesota and New Mexico. But when Bryan learned of First Peoples Fund, a whole new world opened.

“They (FPF) are really reaching people on an individual level,” Bryan said. “They are hoping those individuals will reach out to their communities to do something great, to continue to do something great. Everyone wins in that mission and that goal. The individual wins, and then the community and, of course, the future generations because they’re getting all of this great knowledge.”

“They (FPF) are really reaching people on an individual level. They are hoping those individuals will reach out to their communities to do something great, to continue to do something great. Everyone wins in that mission and that goal. The individual wins, and then the community and, of course, the future generations because they’re getting all of this great knowledge.

— Bryan Parker, Rolling Rez Arts Coordinator

Bryan sees how First Peoples Fund programs not only preserve Native cultures through art but are also bridging communities together to accomplish one goal — bettering Native communities.

Coming on board with First Peoples Fund as the Rolling Rez Arts coordinator, Bryan started compiling a list of artists who could teach on the mobile unit this spring and summer. He’s scheduling classes, getting contracts signed, gathering supplies.

Bryan grew up in the Methodist church in his Oklahoma community, where he organized fundraisers and community work with Natives and non-Natives. When he married, he found out his wife’s family did a great deal of community outreach through the Episcopal church, which led to ways for Bryan to give back to the Native communities. Working with First Peoples Fund is now an opportunity to be involved from the artists’ side as well.

Bryan not only looks forward to working with emerging and established artists but also artists who are overlooked talents. Quality classes will help build great relationships with the community and teach the artists skills they can apply and then pass on to their families, their neighbors and their communities. Bryan says, “Even though I have been out there myself in the art world, in the Native art world, I can easily relate, like I’m one of those artists still learning the business and how to conduct myself as a professional artist.”

Bryan thinks people would be surprised to learn how deep First Peoples Fund runs through these communities. “I wish people knew about the spirit and energy that’s behind First Peoples Fund, how deeply involved the organization is in preserving culture while celebrating the contemporary side of art and life,” he says. “I’m amazed with how much I’ve learned, how much I was unaware of. When you think of an organization like this, you think it’s just to hand out grant money, but it’s more than that. Artists are more cared for. More celebrated.”

When he’s not working, Bryan spends time with his family and painting. Art is therapeutic for him. He likes to get locked in his paintings and see what comes out of himself.

He’s had a lot of experience speaking with veterans who do different kinds of therapy. Though his war trauma isn’t as severe as others, he has found art is healing and helps balance the anxiety that comes from traumatic situations.

Above all, Bryan’s world is his wife and their 2-year-old daughter. “I’ve learned a lot from my daughter — how to be a better person, values like patience and compassion, how to love myself more, and to enjoy this crazy ride called life.”

Special note from Lori Pourier (FPF president): We want to extend a heartfelt wopila tanka (thank you) to Guss Yellow Hair, FPF alumni and artist trainer who helped launched the RRA. Guss currently serves as an adjunct professor at the Oglala Lakota College on Pine Ridge.

Image: Rolling Rez Arts Mobile Arts Space. Photo by Bird Runningwater, Sundance Institute.

First Peoples Fund joined a new effort, 12by12by12, linking leading nonprofit organizations to mobilize progressive support across the U.S. The crowd-sourcing portal and social media effort seeks to harness new political momentum and energy into ongoing, monthly support around 12 key issues areas.

“The 2016 election was a tipping point,” said First Peoples Fund President and CEO Lori Pourier. “The scope of public concern has broadened and we are pleased to join a collective effort to raise support for organizations meeting fundamental needs across the country. 12by12by12 will help provide a consistent, monthly boost where it is needed most.”

The web portal will gather tax-deductible contributions of at least $12 on the 12th of each month in 12 key issue areas. The organizations range from well-established national nonprofits including First Peoples Fund, Alternate ROOTS, and the Ms. Foundation for Women as well as regional organizations promoting progressive change.

The 12 areas include:

• Women’s health, safety, and well being
• Access to health care
• Children/youth and education
• Civil discourse and civic engagement
• Diversity, equity, and inclusion; immigration
• Environment and climate change
• Criminal justice
• Free artistic expression
• Gun safety and violence prevention
• Civil rights and liberties; social justice; ethics
• LGBTQ rights
• Quality journalism and freedom of the press

Each organization is carefully vetted to ensure both the good stewardship of funds, as well as leadership in progressive change.  The effort will give individual donors an easy way to explore a variety of quality organizations to best match their concerns and intent. A workplace giving component and additional organizations will be added over the coming months.

In addition to the website, you can find the collective effort on Facebook (12by12by12), Twitter (@12by12by12) and other social media will boost communication for participating organizations.

By Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer, 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 KELLEY LINDQUIST

Kelley Lindquist has served as president of Artspace Projects since 1987. Under his leadership, Artspace has grown from a staff of one and an annual budget of $60,000 into the nation’s leading nonprofit developer of space for artists with a staff of 70, a budget of $12 million, and stewardship of properties comprising more than two million square feet of residential, studio, office, rehearsal, and performance space. To date, Artspace has completed 35 major projects including more than 1,500 affordable live/work residences for artists and their families.

While he remains actively involved in Artspace’s day-to-day operation, he increasingly focuses his energy on the broader task of restoring national confidence in America’s creative communities and on helping artists reclaim their rightful place in the national discussion about the role of the arts in American society.

Kelley’s long connection with First Peoples Fund President Lori Pourier has resulted in a fruitful partnership between their organizations. Together with another key partner, Lakota Funds, Artspace and First Peoples Fund developed the wholly unique Rolling Rez Arts mobile unit, which launched last year and brings art and entrepreneurial workshops and banking services across the expansive Pine Ridge Reservation. The partners are also teaming up to develop Oglala Lakota Art Space, the first-ever studio, gallery and gathering space for artists on Pine Ridge.

Q&A

1. 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 grandmother was my greatest life coach/teacher. She had a very hard life, but she always found a way to get through the challenges while bringing up four young children during the Great Depression as a single mother. Perseverance and kindness were interwoven into everything she taught all of us.

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

The completion of the $43 million Cowles Center for Dance was a profound statement about how hundreds of people working together over 10 years can achieve a terrific goal. The Cowles Center for Dance remains a beautiful venue for dance and other performing arts in downtown Minneapolis. It never would have happened without everyone’s support! (Through our partnership with Artspace, First Peoples Fund held the Community Spirit Awards at the Cowles Center in 2012 and 2014.)

3. If you had to describe yourself in three words, what would they be?

Adventurous, mountain hiking, celebrates life.

4. What are some of your favorite books?

One of my all-time favorites is Louise Erdrich’s Love Medicine. It was a game changer for me. I grew up at the edge of Native American culture. My dad had many Northern Ojibwa friends, and I got to know them and went wild rice gathering with them. I also camped many times in the Badlands of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation as a kid. So I was fascinated to learn more about Native culture through Louise’s book, and that was such a brilliant, harsh introduction filled with love. It was a powerful punch of energy and beauty.

Another favorite is Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon. It’s so crazy and beautiful. A deep, rich look at another culture.

5. If you had chosen a different career path, what would it have been?

I definitely would have been a park ranger in Glacier National Park and then whatever grew out of that, maybe running a nonprofit environmental organization that works to save ranges of wildlife habitat in the Northern Rockies. Mountain lions, grizzlies, bears, wolves, those are the animals that are in my blood. Wolves are my favorite. I have actually dreamt that I’m a wolf several times. I’m a wolf protecting someone who is in danger, and once that’s done, I can transform back into a human.

6. How long have you served on First Peoples Fund’s board of directors and why did you get involved with this organization?

I’ve been on the board for about five years. I met Lori Pourier years ago, and I was very taken with her brilliant and spiritual approach to resolving challenges and supporting the creative visions of Native Americans.

7. How do Artspace and First Peoples Fund work together on a community level?

I love the partnership and deep community relationship that we have with each other and the opportunity for me and my colleagues at Artspace to meet people from the American Indian culture and specifically the Oglala Lakota culture, and to grow and change through that. I’m hoping that our relationship is always a positive one, working for a common goal. Artspace plays a gentle, listening role learning to create delightfully unusual projects together, such as Rolling Rez Arts and Oglala Lakota Art Space on Pine Ridge, with the use and design of the space envisioned by the Oglala community. Every aspect of working with First Peoples Fund has been a rich and transformative experience. It helps our souls open up more to what the earth is, to stop, listen, think and see in a way that we were not trained as kids of European descent here in Minnesota. I’ve spent so much of my life in the wilderness, but this is a change.

8. How does your role on First Peoples Fund’s board create impact at the national level?

I feel like I’m still learning about the different cultures that First Peoples Fund serves and their different approaches to life. It’s beautiful for me to be in gentle and thoughtful contact with all of these different Nations. I do feel like I can give good advice about space issues, but I always have to learn first what the community believes about space. Also, I do know a lot of different national donors, and I bring those connections.

9. What do you wish other people knew about First Peoples Fund?

We are excited to be continually spreading the news that support of the limitless creativity of the Native Communities can lead to job creation and overall economic development.