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There was no way to know that David Boxley Jr.'s (Tsimshian) first drawing lessons with his father at the age of four would turn in to a lifetime of artistry and achievement. But it was those early lessons, Boxley said, that helped teach him not only the mechanics of drawing—and later carving—at the age of six, but a respect for his Native culture and traditions.

Boxley, who has been named one of the 2015 Jennifer Easton Community Spirit Award honorees, will be honored in his hometown of Metlakatla, Alaska, later this year. Boxley is Tsimshian from the Metlakatla Indian Community.

Boxley's father, David A. Boxley, was also named a Community Spirit Award recipient in 2012.

"I have very big shoes to fill. It's lovely to be selected for something like this. First Peoples Fund is choosing to acknowledge people who make things better for their people and communities, and they deserve a big thanks for that."

Boxley said his father was a respected artist and culture bearer in their Alaskan community, adding that one of the strengths of his youth was witnessing a resurgence of their culture because of people like him. "I got to watch our culture come back," he said.

Their story is a perfect example of the strength and wisdom that can be passed from generation to generation, said First Peoples Fund President Lori Pourier.

"The Boxley family has demonstrated just what can happen when we are purposeful about teaching our kids not only the hands-on traditions and ceremonies of our people, but also the strength, integrity and drive that enables our culture to remain intact and thrive to this day," Pourier said. "We are thrilled to honor David this year, and celebrate the legacy this family has built."

Boxley, whose art includes totem pole carvings, paintings, rattles and masks, said it's impossible for him to separate his work as an artist with the Native traditions. "I disagree with Native artists who only do the art and not the ceremonies," he said. "I don't see how that's possible. You can't have one without the other."

Boxley had originally planned to be an illustrator, first completing an apprenticeship in high school with an illustrator and later attending college to study more.

"But then I realized that most of the field is now digital," he said, "and that doesn't do it for me."

He returned to an old love—carving—and has since made it his life's work to revive his tribe's dying language, pass on the art to the younger generation, and perpetuate their traditions.

"I am what I do and I do what I am," Boxley said. "It's not a nine-to-five job, and even when I'm off, I'm still thinking about aspects of it. Whether it's the art or a language class or a piece, my thoughts are with my art and culture all the time."

Boxley said he experiences the most fulfillment when doing his tribe's ceremonies. "At the end of the day, when we're doing the ceremonies is when it's truly fulfilling and that's the real thing. That's why the art is made."

Boxley has no plans of slowing down this year. He is currently part of a group that plans to organize potlatches, or gatherings, to establish their village's old-style tribal name. Tribal names used to signify the land of where a group of people came from.

"One step back to reclaiming our heritage is to have a proper name on the tribe or village," he said.

In August, people will gather to hear information from Boxley and others about why they should rename the village. A totem pole will then be raised in 2017 and the new name will become official.

Boxley is also at the center of an effort to revitalize his tribe's language. He will join a group of people who will study and become fluent in the language, part of an effort to create fluent speakers who can then lead immersion schools. "We can hopefully extend the life of the language another 50 years," he said. "I know I will have to sacrifice art time, but there's nothing more important."

Language is the distinguishing factor for tribes, he said.

"One thing that makes my people unique is our language," he said. "All of the tribes on the Northwest Coast have totem poles. Language revitalization and preservation is the most important issue of our time. We'll have to spend the rest of our lives fighting for it."

For the language project, Boxley will move from Washington back to Alaska. Ironically, he's at the same age his father was when he made a life-changing move years ago. "My dad was teaching, owned an ice cream shop, and carved," he said. "And he moved to Washington to carve full-time, which was very risky if you think about it. I'm at that same age."

It's all coming full circle, Boxley said.

"Everything I've done so far is sending me back home with a good set of skills to help my people," he said. "When you're in your 30s, you start thinking, 'What am I leaving the world?' If I can solidify that return to tradition and culture and a sense of belonging for where we live, that will be enough."

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When Lauren Good Day  (Arikara, Hidatsa, Blackfeet and Plains Cree) saw an open retail location in downtown Rapid City, South Dakota, she immediately envisioned what it could be.

“I always wanted to have a gallery setting,” said Good Day, who moved to Rapid City from Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Indigenous liberal studies at the Institute of American Indian Art.

Good Day, 27, is an enrolled member of the Three Affiliated Tribes—Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara—of the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota. She is a three-time First Peoples Fund fellow, including two Artist in Business Leadership fellowships. She has also participated in First Peoples Fund's Native Artist Professional Development Training Program, the Train the Trainer Program, and most recently, led an arts business workshop on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation as part of a partnership with First Peoples Fund, Lakota Funds, and Artspace.

Good Day and her sister, Vanessa Frank, and her mother, Deborah Painte, opened Sage and Silver Americana at 629 Main Street in downtown Rapid City in October. Half of the store features Good Day's artwork as well as local and national artists. The other half features fine western wear that incorporates Native iconography and tribal prints.

“A full gallery is hard to do here because the arts market is still being developed,” Good Day said. “So, I incorporated my two loves—artwork and fashion.”

The store is not only important because it offers the Black Hills a quality art gallery, but it also gives Native artists a voice. “It’s extremely important,” she said. “Here we represent contemporary Native American artwork. We focus on our culture and lives today. We have a younger generation of artists and I wanted to give a voice to that younger generation.”

The store also offers space for traditional artwork, which Good Day says best describes her work. From a ranching family, Good Day said she enjoys highlighting western life, particularly from the standpoint that Native culture has evolved during the years.

“It’s the new west,” she said. “We have careers and ranches.”

The artwork, as well as the clothing, reflects that. “It’s bright and vibrant and has different techniques going on,” she said.

Having the support of First Peoples Fund has been an important foundation in her work.

“They really did help me at the beginning of my career.”

As an emerging artist five years ago, Good Day faced the challenge of purchasing the tools and equipment to start. She used funding from First Peoples Fund to purchase the portable walls needed to set up booths at art shows around the country. She also used the funding to purchase a camera and computer, develop a website, and pay for the accounting software and training needed to effectively run a business.

With the second Artist in Business Leadership fellowship, Good Day purchased a printing machine to reproduce her original ledger art drawings. Because the drawings were originals, Good Day felt she was missing customers who couldn’t afford the art.

“I wanted to hit customers at a lower price point,” she said.

The printing machine was invaluable, she said.

Since then, Good Day has shown her artwork at some of the most prestigious Native American juried art shows, including the Santa Fe Indian Market in New Mexico, the Heard Guild Museum Market in Phoenix, Arizona, and the Autry American Indian Arts Marketplace in Los Angeles, California.

“As a Native woman artist, I wanted to share my art with more people,” she said, and both the store and First People Fund have been a great avenue for that. “Without them, I don’t know if I would have achieved where I am at so fast. I really do appreciate them.”

Learn more about Lauren on her artist website

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For Sean Sherman (Oglala Lakota), there is something missing on the palette of America's greatest cuisine—Native American menus.

Sherman, who grew up on South Dakota's Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, is opening the Sioux Chef restaurant in the Twin Cities, and will cater this year's First Peoples Fund Community Spirit Awards events in Minneapolis.

The Community Spirit Awards honor recipients who have demonstrated exceptional passion, wisdom and purpose in their communities. Sherman catered the honoring in 2012 as well, and said it is an honor to be involved again. He hopes the participants at the event are inspired by the plate in front of them, and understand that the flavors and dishes can be traced back to some of their ancestors.

"All those food pieces have a story to tell."

Sherman first got the idea to open The Sioux Chef in 2007 when he was interested in writing a Lakota cookbook. When Sherman started his research, he was disappointed to find very little information on the diets of Native Americans before European influence and forced assimilation. There were even fewer restaurants that offered pre-colonized flavors, ingredients and food, he said.

"There were lots of fry breads and commodity food and that was it," he said, so he began studying the plants and animals that were once staples of the Plains and Midwest Native diet.

"It was learning how to identify and play with flavors," he said. "I looked at how things were processed, how people used dried foods and spent time preparing and harvesting for winter."

Food items like corn, beans and an abundant variety of squash were commonly used in the winter season in the Dakotas. The fall is a great time for plums, crab apples and rose hips.

"There are a lot of flavors. I'm trying to utilize things people had in their pantries," he said. "Those things have now disappeared."

In high school, Sherman moved to Spearfish, South Dakota, where he attended college. His first restaurant job was at the age of 13. His passion for the culinary field grew and he eventually earned a position as an executive chef at a popular restaurant in the city.

Most of Sherman's knowledge has come from his own initiative.

"I've been self-taught," he said. "I read tons of books. I took European trips. It took me a long time to get to the point where I wanted to do it professionally."

He hopes Sioux Chef is the start of better education—and good food—in America.

"There's a great Native American cuisine and food culture," he said. "You can go to all kinds of restaurants and it's the one that's missing right now. I'm seeking to change that."

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When Wade Fernandez (Menominee) performs at this year's First Peoples Fund Community Spirit Awards ceremony, he knows exactly what the honorees will be feeling.

As a 2010 recipient of the Community Spirit Award, Fernandez still has vivid memories of the night he was honored.

"What I hope—and I know it will happen—is that they are going to go home feeling rejuvenated and strong for their communities," said Fernandez, who will join fellow musical artist Frank Waln (Sicangu Lakota) onstage in a unique mash-up between the two artists. Over the past couple of weeks, Fernandez and Waln have been writing a new song for the event.

Fernandez said it will be the first time the two have been able to collaborate during a performance.

"We're hoping to give back what we've been given through our music."

The Community Spirit Awards ceremony, held October 18 at The Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts in Minneapolis, will also feature performing artists Pua Ali'i 'Ilima with Vicky Holt Takamine, Jennifer Kreisberg, Heid E. Erdrich, Gavino Limón, and the Oneida Smoke Dancers. The honors are given to recognize the exceptional passion, wisdom and purpose the recipients bring to their art and the communities they serve.

Fernandez, an enrolled member of the Menominee Tribe in Wisconsin and an accomplished musician, and music and video producer, is also a fellow of the First Peoples Fund Artist in Business Leadership program and a recipient of the Rural Business Enterprise grant. He has spent several years working to preserve the Menominee language by incorporating it in his music.

His performance history is extensive, dating back several decades and includes concerts at Woodstock in 1994 in New York, the Aboriginal People's Choice Awards live on Canadian National TV, and performances in Europe.

Since his partnership with First Peoples Fund, Fernandez has taken a lyric writing, master recording, and music marketing class. He is currently in the middle of creating a Menominee language CD and has continued touring, including a stint back in Europe this past July. He will return to Germany, Switzerland and Austria this fall, taking the stage with one of his five kids.

"All of my kids like music," he said. "They're in different stages of finding their own passions."

Fernandez often has his kids with him on the road, even overseas.

"It is really wonderful to have my children see the world," he said, and even sweeter when they get to be onstage with him. "They're right up there with me, instead of just sitting in the audience."

Several of the projects Fernandez has been involved in have been supported by FPF.

"They have really opened up a lot of doors," he said of his relationship with the organization, which started with his Community Spirit Award. "They remind me to keep going, even when it gets hard. It's increased my network of community-inspired people. The business can sometimes be cold. The First Peoples Fund community brings the heart and soul back to it."

Fernandez said it will be nice to be back in the company of FPF staff and fellow grantees when he attends the ceremony at The Cowles. He still vividly remembers the night he was honored four years ago.

"I felt unworthy," he said. "They had wonderful stories and were wonderful people. It's really opened up a lot of doors to meeting people in Indian country and being inspired by them."

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Tribe (if applicable): Confederate Tribes of Siletz Indians
Location: Siletz, Oregon
Job Title: Language and Tradition Arts Instructor for the Confederated Tribes of Siletz

Bud Lane III (Confederate Tribes of Siletz Indians) was first introduced to First Peoples Fund in 2009 when he was honored with the Jennifer Easton Community Spirit Award. Now, he returns to the organization as a member of the board of directors.

Lane is no stranger to leadership roles in Indian Country. He was elected to the Northwest Native American Basket Weavers Association's board of directors in 2005, and is currently serving as the board's president. He has been a featured weaver many times at the association's annual gathering. Here, Lane shares how he hopes his work, life and experiences will contribute to First Peoples Fund in the years ahead.

1) What do you do today, and how do you think it will help you in your work on the First Peoples Fund board?
I am a language and tradition arts instructor for the Confederate Tribes of Siletz Indians. I have been involved in work with tribes before I was a language teacher. I served on tribal councils, first elected in 1984. I was young—26 at the time, and have been on the council now since 2004. With the basket weavers association, we are trying to make sure young people learn, and that is a slice of what First Peoples Fund does. I look forward to bringing these experiences to our work together.

2) How has that work shaped the way you understand the issues facing tribes?
I understand a lot of issues from a political standpoint, and from being a father and grandfather... the importance of the language, tradition and arts and how we need to perpetuate them and make sure they remain intact for generations to come.

3) What are you looking forward to most in serving on the board?
I am on a bit of a learning curve right now. I have been to one board meeting. First Peoples Fund, through their processes, has furthered the arts in big ways, and in smaller ones as well. Most artists struggle. First Peoples Fund has been successful in putting artists forward and that is so important. First Peoples Fund greases the skids and makes it helpful and easier for people to practice traditional arts and make a living at it.

4) How has being a language and traditional arts teacher given you insight to the challenges facing Native artists today as they work to pass the traditions on to the younger generations?
I have seen the things that have affected tribes—the history of lumping tribes together, boarding schools, and societal exclusion. It wasn't cool to speak the language for so long. That's changed a little bit, and I hope that will continue to grow in the years and decades ahead.

5) What has Native art, language and cultural preservation looked like in Siletz?
We are working to bring that back, partly by helping young people to understand the cultural and personal significance to them and make them want to learn. That's hard. In Siletz, in the last 25 years, we've really been able to turn those things around. We've experienced a renaissance of traditional arts and traditions, but we've got to work at it all the time.

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Anna Brown Ehlers (T'lingit) was just four-years old when she watched her uncle, a retired military veteran, walk in Alaska's first Fourth of July parade.

"Alaska had just become a state in 1959," she said. "My uncle was wearing a chilkat blanket. I saw the graceful movement on the fringe and I knew that's all I wanted to do."

She didn't know it at the time, but it was the planting of a seed that has since grown into a lifetime career as a Native artist, much of her work centered on the very thing she fell in love with so many years ago—chilkat weaving.

"It's fabulous," Ehlers said from her home in Juneau, Alaska. "It's what I always dreamed of doing."

Ehlers is a familiar face to the First Peoples Fund family and says the support she has received from the organization helped propel her career to new levels. Ehlers was a 2000 Community Spirit Award honoree and she has since received multiple fellowships and grants, including the Artist in Business Leadership Fellowship.

"It's magnificent," she said, of the relationship she continues with First Peoples Fund today. "That's what's kept me going through the years."

The funding she has received has helped her with the logistical side of business—keeping her office going, paying for the Internet, and purchasing cameras. And just as important, Ehlers said, it has meant a lot to be funded and encouraged by a national organization with such expertise.

"It's just really nice when somebody believes in you," she said.

Ehlers began weaving in her twenties, learning from a family friend who was 92 at the time and also from a military background. The strict learning environment was challenging, Ehlers said, but is probably the reason she became so good at the art.

"She was very mean," Ehlers said, laughing. "She'd pinch the upper part of my arms and tell me to take it out. She'd kick me under the table. But, she was a good teacher."

Since then, Ehlers has become well known for her chilkat weavings; most recently weaving her largest ever chilkat piece—an 8-by-7 foot blanket that will be auctioned off online. The design was done by a friend who also designs totem poles.

"I wanted a design from him for years," Ehlers said. "It took him 25 years before he finally got this design made."

The blanket is the design of a killer whale with an angled top reminiscent of an old tribal longhouse. Ehlers said the blanket was almost done one night when she did some research on killer whales and discovered that newborn killer whales are between 7.5 and 8 feet long when they are born and weigh about 400 pounds.

"So, it ended up being the size of a newborn killer whale," she said.

Ehlers is far from the end of her career. She continues her work today making large blankets, tunics, regalia and aprons. She is currently working on a project for the Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which includes a chilkat apron that will be sewn on to the smoked moose hide.

And then in the spring, it will be time for one of Ehlers' favorite activities—collecting cedar bark for the art pieces that are made out of wool and yellow cedar bark. Because there are no cedar trees in Juno, she must travel to the coast to collect the materials.

She remembers one trip fondly—the time she took her daughter and one of her grandkids, the three of them combing the woods for trees with straight grain and fewer branches.

"You make a cut like the bottom of a box on the south side of the tree," she said. "You wear gloves and you take that bark and you run. And then, when you feel like it's reaching the top, then you jump and it rips off the top of the tree."

It's one of the beautiful, traditional activities Ehlers anticipated so many years ago when she first headed down the path of artistry.

"It's a whole lot of fun," she said.

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This summer, Lori Pourier, president of First Peoples Fund, sat down for a discussion with Jody Naranjo Folwell-Turipa, one of this year's Jennifer Easton Community Spirit Awards honorees. Here, Lori reflects on their time together in Santa Clara as she prepares to welcome this year's four honorees to the First Peoples Fund family this weekend.

Her work has broken so many barriers. In her community, and in the Indigenous art world.

She is a women, a grandmother, a mother, and a sister.

She is an artist, a potter, and an activist.

She is—in my humble opinion—the very essence of Collective Spirit.

And it is the quiet things she does within her community, and in her studio in Santa Clara, New Mexico, that have inspired new generations of potters within her family, and her tribe. For this—and more—Jody Naranjo Folwell-Turipa (Santa Clara/Tewa) will be honored with a 2014 Jennifer Easton Community Spirit Award from First Peoples Fund.

"Leadership is about people who are selflessly giving of themselves because they know it is the right thing to do," she said to me in her home earlier this summer. "My great-grandparents and parents taught me from a very young age that, with all your heart and with all your soul, you should always reach out and help others."

To sit across Jody—to listen to her speak her truth, her experiences, her passion and her strength, was so moving to me. In fact, it was enchanting.

"Pottery is the most magical way of communication," she said as she recalled a turning point in her life that awakened her to the power art has on community. "I was sitting in an underground home at Crow Canyon Archaeological Center in Cortez, Colorado, teaching students. We sat in semi-dark, mixing the clay, and could sense the spiritual effect that the act of creating was having on us. We were one unit as we sat mixing the clay. The quiet gave way to sharing stories."

Art, you see, was creating a collective community.

Jody inherited her family's tradition of pottery making as a child, first sculpting traditional blackware and redware, progressing to clay, and culminating today into cutting edge modern, fine art ceramics. She continues to dig her own clay, where it is then coil-built, stone polished and fired.

"But before we dig, we pray, and thank the Clay Mother for giving us the earth, our ability to create pots, and hopefully, our ability to sell our work to take care of ourselves, our families, and our community," she said.

Jody was the first female potter ever to win Best of Show at the Santa Fe Indian Market. Her artwork, which is a balance of traditional and contemporary, often touches on political or social events and issues.

"I believe that if you are going to devote your life to being a fine artist, then you have to have the courage to make unique contributions to the world," she noted. "No issue is too big to address."

To me, that is what sets her apart. She not only continues the legacy of traditional Pueblo pottery, but she also breaks down stereotypes about contemporary Native art. She is not afraid to speak a narrative through her artwork—about social justice and current events—that has broken new ground for artists in and outside her community.

That tradition has also been passed down to her children and grandchildren. Her two daughters—Susan and Polly—are both potters today who are forging their own path. Jody told me that they are going beyond anything she could ever dream of doing herself.

A big smile—pride, I think—came across her face in that moment.

"They have been given this ability to create from the generations and generations and generations of potters that have come before them," Jody said. "They are the continuation of this work, and our traditions."

Perhaps most especially, they have been given this gift because a Pueblo woman—their mother—opened doors that have kept centuries-old traditions, and a rich culture, alive.

"We are made of clay, we live through clay, and one day, we will return to clay," she said. "That is the whole process of human nature—not just for Pueblo potters, but for everyone in this world. It connects us."

The Community Spirit Awards will be held on Saturday, October 18 at The Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts. Tickets start at just $25 and are available online here.

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A woman who has been celebrated in her community as the driving force behind the way Native Hawaiian art and culture has been preserved will take the stage alongside her fellow dancers at this year's 2014 Community Spirit Awards.

"It is a wonderful opportunity to engage with other past recipients and the new honorees," said Vicky Holt Takamine (Native Hawaiian), who was honored with a Community Spirit Award in 2013. She will be traveling to Minneapolis with students from her Pua Ali'i 'Ilima dance studio in Hawaii to perform at this year's honoring.

Takamine, who owns and directs the Pua Ali'i 'Ilima dance studio, has made it her life's work to preserve traditional hula dance and traditional Hawaiian language.

"When you are at the ceremonies, you are among a unique group of select individuals," she said. "These are the people who have accepted the responsibility to carry on these traditions and share them with the next generation. We are excited to share a piece of our culture with the audience in Minneapolis."

Takamine is bringing six dancers and one chanter to perform during the ceremony, which will be held October 18 at The Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts in Minneapolis. She will also be onstage as a chanter. She anticipates that it will be an unfamiliar experience for some in the audience.

"I can't presume that all of us from different communities are familiar with Native Hawaiian dance," she said. "Most people have an idea of what it is by what is marketed to them. Their experience that night will be different."

The traditional hula dance, or hula "kahiko" ancient style dance, is the original dance of the Native Hawaiians.

"We'll give them a taste of traditional practices, rather than what the tourist industry often promotes in videos and commercials," she said of the dance, which can also be celebrated and taught, but is an evolved form from the original dances.

Takamine's work following her Community Spirit Award celebration last year has continued wholeheartedly. Several projects have moved forward, including a Honolulu arts and cultural center built through the PA'I Foundation. The center has been a partnership with Artspace, a Minneapolis-based organization that is Amerca's leader in artist-led community transformation. The center will be a place for Native Hawaiian artists, activists, environmentalists, and educators.

"Artspace is thrilled to partner with PA’I Foundation to create the Ola Ka ‘Ilima Artspace Lofts, which will provide 84 artist live/work lofts, community gathering space and a new home for the PA‘I Native Hawaiian Cultural Center," said Greg Handberg, senior vice president of properties at Artspace. "Vicky's work with us has been instrumental in creating this new place for Native Hawaiian artists."

It was more than a decade ago that Takamine started attending meetings, organizing demonstrations during the legislative session, and speaking out about the importance of Native artwork and culture. She never intended to become an activist, she said, but a family history in politics and her deep love and appreciation of the islands led her to it.

It was that spirit and determination that was celebrated in 2013 during the Community Spirit Award ceremony, hosted in her community in Hawaii. The event was special, Takamine said, because it provided an opportunity for her to celebrate with her peers, community and students.

"To have that in my community was very special," she said.

First Peoples Fund has done an excellent job of highlighting and honoring people who are already recognized in their community as having made a difference, she added.

"First Peoples Fund does a great job of putting these artists forward—and celebrating them—as leaders," she said, and it is even more special that the nominations originate from those communities. "You can have people from the outside say, 'That person is doing a good job.' But when it comes from within your own community, it is even more valuable."

See Takamine and Pua Ali'i 'Ilima perform at the Community Spirit Awards on Saturday, October 18 at The Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts. Tickets start at just $25 and are available online here.

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Sondra Simone Segundo (Alaskan Haida) is on a writing roll.

Having just published her first children's picture book, the 2012 First Peoples Fund Artist in Business Leadership fellow has two more in the works and plans to keep writing after that.

"I feel like I'm dreaming," said Segundo, who is Alaskan Haida and born and raised in Seattle, Washington. "My book is finally published. It took a long time and maybe that's why it means so much."

The book, "Killer Whale Eyes," was published by Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI). Segundo wrote the story to teach Southeast Alaska Native culture to young people. The story was inspired by Haida stories and beliefs that were passed down to Segundo from her maternal Haida grandparents and other Elders.

"These are stories that are passed down through the years from my family."

She dedicated the book to her uncle, the late Claude Morrison, a well-known fluent Haida speaker, and her aunt Viola Burgess. Both helped her translate some of the words to Haida. She also included a dedication to Louise (Morrison) Arrington, who supported her work on the book.

Segundo wrote a song for the book and sought help from Elders in her tribe to help her translate it so she could record it and include it with the book. Segundo said the picture book has been a way for her to continue to teach others about her culture, which her grandparents encouraged her to practice through music, language, eating traditional foods, visiting tribal lands and honoring Native art.

Segundo also paints traditional Haida designs on contemporary shoes and clothing and makes traditional regalia with her family to wear in performances for the Haida Heritage Foundation, of which she is a drum and dance leader.

Her next goal is to publish an art instruction book, which she was able to write with the support of First Peoples Fund. The book, "Form Line Drawing Made Easy," gives instructions on Haida art.

"It's the art of my people and it's drawn shape by shape," she said.

After that, it's on to a second children's picture book about her grandparents called "Love Birds."

Segundo said she still carries with her the lessons she learned while working with First Peoples Fund.

"It gave me confidence to approach people," she said. "It built my confidence as a Native entrepreneur. It's hard to switch from my art mind to my business mind, but I'm still using the tools they taught me."

Segundo teaches special education students at a public school in Seattle, where she is also raising her three children. She said she's enjoying the moment, but is now even more focused on accomplishing her next goals.

"This has been a lifelong dream," she said. "I have been wanting to write children's books since I was a child myself. I'm excited and motivated to get these other ones finished and out there."

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It's hard not to notice the changes in Darrell Norman's (Blackfeet) Browning, Montana art studio and gallery at the Lodgepole Gallery and Tipi Village.

Where there once was bad lighting, uncomfortable chairs and cluttered floor space is now an organized studio with a fresh coat of paint, shelving units, a workbench and comfortable seating.

"It is a great new studio and it is functioning beautifully," said Norman, who was able to make the changes this year through a First Peoples Fund Artist in Business Leadership Fellowship.

Norman, a Native artist from the Blackfeet tribe in Montana, has been creating contemporary and traditional art based on the Blackfeet design for 35 years. A past First Peoples Fund Community Spirit Award honoree, Norman makes and sells a wide variety of mixed media art forms, including drums, shields, hides and wood, stone, and bone sculptures.

Norman is a three-time Artist in Business Leadership fellow, a former Cultural Capital fellow, an honoree of the Montana Circle of American Masters, and an Outstanding Alumnus at North Seattle Community College.

"I needed this update to my studio," he said. Prior to the changes, some of his work sat on the floor because of the lack of space. "It was out of control."

The support from First Peoples Fund has changed the trajectory of his career, Norman said.

"My partnership with them is tremendously important, not only the funding, but the support they give you. It takes you to another step, up another level. It helps you with your productivity."

Being connected with the organization is a source of strength and pride, he added.

"Being associated with First Peoples Fund helps," he said. "It does a lot for your reputation."

Norman said he has greatly benefited from one of the organization's main goals—to bring Native artists together to encourage and share with each other.

"It's one of the greatest things," he said, because it is inspiring to meet with other Native artists who share the same passions. "Native artists are doing incredible things."

Norman said his work with First Peoples Fund has also given him a stronger voice in his community.

"The things they do to inspire people in their communities prolongs our traditional art forms," he said. "It contributes to the longevity of our culture."

Norman is now preparing for the busy summer tourist season—his gallery is just 15 miles from Glacier National Park. "My studio is right off the gallery, so people can come see me work," he said. "They see that it's nice and organized and it really does influence them."

To read more about Norman, visit his website at ww.blackfeetculturecamp.com.

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Former Ralph Lauren designer returns to her roots

Jhane Myers is trying to not only recreate a dress from her ancestors, but also to offer a glimpse of a time period.

Myers, who is from the Comanche/Blackfeet tribes of Santa Fe, New Mexico, is a doll maker, jeweler, regalia maker and designer, and a traditional buckskin dancer. And she's also one of this year's First Peoples Fund Artist in Business Leadership grantees.

Having made her mark in the fashion world—she studied fashion at The Art Institute of Dallas, and worked for designer Ralph Lauren—Myers plans to recreate a traditional Native recession dress.

"It was a symbol," she said. "It was war time; things were scarce. My grandparents talked to me about ration cards."

While the men were out to war, she said, there was no one back home to hunt and skin animals. Missionaries provided canvasses that were used for the tents during church meetings, and the Natives cut up the canvass and made dresses.

Myers wants to recreate one of the dresses, which by now have all but disappeared.

The project will also include a DVD that teaches about the time period and dress making, and include memories from the time period.

"This will be a big challenge for me," Myers said of the film, but it will add another important element and is another way for a Native artist to harness the tool of technology and media in their art. She will draw from the experience of others by using Comanche filmmakers, providing them with a stipend for their work on the film.

Her work provides work for other Native artists, who will spend part of their time filming stories by elders.

"It's blending the old with the new," she said. "It's just exciting."

Myers has been making dresses since the 1990s and is a fourth generation dressmaker, but this project will push her as an artist, she said.

"I just have this drive to complete this project," said Myers, who has started her research for the project by visiting the National Museum of American Indian at The Smithsonian.

"I worked in the collection for a day and it was amazing," she said.

Finding dresses from that time is an important, but difficult, part of her research. There is not a recession dress to view in any Southern Plains collection. There is one in Oklahoma on an army base, she said, but she hasn't been able to view it.

"For me, it's the first time in my career that I've done a statement piece. I'm so happy and pleased First Peoples Fund funded me."

The opportunity to capture the stories of her ancestors, and work with her hands to recreate a part of history is important in passing down the history and traditions to the next generation, she added.

"It's funding a legacy," she said. "It's something I can leave my children and grandchildren."

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Our Nation’s Spaces Program brings artist and presenter together in Washington, D.C.

As soon as Carla Perlo saw a video of Rosy Simas dancing, her mind was made up.

"She's exquisite," said Perlo, who is the founding director of Dance Place in Washington, D.C. and was immediately convinced to apply for a First Peoples Fund Our Nation's Spaces grant so Simas could complete a residency at the studio.

For more than a year now, First Peoples Fund has partnered with The Ford Foundation to offer grants up to $20,000 to Diverse Arts Spaces grantees through the Our Nation's Spaces Program, and this new pairing of cultural institution and artist is one of the most recent recipients.

Simas said she approached Dance Place with the hope of a multiple-week residency.

"I think this program provides an incredible opportunity to both artists and presenters, as well as their audiences," said Simas, who is Seneca from the Cattaraugus Reservation in New York.

Simas will spend a week in D.C. early next year touring the area, spending time at the dance studio, making connections around the city and building support and awareness for her second residency, which will take place a couple months later and will include workshops and a production.

Simas said she was pleasantly surprised that First Peoples Fund selected a contemporary Native artist like herself to include in the program.

"There are not very many Natives in contemporary dance today," she said, "and it seems sometimes that traditional art forms are more often funded and supported. I was encouraged by First Peoples Fund to work with an organization and apply, but it was hard to find an arts center that would be a great fit. Then I found Dance Place."

Traditional artwork by Natives "is not static," Simas said. "This is part of a greater interest of mine. Having the non-Native community exposed to work by a contemporary Native artist is beneficial in changing the minds of what Native people make."

Perlo said the production, which includes Simas dancing in front of a film, will be stunning.

"The film makes it feel like we are on her homeland, it's just beautiful. It transports us to a different place. We're no longer in the theater... I was so taken by the juxtaposition of her against the film. I thought, 'Wow, that will be so beautiful and powerful."

Perlo said she also looks forward to introducing something new. Very few Native dancers approach the studio for shows.

"We have a 33-year history of presenting a wide variety of dance forms," she said. "In the city, performing arts can really help people understand cultures they don't understand. That's the biggest challenge—unfamiliarity. We get to confront that challenge head-on with this program."

At Dance Place, she said, audience members take in productions in the theater or the plaza.

"You're sitting there and you care less about where the person is from because you're just reacting to the power of art," she said. "You see people from very different cultures. You're inspired and moved and applauding. That never would have happened if just having a dialogue."

Race and ethnicity are removed, she said.

"Everybody gets chills, and says the artist is really talented," she said. "We drop that preface of where they're from, the color of the skin, the cultural background. Really, that's what bringing artists and performances to our space is about for me."

Simas said her work is not political or historical, though it does touch on themes of her ancestors.

It's the sense of being a part of something that is both a personal and a universal story," she said.

Perlo is grateful for the grant and hopes to work with more Native artists in the future.

"First Peoples Fund is such a great vehicle that helps us think about and identify artists to work with, and gives us the support we need to bring them to Washington because it's so expensive," she said. "In this funding climate, it's great that First Peoples stepped up and said we think this work is important."

Natives having a forum to have their voice heard will have an impact on society, she said.

"Otherwise, they're left out of the story," she said. "First Peoples Fund is a fantastic resource to say, 'Let's not let these voices be silent and let it be part of the American fabric.'"

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