By Micheal Rios, Tulalip News
At the heart of the Evergreen State College campus stands the House of Welcome’s cultural arts center. For the last 30 years, this center has affirmed Native arts and cultures by providing a space for customary practices to be transferred across generations.
In celebration of the center’s 30th anniversary, the House of Welcome partnered with the Washington State Historical Society to organize the first In The Spirit Festival and Art Show. This stunning show was hosted at the Tacoma Art Museum and was an incredible opportunity for 30 Native artists who represented 27 regional tribes.
The life of their artworks embodied creation, stories, land connections, and history rooted in living traditions.
“Our In The Spirit collection includes artworks ranging from customary (the gatherers of natural materials, who practice labor-intensive warping and weaving) to contemporary (technically proficient techniques used to create designs and symbolism),” explained program specialist Mary Kummer (Makah). “Together, they highlight the beauty of their culture and traditions while honoring all that is sacred and of creation.”
Digital Illustration, Acrylic Print
“Urban Spirit” reflects a journey of rewilding after leaving the city – torn between its energy and a natural place in the woods. It captures the push and pull of longing for urban life while embracing the quiet strength of my Tlingit roots. Though I carry lessons from the metropolis, the forests call me home. This piece embodies the balance between past and present, tradition and modernity, solitude and connection.
I feel my offering to the world these days is to make art accessible to the next generation. I started my own company, Formline Evolved, to encompass my love of cartoons, comic books, and video games. My goal as an artist is to always be experimenting with new methods and pushing at the boundaries of our traditional artforms.
Red Cedar, Acrylic Paint
“I am Seattle born and raised Alaska Native artist with Haida, Tlingit, Tsimshian and Filipino roots. I began my journey as an artist began 2018. I left my career as an aerospace mechanic to pursue my passion to craft and revitalize traditional art. Through the guidance of Tsimshian master carver, David Boxley, I have been able to refine my techniques to carve, paint and cultivate pieces of my own. Through my art I envision bringing awareness of my culture through the creations of indigenous art while bringing in elements of modern concepts to tell my own stories. Traditional masks, staffs, rattles, paddles, bowls, trays, and regalia are only some of the favorites I enjoy creating. I am proud that our culture was resurrected for my generation, and I want to help continue grow the artwork to new heights for generations to come.”
Shaadootlaa Tinaayeil Iyall
Merino wool warp & weft, Woven merino wool strap, Dyed salmon leather, Natural smoked moosehide, Cotton, Ermine hides, Trade beads, crystals, and abalone buttons.
Shaadootlaa is a woman of many talents. She is a traditional herbalist, a weaver, a beader, a sewer, a tattooist, a singer, a dancer, a storyteller, a teacher, and a student, among other things. This woven piece honors Coast Salish design and the natural color palettes of treasured huckleberries, blending traditional materials with mathematically precise weaving. It features two-color All Our Ancestors & Lightning twining with the concentric Haida tattoo designs framed with spiraling weft designs of octopus hugs patterns. Crafted with S-twist merino wool warp and hand-dyed weft in shades of huckleberry.
Sydney Akagi
Merino wool and copper cones
Sydney’s work as a weaver began as an interest in fiber arts and has revealed itself as a vital part of healing her identity with her Tlingit culture. During her journey into traditional Tlingit Northwest Coast Arts, Akagi was introduced to Ravenstail weaving and later Chilkat. She is also a professional photographer. The color and tones she uses to draw are inspired by the warm moody colors found in Southeast Alaska. In her textile and dyes, the materials she uses are all sustainable, foraged and sourced from its lush summer forests and sleeping winter wonderland.
Becky Quinlan
Hand-dug, hand processed clay
Becky is a Caddo Nation citizen, artist, and geographer with a passion for preserving and revitalizing Indigenous culture and knowledge. Living in Washington State, Becky is the owner of Dáku Arts, which features her traditional and contemporary pottery, and works as an independent contractor in GIS and Remote Sensing.
She creates her works in the traditional way: hand dug, hand processed clay; hand coiled and shaped; stone burnished and open pit-fired. Her etched and incised designs combine traditional themes with inspiration from the natural environment of the Caddo homelands.
“This artform was virtually lost until we had one Caddo potter, Jeri Redcorn, revive it in the 1990s. She taught Chase Earles who offered a year-long class to interested Caddo Nation members. That’s where I learned the art form, from Chase. I always wanted to connect more with my tribe and my ancestors. By using their same methods of harvesting by hand, processing by hand, and etching by hand, I really feel that sense of connection.”
Cynthia Masterson
Czech glass seed beads / found objects
Oklahoma-born Seattle resident Cynthia Masterson bead weaves using deep knowledge of a misunderstood technique inconsistently called gourd or peyote. With grit and a VHS tape she taught herself to bead in 2003 and is working to document sixteen different ways to do this stitch. Her art combines writing, everyday objects and beadwork, creating assemblages with stories reacting to current events, loss of language, and time.
“I used a vintage candlestick telephone, a Westen Electric for those old enough to remember such things, that was restored by Old Phone Shop in Canada. They rewired it to make it a working landline telephone, or, as it’s being used here, it can be hooked up via Bluetooth to any cell phone to make or receive calls.
“I’m also using the phone to demonstrate two off-loom weaving styles that can be used for cylinder-shaped objects. One style is a 3 drop and the other style is a 2 drop. Both are interchangeably referred to as Peyote stitch.”