The Native Art Mart is Saturday, November 22, 10am – 4pm
Get your Holiday Gifts at our Art Mart at Daybreak Star in Discovery Park! Nov15th and Nov 22nd and Dec 20th.
Holiday Shopping at the Annual Art Mart at Daybreak Star!
Beautiful work by Native American Artists, Salmon, Fry Bread, Entertainment and Great Music.
Benefit for United Indians Elder Meals and Community Programs.
Buy Local, Buy Authentic
Native American artists will be selling and showcasing handmade authentic arts and crafts. UIATF is in full support of The Indian Arts and Crafts Act. This is a free event open to the public. http://www.unitedindians.org/arts-culture/indian-art-mart/
Chickasaw Cultural Center Director of Operations Brad Deramus admires a huge dugout canoe dating to approximately 1500 A.D. It is on loan to the center from the Department of Mississippi Archives and History to augment the world-class Dugout Canoes: Paddling through the Americas currently on display through May 6, 2015, at the Sulphur, Oklahoma, location.
By: Chickasaw Nation
SULPHUR, Okla. – They were the metaphorical pickup trucks of their day. Native Americans used them to ferry families across rivers, move trade goods to market and a means of travel.
Dugout canoes were difficult to fashion into water-worthy vessels. All were made from a single tree trunk, fire coals placed atop it and then the charred wood was hollowed out with an adze or similar sharp-edged tool made of stone, sea shells and, eventually, metal.
In 2000, a group of Florida high school students stumbled onto what is believed to be the largest treasure trove of dugout canoes in the world – 101 of them dating from 500 to 5,000 years old, according to experts.
That discovery gave birth to Dugout Canoes: Paddling through the Americas, a world-class exhibit on display at the Chickasaw Cultural Center through May 6, 2015.
More than 9,700 people have experienced the exhibit as of Nov. 1. An additional 6,000 have admired a Mississippi vessel displayed away from the main dugout canoe exhibit which is estimated to be 514 years old.
Window blinds are drawn almost like a secret is hidden in the Aapisa Art Gallery at the Chickasaw Cultural Center.
The lights are dimmed too, along with a sign warning visitors not to touch – a departure from many exhibits more than 300,000 people have enjoyed since the center’s opening in 2010.
Director of Operations Brad Deramus swings open the door and extends an invitation to step foot inside and behold an item made in 1500 A.D., discovered intact and preserved from a swamp in the Mississippi Delta.
Most likely the immense 26-foot long dugout canoe was made by Chickasaws.
“Think George Washington’s great-great-grandfather,” Deramus remarks to illustrate the age of the ancient vessel.
It was discovered in Steele Bayou Lake in Washington County, Mississippi, decades ago. It is on loan from the Department of Mississippi Archives and History to augment Dugout Canoes: Paddling through the Americas.
Weighing in at more than 1,000 pounds., it is made from a single bald cypress tree and is manufactured in the ancient Chickasaw tradition. It is the perfect complement to Dugout Canoes: Paddling through the Americas, a display thrilling adults and children, Deramus said. Interactive kiosks, art endeavors, ancient canoes and signs abound encouraging visitors to touch many of the displayed items.
A 400-year-old pine tree dugout canoe, along with tools dating to 600 A.D. and remnants of some of the 101 dugout canoes discovered by the students are included in the exhibit. Many of the display items are hands-on. Some of the more ancient items are behind glass enclosures. CCC cultural experts are on hand to assist visitors who have questions.
While none of the 101 dugout canoes discovered by the Gainesville, Florida, students in drought-stricken Newnans Lake 14 years ago are displayed, remnants of some of the ancient vessels are at the Chickasaw Cultural Center to be enjoyed.
In fact, while some of the canoes discovered by students are fully intact, most were left in place at Newnan’s Lake because excavating them would prove destructive after centuries of protection by water and mud.
About American Indian Heritage Month
Efforts to establish a time to honor Native American Heritage began as early as 1916, when the governor of New York officially declared “American Indian Day” in May of that year. Since that time, a number of states have designated specific days or weeks to celebrate Native American heritage. Since 1976, Congress and the president have designated a day, a week or a month to honor American Indian and Alaska Native people. November has been set aside for the celebration since 1991, when a Senate Joint Resolution was passed authorizing and requesting the president to proclaim each month of November thereafter as “American Indian Heritage Month.”
The Tulalip Resort Casino served up a variety of small bites and wines before the six course dinner.
Tulalip – By Niki Cleary
If you’ve been to the Tulalip Resort Casino and wandered through the hotel, you know the beauty of the place. In front of the Orca Ballroom stylized salmon swim through imaginary water overhead and local Native American artwork adorns the walls. On November 14th, the hall was also filled music, laughter and camaraderie.
In an era where cell phones dominate most dinner parties, the 6th Annual Taste of Tulalip was a reminder that connecting to the people and experiences in front of us is far more satisfying that connecting to the Wi-Fi.
Before dinner, guests wandered into the hall. Chatting with each other, listening to the live string music being played in front of the Oasis pool, and sampling the wines and delicious appetizers offered by solicitous resort staff.
Then, it got better. The ballroom doors opened, guests wandered into a room engulfed in music. The theme of this year’s Taste revolved around music, because, as the Resort’s Chef Perry Mascitti said, “How can you cook without music?”
Even the menus were in keeping with the theme. The menu was camouflaged as an old fashioned vinyl record bedecked with this year’s artwork created by Tulalip artist Joe Gobin, and tucked inside a sleeve the way an actual LP would be.
While guests trickled in, hostess Kaci Aitchison of Q13 Fox, began ‘dancing’ them to their tables to Megan Trainor’s, All About that Bass. “What’s the best part of tonight?” she asked the crowd. “Everything!”
Dinner included 6 courses inspired by the Chefs’ favorite music.
“I have to say,” said Chef Perry, as he’s affectionately known, “every year, I love this weekend!”
The event, he explained, featured the work of 120 winemakers, 24 beer makers and the creativity of the Tulalip Resort’s eight chefs.
Director of Food and Beverage Lisa Severn followed up by saying the evening was in keeping with the traditions of Tulalip.
“It’s all about celebration, about sitting down, breaking bread and enjoying who you are with.”
She also pointed out that while diners were relishing a delicious night of entertainment, food and spirits, they could also smile, knowing that a portion of their ticket price was supporting a local charity, the Tulalip Foundation http://www.tulalipfoundation.org.
Each table was served by a team of wait staff, who placed the dish upon the table with a choreographed flourish. As the courses arrived, they were accompanied by exclamations of delight, and discussion about the taste and texture of the food, the wine pairing and, at least at my table, each diner’s history and experience with food. Stories emerged about trips to Alaska, the culinary traditions of each person’s home and how the Taste of Tulalip compared to other, similar events.
“This is by far the best,” said Ginger Caldwell a food and wine marketing expert and blogger. She explained that the selection of spirits alone was phenomenal. However it’s the entire package that makes the event, she pointed out the décor and entertainment.
Each of the courses was accompanied by live music. Throughout the dinner, the music transition from rock, to classic instrumental, to pop cover, and even a dash of opera. Chef Perry boldly took a turn on stage, treating diners to a cover of an ACDC song.
When the evening wound to a close with dessert, and tables slowly emptied, I headed to my car thinking, “I am definitely coming back next year!”
Hostess Kaci Aitchison ‘danced’ guests to their tables.The theme for the evening revolved around music.
The Amuse Bouche by Chef Gerry Schultz was a beet carpaccio ravioli, smoked chicken and fennel mustard vinaigrette paired with Shramsberg Vineyards J. Schram Brut, North Coast California 2004.Josh Royce was first in the musical line-up.Salad by Chef John Ponticelli was a seared scallop with green papaya slaw, micro asian mallow, golden edamame shoots with ginger lime vinaigrette and aged balsamic. it was paired with Alleromb Winery Sauvignon Blanc, Columbia Valley, Washington 2012.From classic piano to rock, music was a centerpiece of the evening.The sweet sound of strings echoed throughout the ballroom during the six course dinner.To Sous Vide by Chef David Buchanan was a blackberry sockeye salmon lox popsicle and salmon sous vide over toasted hazelnut pesto. It was paired with Kosta Browne Russian River Pinot Noir, California 2012.Tulalip artist Joe Gobin holds up one of the menus featuring his artwork.Intermezzo by Chef John Jadamec was a pomegranate and rose granita.Entree by Chef Perry Mascitti was a New York Duet: New York strip dry aged 46 days, tarragon beurre blanc and New York strip aged 28 days with wild cranberry demi and a cambazola mascarpoe “twinkie” with buna shimeji micro green sauté . It was paired with a Leonetti Cellar Reserve Blend, Walla Walla, Washington 2011.Fresh NW Design has etched the commemorative Taste of Tulalip wine bottle every year. Owner David Olive holds the 2014 commemorative bottle.Chef Perry Mascitti treats diners to his musical, as well as culinary talents.
Dessert invluded a torched Cherry Rum, Stalichnaya Salted Karamel Vodka, six spice syrup, fresh meyer lemon and Dillanos coffee blend.Dessert by Chef Nikol Nakamura was a Valrhona carmelized white chocolate cremeux and cake, almond streusel, and osetra caviar.The parting gift was a Taste of Tulalip 58% chocolate lollipop.
The Kwakwaka’wakw mask that inspired the Seattle Seahawks logo will be on display next week.
The mask, which is more than a century old, was created by an artist or artists of the Kwakwaka’wakw community and will be on display on November 22 in the Here & Now: Native Artists Inspiredexhibit at the Burke Museum in Seattle.
When the mask arrived in Seattle last month, Bruce Alfred, Namgis Band of the Kwakwaka’wakw Nations, provided information to the museum to be used in its display. “It’s very old, and a beautiful piece,” Alfred told The Seattle Times.
Alfred also said that more than one artist might have designed the transformation mask since it was used by a dancer in ceremony who made adjustments to it for fitting purposes.
On Monday, The Seattle Timesreported that the online campaign to bring the mask to the city reached its financial goal, raising more than $22,000 from at least 450 donors. Its goal was to raise copy4,575. The museum had planned to undertake the cost, but the fundraising on KickStarter.comand other donations made that unnecessary.
Kwakwaka’wakw community members, the museum and representatives from the Seattle Seahawks, including alumni players, Seattle Sea Gals, and Blue Thunder will welcome the mask a few days earlier with a ceremony and photo op on November 18, as well as sneak peak of the new exhibit. The event is not open to the public.
The mask is two-feet long and about three-feet wide when it opens; and it weighs at least 5 pounds.
Here & Now: Native Artists Inspired showcases how today’s artists learn from past generations. The exhibit features 30 new works by contemporary Native artists, paired with historic pieces from the Burke Museum that artists identified as key to their learning.
Here & Now celebrates the 10th anniversary of the Bill Holm Center for the Study of Northwest Native Art, a global learning center that supports access to the Burke Museum’s Native art and artifact collections through research grants, programs, and publications.
Join us for an exploration of the dynamic relationship between past and present, collections and creativity, and artists and their ancestors.
“Creating these works is an extension of our apprenticeship with our ancestors.”
–Evelyn Vanderhoop, Haida weaver
Help Bring the Mask that Inspired the Seahawks Logo to Seattle
With your support, we’re bringing the Kwakwaka’wakw mask that inspired the Seahawks logo to Seattle for everyone to see as part of the Here & Now: Native Artists Inspired exhibition! Learn more about the effort on our Kickstarter: Bring the Mask to Seattle.
MTV is marking November’s Native American Heritage Month by premiering a 30-minute episode of its “Rebel Music” series on young indigenous artists in North America. The series looks at socially conscious artists across the globe. This episode, for which renowned street artist Shepard Fairey serves as an executive producer, features stories of Frank Waln, Inez Jasper, Nataanii Means and Mike Clifford. They’re all activists who channel their messages through art in an effort to combat the devastating realities of issues ranging from suicide to sexual assault in their communities.
Here’s a sneak peek:
In a somewhat unconventional move, the episode will premiere on Rebel Music’s Facebook page next Thursday, November 13 at 4pm EST/1pm PST. Stay tuned.
WeRNative Native youth across the nation are invited to show the world what it means to be Native by taking the WeRNative Photo Challenge using the #WeRNative hashtag in social media, to raise awareness of Native American Heritage.
Native youth across the nation are invited to show the world what it means to be Native by taking the WeRNative Photo Challenge using the #WeRNative hashtag in social media, to raise awareness of Native American Heritage.
We R Native, a non-profit multimedia health resource for Native teens and youth teamed with Native-owned marketing company, Redbridge Inc., to host the #WeRNative Photo Challenge throughout November as a celebration of Native American Heritage Month.
We R Native is the only comprehensive health resource for Native youth, designed by Native youth, providing content and stories about the topics that matter most to them: social, emotional, physical, sexual, and spiritual health. The organization encourages Native youth to take an active role in their own health and well-being.
“Our tribal youth face a lot of challenges that leave them feeling like they’re facing them alone,” Stephanie Craig from We R Native said in announcing the event. “In celebration of Native American Heritage Month, Native youth will unite to show the world, and each other, they’re not alone and what it means to be Native by using the hashtag #WeRNative.”
On average, the We R Native project, funded by the Indian Health Service, reaches over 31,000 users per week through its various media channels.
“If the total Native American population is 1.6 percent of the nation, then Native youth are .5 percent. It’s easy to see why they feel alone in the challenges they’re facing,” Shannon Hulbert, CEO of Redbridge said in the statement.
“Imagine how empowering it would be if they started to see a number of other tribal youth across the nation saying #WeRNative,” Hulbert said. “The Challenge could serve as a platform for raising awareness, not just for who’s struggling and how, but also for who’s facing the challenges in ways they hadn’t thought about, and who’s smiling through it all.”
In the 2010 Census, 5.2 million people reported they were American Indian or Alaska Native (AI/AN), with approximately one-third under the age of 18. AI/AN youth are disproportionally impacted by a variety of adolescent health concerns, including high teen pregnancy rates, drug and alcohol use, and depression and suicide, which heighten their need for programs that align to their unique culture and social context.
Tribes and tribal organizations throughout the U.S. are working to develop and implement evidence-based, culturally-appropriate health interventions.
Here & Now: Native Artists Inspired November 22, 2014 – July 27, 2015
Source: Burke Museum
Seattle— Northwest Native artists create 30 new works inspired by 200 years of history.
Here & Now: Native Artists Inspired features work by artists whose practice has been informed by the objects in the Burke’s collections, demonstrating how today’s artists and art historians learn from past generations. The exhibit will include contemporary works in a variety of media alongside the historic pieces that artists identified as key to their learning. “The objects in the Burke’s collection embody the knowledge of their makers and they can be a catalyst for transferring this knowledge across generations,” explains exhibit curator and assistant director of the Bill Holm Center for the Study of Northwest Native Art, Kathryn Bunn-Marcuse.
Commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Bill Holm Center, Here & Now explores the dynamic relationship between the Burke Museum and Northwest Native art, artists, and scholars. In the past ten years, over ninety grants have been awarded by the center to researchers, artists, and graduate students. The grant program is unique in its breadth, providing funding for artists to conduct workshops in their own communities, and travel funding to study collections at the Burke Museum or other institutions that hold collections key to an artist or researcher’s interests. These grantees have all contributed to the current dynamism of Northwest Native art.
Here & Now shares the results of the conversations artists have with historical artworks. Celebrate master artists of the past and present and share in the enthusiasm and creativity of today’s emerging artists.
The Kwakwaka’wakw transformation mask that inspired the design of the original Seahawks logo. Photo courtesy of the Hudson Museum
The Mask That Inspired the Seahawks Logo: In the lead up to the 2014 Super Bowl, Dr. Robin K. Wright, Curator of Native American Art and Director of the Bill Holm Center for the Study of Northwest Native Art at the Burke Museum and Bill Holm – one of the most knowledgeable experts in the field of Northwest Coast Native art history – tracked down the origins of the Seahawk’s logo. A photo in Robert Bruce Inverarity’s 1950 book, Art of the Northwest Coast Indians depicts a Kwakwaka’wakw transformation mask which depicts an eagle in its closed form with a human face inside (revealed when the mask opens). Further research revealed press articles from 1976 that described this Kwakwaka’wakw mask from Vancouver Island as the source of the logo. It is now part of the Hudson Museum at the University of Maine’s collections.
During Here & Now, the mask will be displayed along with Native artists’ interpretations of the signature Seahawks design and logo. The Burke is currently fundraising through Kickstarter to bring community experts from the Kwakwaka’wakw First Nation to the museum to study the mask and for further preservation and mounting before it is put on display. To meet our goal, the museum still needs to raise about $6,000 and we are encouraging fans to donate $12 to the cause.
Meet the artists of Here & Now! On Sunday, November 23, participate in a panel discussion with selected artists whose work is featured in the exhibit, Here & Now: Native Artists Inspired; and join them for in-gallery conversations about their work. See the documentary “Tracing Roots,” which offers a heartfelt glimpse into the world of Haida elder and weaver Delores Churchill, and visit with her daughter and renowned weaver Evelyn Vanderhoop. Get an up close view of tools and techniques as Burke Curator Sven Haakanson demonstrates the process of cleaning and preparing a Kodiak bear intestine for use in clothing and boat-making.
About the Burke Museum: The Burke Museum is located on the University of Washington campus, at the corner of NE 45th St. and 17th Ave. NE. Hours are 10 am to 5 pm daily, and until 8 pm on first Thursdays. Admission: $10 general, $8 senior, $7.50 student/ youth. Admission is free to children four and under, Burke members, UW students, faculty, and staff. Admission is free to the public on the first Thursday of each month. Prorated parking fees are $15 and partially refundable upon exit if paid in cash. Call 206-543-5590 or visit www.burkemuseum.org. The Burke Museum is an American Alliance of Museums-accredited museum and a Smithsonian Affiliate.
To request disability accommodation, contact the Disability Services Office at: 206.543.6450 (voice), 206.543.6452 (TTY), 206.685.7264 (fax), or email at dso@u.washington.edu. The University of Washington makes every effort to honor disability accommodation requests. Requests can be responded to most effectively if received as far in advance of the event as possible, preferably at least 10 days.
Fox Hollow Family Farm has a bonfire, s’mores and hot chocolate, horse-drawn carriage rides, a hay-bale maze, concessions, and more. (Photo Courtesy: Fox Hollow’s Facebook Page)
Halloween is just around the corner, pumpkin-spice-everything is everywhere, and the rain is back in full force. To me, this means it’s time for a visit to my favorite U-pick pumpkin patch! Since most of our area’s best spots have corn mazes, petting zoos, and more, you can definitely make a day trip out of it for you and your family.
Here are five of Washington’s best pumpkin patches that are about an hour away from Seattle:
Attractions other than pumpkins: 4-H animal barnyard, hay maze, steam-powered train ride, farm theatre, fruit pies, and more
When it is open: The complete farm experience is only open on Saturdays and Sundays. The hours are 10 to 5. There are self-guided tours available on weekdays.
Cost for entire experience: $15.75/person, seniors are $13.75/person, 12 months and under are free
Maria Tallchief was considered America’s first major prima ballerina and was the first Native American to hold such distinction.
Tallchief’s innovative role as the first sugar plum fairy in ‘Nutcracker’ and passionate dancing revolutionized the ballet but offstage her life was filled with personal struggles and discrimination.
ASU’s Simon Ortiz and Labriola Center Lecture on Indigenous Land, Culture, and Community presents Sandy Osawa’s ‘Maria Tallchief,’ a documentary that will be screened at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 16 at the Heard Museum, 2301 N. Central Ave., Phoenix.
Osawa will follow the free screening and lecture with a Q & A about her one-hour documentary, which aired on PBS from 2007-2010. Osawa broke media barriers in the 1970s by launching the first 10-part national television series to be entirely produced, acted and written by Native Americans. She was also the first Native American filmmaker to produce a documentary for network television, called ‘The Eighth Fire,’ first broadcast on NBC stations in 1992.
Osawa spoke to Get Out from her home in Seattle, Washington, to discuss her landmark documentary and the life of one of the most brilliant ballerinas of the 20th century.
Q: What drew you as a filmmaker to Maria Tallchief’s story?
SO: What drew me to her story was the fact that there’s a shocking lack of Native American stories and she had been on my mind for some time. I first heard about her when I was in college, so that had always stayed in the back of my mind. Then years later I met her grown daughter, Elise Maria Paschen, at a writer’s workshop in Oregon. I asked Elise if there had ever been any full-length documentaries on her mother. She said, ‘No, there isn’t.’ Elise then gave me her mother’s number and I called her up. When I asked Maria Tallchief about the possibility of doing a documentary she said, ‘Let’s do it.’
Q: There were some parallels with you and Maria Tallchief in that you are both Native American women who were underrepresented in your respective professions. Did that help you relate to her?
SO: I actually did feel that there were layers, a lot of levels that existed between us. One of them was the fact that Maria Tallchief said she was shy growing up … painfully shy. I also suffered with that aspect of being shy. I went to school in Port Angeles, Washington and although there was a tribe nearby, there really weren’t any Native Americans at my school. Every summer I would go back to the reservation and that was very much a coming home period and it felt positive. Going back to school was the reverse feeling. Maria said she had that same feeling when balancing the Indian and non-Indian world. Maria was also very quiet about her own accomplishments and was reticent to say anything about her amazing career, which meant I had to resort to some of her friends, associates and family to fill in those gaps. Many people who are raised in a traditional Native American setting are not fond of bragging.
Q: I was surprised to discover there were factions in ballet and Tallchief was an outsider in terms of where she fit in this world.
SO: When she started her career, the only star ballerinas that existed were Russian and English, no Americans. For example, she was asked to change her name to Maria Tallchieva to sound Russian. It’s kind of hard to fathom this now, but this was in the 1940s and 1950s. She was America’s first prima ballerina. It’s a huge milestone people and are always asking, ‘Why didn’t we know about her then?’ It’s all boils down to who writes our history and whose story gets told.
Q: In addition to having to overcome hurdles in the ballet world, Maria Tallchief had a lot of personal issues to face.
SO: I think with any artist there are always going to be obstacles in the way and she certainly faced her share of them. Even when she was born there was turmoil. In the film we focus on a time period when she was young where her relatives were being murdered for oil. Being born a girl in that era and in that environment of murder, it did not look like a very good start for Maria. We show that in the beginning to demonstrate the stress that exists in most Native Americans lives. There are difficulties, there’s hardships, and if you happen to be born into oil money, like her family was, there were tremendous obstacles.
Q: Maria Tallchief died in 2013 but was alive when your film first premiered in 2007. What was her reaction to the documentary?
SO: We set up the premiere at the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago so that we could be with her in the audience. She was actually living in a nursing home when we screened the film but was able to come that night and she sat in the front row right next to me. When it ended, she got up and publicly thanked us and was very happy with the film. Her daughter later confirmed how appreciative Maria was. It was very nerve wracking for me because when you’re dealing with a legend, you’re very nervous if you’ve nailed it or not. It was a great final affirmation that she was happy and that we had done a great job.
If you go
What: ‘Maria Tallchief’ lecture, film and Q & A
When: 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 16
Where: Heard Museum, 2301 N. Central Ave., Phoenix.
