Fern Naomi Renville is an enrolled member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, but also carries her grandmother’s Omaha and Seneca-Cayuga blood. She is a graduate of the Evergreen State College, a mother of grown children, and the Director of Seattle-based Red Eagle Soaring Native Youth Theatre. Red Eagle Soaring programming integrates contemporary theatre with traditional Native performing arts, empowering youth to sustain their cultural heritage and take creative action on the issues affecting their lives.
Award Award winning Coast Salish artist Peter Boome is a member of the Upper Skagit Tribe of Washington State. He works in a variety of mediums with a primary focus on printmaking and graphic work. Peter earned his AA from Northwest Indian College, his BA from the Evergreen State College and his JD from the University of Washington School Of Law. He is currently finishing his Master’s of Environmental Studies at Evergreen State College, as well as pursuing a PhD through the School of Indigenous Graduate Studies Te Whare Wananga o Awanuiarangi in New Zealand.
Peter’s work has been aggressively sought after by collectors throughout the world. His art pieces span the continents in various European countries as well as New Zealand, Australia, Asia and Africa. Peter is a regular attendee of many prestigious juried art markets and events throughout the country, such as the Santa Fe Indian Market. His work has shown at institutions such as the National Museum of the American Indian both in New York and Washington DC. Some other places Peter has also shown include the Heard Museum in Phoenix, the Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis, the Autry Museum in Los Angeles, Indian Art Market in Santa Fe, and the Washington State History Museum where his work is part of the permanent collection. Peter’s work is carried by many galleries and art distributors throughout the world.
Peter works in a variety of mediums such as painting, carving, inlay, and glass work, but he is best known for his Hand-pulled serigraphs. He prints his own original work as well as the work of other artists. As a printer, Peter has worked with both new and established artists. He has worked with indigenous artists from New Zealand and Canada and has been active in printing indigenous work and giving back to his community. Through this commitment to his community Peter has introduced the work of many artists who would not have been otherwise able to have their work printed.
For more information about Peter and his art visit his website and blog at: araquin.comFor questions about individual work such as pricing and availability or to contact Peter email him at: pete@araquin.com
Artist Statement
Peter’s artist statement says, “Art is all around us. Art is everywhere in life, there are lines, curves, shapes, colors, and shades all around us. Each culture has its own way of expressing the art of our world, a window through which we view the world. I am a Coast Salish Artist. My art is rooted in a historical design tradition. My art is a direct reflection of my culture; it is also a reflection of my personal, cultural, and world view.
I believe art is more than a simple reflection of culture. I feel art influences and guides cultures in many directions and ways. If you accept that art and culture are intrinsically connected you realize that art like culture is malleable, while based on a historic foundation both continue to evolve and expand. Our use and need of art is as strong as our use and need of culture. It is intrinsically connected; it surrounds us and often guides us. As an artist representing a distinct culture there is a moral obligation to carry on the artistic tradition with the upmost care and respect. We must carry on this tradition by honoring the past, representing the present, and laying the foundations for the future.”
For questions about pricing and availability and for more information about Peter or to view his work, check out his website and blog:
Grandmother Rita Pitka Blumenstein is a Yupik Elder and the first certified traditional doctor in Alaska. She is also an artist, a teacher, speaker and storyteller. Rita’s teachings of the “Talking Circle” have been recorded and published, and she’s traveled the world to teach song, dance, basket weaving and cultural issues. She donates these earnings to Native American colleges.
Grandmother Rita was born on a fishing boat. Because her father died before she was born, Rita was raised by mother, grandmothers and great-grandmothers. All were wise women elders of her Yupik people. “I grew up with the Grandmothers, walked with the grandmothers and learned with the grandmothers,” she said of her family’s powerful teachings.
Grandmother Rita’s family lived in Tununak on Alaska’s Nelson Island. The bitter cold and barren tundra made life hard for the Yupik, whose name means “Real People.” With no forests or trees, the Yupiks said special prayers for the return of the driftwood each year. They also prayed to the animal spirits for help.
Rita began learning while in her mother’s womb. “My mother taught me that her tummy was my first world, and whatever she did while I was in her was something I learned,” Grandmother Rita says. ” Being in the Mother’s womb is like being under the ice; unsure of the light and hearing things but not clearly.” From the time of her birth, the Yupik grandmothers recognized Grandmother Rita’s spiritual being and healing powers.
When she was a young child, Grandmother Rita had diphtheria for two years and could barely breathe. All she could do was listen. By age 9, she was already receiving visions and was working as a healer. In a recent vision, she saw people looking up at the sky in terror. It turned out to be 9-11.
Rita’s grandmothers stressed that school is important, but more important was learning about oneself. From a young age, Yupik youth are taught that when they think of something, they also need to feel it. And when they feel something, they also need to think about it. “It is essential to allow yourself to know what you know, instead of driving yourself to be,” she believes. “When there is so much striving to be and become, we don’t often recognize what it is we really want when it’s right there in front of us.”
School helped balance Grandmother Rita between two worlds. Yupik people struggled with U.S. policies that ended the tribe’sfishing and hunting rightsand forced their children to attend schools outlawing tribal languages and traditions. “I caught the tail end of the old ways,” said Grandmother Rita. She believes her name, ” Tail End Clearing of the Pathway to the Light” reflects her mission to heal. “Theceremonies,the Potlach are old ways. I can see now, today, that all that happened back then was for this purpose, for this life we are living today. It was for my work now. The ceremonies were about what all our ancestors were doing for the future, for future use. We just didn’t know back then that meant today.”
Grandmother Rita was married happily and peacefully to a Jewish man for over 40 years. During those years, they had six children but five died. Today their living daughter jokingly calls herself a “Jeweskimo.”
In 1995, Grandmother Rita learned she had cancer. The cancer helped Rita recognize her lifetime of anger and sadness from not having a father. She knew she had to heal at the deepest levels. “Emotions become physical, and the physical becomes emotional. Healing is about peeling,” she says. “God said there is only abundance, and the only way through is to forgive. Holding on to negative emotions becomes caner or another illness. Our healing is not just for ourselves, it is for the universe. We forget who we are, and that is the cause of our illness.”
Today Grandmother Rita Blumenstein is a tribal doctor for the South Central Foundation. She uses plant and energy medicine to heal along with the wisdoms learned from her own grandmothers. “I really still don’t know what it is I do, and I don’t know after what I did,” she explains. “The secret is that I don’t know anything. I am your friend, I am not sick, not sad, not angry. But what about you?”
Grandmother Rita is also teaching her teen-age granddaughter — who “talks to Mother Earth” — to be a healerand carry on the traditions. She tells her granddaughter that the whole universe is for everyone’s use. Nothing is to be owned, only shared. “We are all here for the universe … Everything changes except the land we live on, and when that changes, we must accept it …When Mother Nature shows us she’s angry, that changes all of us. My Grandmother taught me long ago that you become a human being when you learn to accept., when you learn to let go. We are here for the universe.”
Inviting the grandmothers to come visit her in Alaska , Grandmother Rita said,” When people think of Alaska, they go, ‘Brrr.’ But I say, when you have a cold heart, that’s when you’re cold. When you have a warm heart, that’s when you are warm. Come to Alaska, and we’ll warm you up!”
Phil Lane Jr. is an enrolled member of the Yankton Dakota and Chickasaw First. National Indian Magazine named Phil named a Modern Indian Sports Great for his record-breaking accomplishments in track and wrestling in 1977. For 44 years, he has worked with Indigenous peoples in North, Central and South America, Micronesia, South East Asia, India, Hawaii, and Africa. For 16 years he taught at the University of Lethbridge, in Alberta, Canada. With elders from across North America, Phil co-founded the Four Worlds International Institute (FWII) in 1982.
Today he chairs the Four Directions International, an indigenous-owned economic development company incorporated in 1996, focusing on the importance of culture and spirituality in development. Phil is an award-winning author and film producer, whose credits include “Images of Indians, “Walking With Grandfather,” and “Healing the Hurts.” He has been honored by Indigenous elders as Hereditary Chief through a traditional headdress ceremony. He was the first indigenous person to receive the Windstar Award, and has been honored by the Foundation for Freedom and Human Rights, in Switzerland, and the Center for Healing Racism in Houston.
The Quinault Indian Nation and the Quinault Canoe Society will proudly host the Paddle to Quinault 2013 during the dates of August 1st-6th, 2013.
Back in 1989, Emmit Oliver, a Quinault Tribal elder organized the “Paddle to Seattle” as a part of Washington State Centennial Ceremony revitalizing a tradition that was lost for many years, and that is canoeing. We now know this as the Canoe Journey. The Canoe Journey has become symbol of cultural revitalization on a national level; we can expect anywhere from 90 US tribes, Canadian First Nations, and New Zealand to join the celebration.
The Canoe Journey creates opportunities for tribal members to re-learn, strengthen and reinforce their canoe traditions. There are many cultural values that are learned from the canoeing some include: pride, cultural knowledge, learning how to paddle, respect, and sense of achievement.
Next Regional skippers meeting: June 15th 1pm at wexliem building, Lummi Nation
Surf Training: June 30th 12:00 noon Pt. Grenville Taholah, Wa.
“The Crown holds legally binding obligations under international law to recognize and promote the fundamental rights of all human-beings, including the economic, social, cultural, civil, political and religious rights of all Sinixt peoples regardless of the Canadian laws that exist such as the Indian Act,” said Sinixt Nation Headman Vance Robert “Bob” Campbell Sr..
World Peace and Prayer Day
June 20 -23, 2013
Live Oak Campground Santa Ynez
HONORING SACRED SITES/WORLD PEACE & PRAYER DAY (WPPD)TO BE HELD ON CHUMASH LAND
Chief Arvol Looking Horse –Spiritual Leader for the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota Sioux Nations invites all to join him in an annual international interfaith gathering. There is also a continued prayer in their homelands, while he gathers June 20 – 23 in ancestral Chumash territory, at Live Oak Camp in the Santa Ynez Valley. The public is invited to attend, free of charge, for all or part of the four-day gathering.
Chief Looking Horse is the 19th Generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe, who is committed to helping “All Nations, All Faiths, One Prayer” to fulfill the joining of nations in pursuit of peace through the honoring of sacred sites. He began the WPPD gathering in 1996 to help the healing of Mother Earth, after the birth of a white buffalo calf indicated a time of global crisis – according to Lakota prophesy. It has been held every year since, on June 21. WPPD is hosted in places of continued need of environmental protection. Now in its 18th year in collaboration with local people and spiritual leaders of all faiths, who are responding to the attention of the importance of Mother Earth and her sacred sites. It began as a prayer held in the four directions of Turtle Island. Beginning in the Black Hills, a.k.a “Heart Of Everything That Is” and grew to be held on every continent that continues today.
On Thursday June 20th a sacred fire will be lit and kept alive for four days. We understand the sacred fire is Universal to all Cultures. Invited speakers and First Nations People will speak about the environmental issues and the importance of protecting sacred sites. Earth Education and art making for children and adults will include puppet making and an ephemeral art piece that will cumulate in a closing message from the children. A full listing of each day’s events can be found at http://www.worldpeaceandprayerday.com
WPPD is organized every year by volunteers and funded entirely by donations. Contributions can be made by visiting: http://www.worldpeaceandprayerday.com
Valerie Segrest is an enrolled member of the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe and works as the Community Nutritionist and Native Foods Educator for the Northwest Indian College’s Cooperative Extension Department. As an independent, creative and outspoken American Indian woman, she has developed a new perspective in addressing issues of health and social justice for indigenous peoples. Her goal is to restore health and well being to her tribe and other Native communities by combining traditional Native food and plant knowledge with modern scientific findings. While studying to be a clinical nutritionist, Valerie began to deepen her awareness and knowledge of the gifts of her Native ancestors. She became less interested in talking about calorie counting, carbohydrates, and protein intake and more driven to get people connected with the source of their foods. Now, Valerie is committed to creating culturally appropriate health systems in tribal communities and exemplifies dedication to tribal wellness through community-based research that impacts health disparities. In 2009, she co-authored the book “Feeding the People, Feeding the Spirit: Revitalizing Northwest Coastal Indian Food Culture” which has become a tribute to the movement among tribal people in Western Washington to improve individual, family and community wellness through revitalizing their traditional foods. From this book, Valerie has developed a basic nutrition curriculum entitled “Honor the Gift of Food” that empowers students to develop their own healthy eating behaviors through sharing modern approaches to a traditional foods diet. She also creates and designs community gardens as well as researches and writes a monthly column for her blog and community newspaper on local and wild foods of the Pacific Northwest. In years to come, Valerie will work as the coordinator of the Muckleshoot Food Sovereignty Project to collectively develop innovative and effective ways to build community food security through exploring tribal food assets and access to local and healthy foods.
Ben is a Oglala Lakota traditional Sioux man- a servant to the people, an artist, warrior, husband, son, brother, and friend. Ben lives in Olympia, Washington with his wife Charlie, and their two pets. After four years of close friendship, and three years of dating, Ben and Charlie joined in marriage this past September, feasting with their community, and sharing their deep love. Ben works at the Olympia Food Co-op, and appreciates food politics, and building community. He aims to live his life in a spiritual way, and always takes the time to help another.
Welcome! It is an honor to contribute and give another voice to the “The First Peoples” of our world.
Make No Bones About It. * KAOS 89.3 FM
Sundays 4pm to 6 pm with your Host, Raven Redbone.Visit KAOS 89.3 FM @ www.kaosradio.org!
Make No Bones About It
Make No Bones About It- Sound Cloud
World Peace and Prayer Day 2013
Encouraging Words from our Elders
"I appreciate your work in giving voice to our peoples. Blessings to you." Grandmother Mona Polacca
Quote of the Month
Yes, our life energy must be a gift for our future. Your life, my life, everybody’s life must follow your given path. So pray or meditate. Follow your inner path and learn just how powerful you are and learn that you are a leader for your people, your family, your children, and the Mother Earth.
-Chief Arvol Looking Horse, Lakota
Grandmother Rita’s family lived in 
Make No Bones About It 