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Sculptor Tim Washburn Best of Show at inaugural Diné College Native American Art Market

Sculptor Tim Washburn Best of Show at inaugural Diné College Native American Art Market

TSAILE, AZ — Diné College celebrated its inaugural Native American Art Market June 9-11, a three-day event that featured the artistic works of approximately 43 pre-selected artists and musicians from the Navajo Nation and the wider Four Corners region.

The market, held at the heart of the Diné College campus, showcased a diverse range of Native artists, including experts in silverwork, basketry, textiles, moccasin-making, painting, pottery, woodwork, and sculpture.

The event aimed to highlight Diné College’s commitment to Native art and establish the College as a focal point for generations of Navajo artists in the region. With its resounding success, the market is set to become an annual tradition open to artists from all tribes.

In contrast to larger markets like the Southwest Association for Indian Arts Market in Santa Fe and the Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market in Phoenix, the Diné College event offered a unique opportunity for visitors and artists of all ages to reconnect with their roots and engage in art transactions within a serene educational setting.

Diné College, nestled amidst a dramatic landscape, proved to be an inspirational center for many Native artists, fueling their creative vision and fostering a sense of community.

The Native American Art Market kicked off with a juried competition at the Ned Hatathli Museum, where local artists, college professors, and collectors evaluated the artworks on display. On the evening of June 9, a public reception honored the winners, who received hand-made sash ribbons adorned with silver Diné College pendants.

Crafted by Aaron Begay and Delia Wanueka, alumni from the Navajo Cultural Arts Program at the College, these one-of-a-kind award ribbons added a touch of distinction to the event.

The market’s success was made possible through the support of the Navajo Cultural Arts Program at Diné College, the College President’s Office, and an anonymous donor. The event was organized by Crystal Littleben, Program Manager of the Navajo Cultural Arts Program, and Nonabah Sam, adjunct faculty at the School of Arts & Humanities and museum curator at Diné College.

The highlight of the event was the announcement of the Best of Show winner, Tim Washburn, a renowned sculptor from Kirtland, New Mexico. Washburn, a member of the Diné tribe, is celebrated for his lifelike depictions of traditional Navajo warriors, mothers, children, and grandparents in stone and bronze.

His winning sculpture, titled “Looking Forward and Holding to Our Traditions,” depicted a Navajo grandmother in traditional attire alongside her young granddaughter, who carried a rag doll in one hand and a cell phone in the other. Washburn expressed his delight in being part of the Diné College Native American Art Market, praising the talent of the participating artists and stating, “This is Navajo country. The show can only move forward.”

In addition to Washburn, several other artists received first prizes and honorable mentions in their respective categories. Jennifer Curtis won in the Jewelry and Lapidary category, Myron Denetclaw excelled in 2-Dimensional Art, Penny Singer impressed with Weaving and Textiles, Darius M. Charley showcased expertise in Diverse Art Forms, and Leander Goldtooth’s Basketry stood out. The Honorable Mentions went to Cheyenne Grabiec (Jewelry and Lapidary), Bob Lansing (Pottery), Antoinette A. Thompson (2-Dimensional Art), Duwayne Chee, Sr. (Sculpture), Deborah Teller-Tsosie (Weaving and Textiles), Rain.

California tribe gifts Sundance Institute with $4 mil for Indigenous program

California tribe gifts Sundance Institute with $4 mil for Indigenous program

Native News Online

CALIFORNIA – The nonprofit Sundance Institute has been given a $4 million endowment gift from the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria — the largest such endowment gift in the organization’s history.

The money will support the Institute’s Indigenous Program, which offers labs, fellowships, screenings, and gatherings around the world for Native storytellers and filmmakers, per a Sundance Institute statement. In particular, this new endowment gift will support a new fellowship for emerging and mid-career Indigenous artists with projects in development or production.

New fellows will receive grants of $25,000 each, yearlong creative mentorship from Indigenous Program staff, networking opportunities, and attendance at the Sundance Film Festival. Applicants for the fellowship must be from a Native tribe within California, though the press release does not specify if that designation includes both state and federally-recognized tribes. For a more global effort, the money will also support scholarships through Sundance Collab, a digital learning space.

Grafton Rancheria chairman Greg Sarris, himself an alumnus of the Sundance Institute’s Screenwriters’ Lab in 1992, said his firsthand experience with the organization’s support for Native stories led him to organize the endowment award.

“We are excited to see the creative breakthroughs from future fellows and scholarship recipients,” Sarris said in a statement. “Supporting and nurturing these artists will open up pathways to success for the entire California Indigenous creative community and enable us to tell our stories.”

Adam Piron, Director of Sundance Institute’s Indigenous Program, called the Graton Rancheria fellowship contribution a “generous gift” and said the money would amplify Native storytellers’ voices in California, a long-time bastion of the entertainment industry.

“So much of cinema’s history and the establishment of the American film industry has been created within California, but very rarely has it ever included the people on whose very land sustained it,” Piron said in a statement. “The ripple effect of the opportunities created through this endowment will be significant. Our program is dedicated to empowering a broad range of Indigenous voices, and we’re so excited to be able to expand our mission, specifically to California Indigenous tribes, with the addition of the fellowship and Collab scholarships.”

Sundance CEO Joana Vicente echoed the sentiment, calling the Grafton Rancheria endowment award an opportunity to strengthen and expand the Institute’s indigenous support.

“It means a lot to us that so many Native talents will be provided a space to learn, connect, and create thanks to this substantial support, and we’re especially appreciative of Greg for giving back to the Sundance family he has belonged to for decades,” Vicente said in a statement.

Applications for both the fellowship and Sundance Collab scholarships are available online here. Applications are due by August 28, and awards will be distributed early next year, per the Sundance Institute statement.

Pathway to Reconciliation mural project brings colour to downtown Regina

Pathway to Reconciliation mural project brings colour to downtown Regina

Marion Donnelly is excited to unveil the Pathway to Reconciliation.

“It’s just an incredible opportunity for us to do a visual representation of what does reconciliation mean, not to Indigenous people, but to all people. We are all treaty people. We all have a responsibility to be part of the efforts of reconciliation, to make sure that everybody.Is working together,” said Donnelly.

The project — a 2.4-metre-wide mural/foot path at the F.W. Hill Mall on the 1800 block of Scarth Street in Regina — is a collaboration between Creative City Centre and the Regina Downtown Business Improvement District.

Artists started on the mural on June 1 so that it would be completed in time for National Indigenous People’s Day on June 21, when an opening ceremony will be incorporated in the day’s events at Victoria Park.

With the help of volunteers the project will be completed
Volunteers work on the Pathway to Reconciliation mural project in Regina. (Submitted by Regina Downtown Business Improvement District)

Donnelly, the founder of the Creative City Centre, said she was happy to partner on this project as the centre has always been interested in engaging the public in art downtown.

Once Donnelly heard it was going to be on Scarth Street, she knew it had to be a reconciliation project involving Indigenous artists, Elders and cultural advisors to make sure it was done properly.

“We will be putting up signage that explains what the significance is of the work that is being done. You know there are going to be flower motifs, they’re going to be bones. There’s going to be things that have cultural significance to Indigenous culture,” said Donnelly.

Two lead Indigenous artists designed and directed the project, with many volunteers helping paint and stencil the path.

Brandy Jones is one of the lead artists. She is an Inuvialuit and Gwitch’in artist from Williams Lake, B.C., but moved to Regina when she was 12 years old.

One of the lead artist to design and direct the project.
Brandy Jones is an Inuvialuit and Gwitch’in artist originally from Williams Lake, B.C. (Submitted by the Regina Downtown Business Improvement District)

Jones’s work is a mixture of native arts, with bright colours representing every Indigenous nation. She said she is excited to be a part of a project that has her working in the community.

“I absolutely love it because I always say my job is 80 per cent about community and 20 per cent about the art. So any time that I can be out in my community and just making those connections and relationships with people is the best day for me,” said Jones while taking a break from painting the mural.

One of the lead Artist on the mural Project
Geanna Dunbar is a Cree-Métis multi-disciplinary artist from Regina. (Louise BigEagle/CBC)

Geanna Dunbar, a Cree-Métis multi-disciplinary artist from Regina, is the second lead artist.

Dunbar’s work includes spoken word and body modification, including body piercing, skin branding, and tattooing using both modern techniques and traditional practices like Plains Cree skin stitching.

Jones and Dunbar decided to use beadwork as a visual motif for the piece, because it would allow them to represent different nations.

They mapped it out row by row, made chalk outlines and then, with the help of volunteers, started painting. Dunbar estimated that the final piece would feature hundreds of rows and thousands of paints “beads.”

“It’s going to be a very large project. I just want to see people be excited. I want to see people interact. I want to see people have conversations during it,” said Dunbar.

The project had a call out for volunteers to help with the mural.
The mural will be complete in time for National Indigenous People’s Day on June 21. (Submitted by the Regina Downtown Business Improvement District)

Signs along the fence surrounding the project as the work was underway explained what was going on and who the artists are, to spark conversations about the mural.

Elder Brenda Dubois was also at the site. She smudged before each day to set good intentions for the mural and bring her cultural knowledge to the project.

Everyone is welcome to the opening ceremony for the mural on June 21, during the annual National Indigenous People’s Day Celebrations.

Tribal artists, leaders want update to law to protect Native arts, crafts

Tribal artists, leaders want update to law to protect Native arts, crafts

Choctaw artist D.G. Smalling, with some of the art he created to honor the Delaware Nation, said it’s time to update the 30-year-old federal law aimed at protecting Native art and crafts. (Photo courtesy the Delaware Nation)

WASHINGTON – Native American artists say they continue to struggle with the theft of their work, and tribal leaders are urging Congress to strengthen the Indian Arts and Crafts Act.

IACA was passed in 1990 to prohibit any advertisement and all sales of counterfeit Indian arts and crafts. Choctaw Nation artist D.G. Smalling says the act must adapt to the new ways of buying and selling art through online sales.

“We have just a very different kind of engagement with intellectual property now,” Smalling said. “This is why my principal attorney is an expert in intellectual property. It is to defend what I create and to defend what is mine.”

Cherokee Nation Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. urged Congress to strengthen the IACA during the Cherokee Days in Washington, D.C., this spring. He is working with members of Congress on a proposed the Amendments to Respect Traditional Indigenous Skill and Talent – or ARTIST – Act of 2023.

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“We haven’t engaged the delegation just yet,” Hoskin said. “We will be setting up some opportunities to visit with them. The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs is where this matter sits at the moment. The chair of that committee is Chairman (Brian) Schatz of Hawaii and he and ranking member Sen. (Lisa) Murkowski have asked for input on the ARTIST Act, so that is the particular forum through which we are channeling our advocacy.”

The proposed legislation would increase and expand protections on Indian arts and crafts, as well as enforce stricter punishments for those who are selling or making counterfeit goods which could lead to being arrested for the crimes. These counterfeit items are often recreated by non-Indian artists or printed off and seen on portraits, shirts, mugs, online shops and many other places throughout the world.

“The law must be changed in order to protect actual Cherokee artists, artisans, and craftspeople – those who are citizens of one of the three federally-recognized Cherokee tribes – and ensure their arts and crafts are the only works permitted to be presented as Cherokee,” Hoskin wrote in a March 29 letter to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee.

Smalling is supportive of Hoskin and other tribal leaders as they push for change.

“They are asking that the law and the act can be adapted for our time and we need to cover all things that are digital, all things that are traditional and analog and we need to have a much more robust set of laws that can then be used to act against those who are chronic violators who profit off of theft,” Smalling said.

“I stand 100% with Chief Hoskin and the other tribal leaders who are seeking to defend our right to our own identity on our own terms.”

Cronkite News is partnering with Gaylord News, a reporting project of the University of Oklahoma Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communications, to expand coverage of Indigenous communities.

An Indigenous MFA Program Moves Beyond “Mastery”

An Indigenous MFA Program Moves Beyond “Mastery”

SANTA FE — “What is most exciting about the exhibition is the experimentation that each graduate student took on,” says Dakota Mace, who is an Artist Mentor at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA). Beyond Mastery, continuing through June 30, features work by the inaugural Master of Fine Arts in Studio Arts (MFASA) cohort at the IAIA, exhibited off campus at the Coe Center and the Container gallery. Mace called this exhibition the first of its kind because it challenges Western colonial approaches to art-making, education, and its hierarchical structure. Many of these artists produced work on different scales and using mediums they had not considered previously. The program’s Indigenous pedagogical aims and methods allowed each artist to push their conceptual practice beyond, resulting in a stunning and thought-provoking show.

Beyond Mastery collaboratively interrogates the idea of gaining “mastery” and an MFA from an Indigenous perspective. This two-year program, “provides a professional degree in Studio Arts while allowing students to live at home and continue participating in work, family, and community,” and includes intensive summer and winter residencies on the IAIA campus in Santa Fe. Director Dr. Mario A. Caro states that the program centers mentorship, supporting individualized study plans and art practices, along with expanding community relations. Because of this Indigenous pedagogical framework and mission, the Artist Mentors enthusiastically signed on to participate, while maintaining their own practices and careers in their communities. Artist Mentor Tanya Lukin Linklater shared, “In my experience and understanding of Indigenous practices, we are continuously learning over our lifetimes.” Centering an Indigenous lifelong perspective provides space to take risks and produce innovative thesis work. 

“Where else can you say all your mentors are Indigenous?” asks artist and graduate student Margarita Paz-Pedro. Many students applied to IAIA because of this radical and unique representation within academia and arts institutions. Even with all Indigenous mentors, though, it is essential to highlight the diversity of their tribal affiliations, histories, homelands, and interdisciplinary art practices and methods. Student Carmen Selam shared, “What I love about IAIA is that you don’t have to do the whole ‘Indigenous 101,’ because there’s already a context for Indigeneity, so you’re able to really focus on the work and growth.” Many of the artists came into the MFA program with decades of experience and developed practices, yet every artist undertook a new interdisciplinary work.

Madelynn Boyiddle-Schoel, “From the Ashes” (2023), sculptural triptych, hand-processed earthenware, modpodge, red tissue paper, strawberry meat and juice, blueberry meat and juice

Dr. Caro notes, “The first year is all experimental; we try to break people out of their discipline […] and encourage them to play, make mistakes … [and] grow as artists.” Academic disciplines usually function as a system of rules within a field, but at IAIA there’s a commitment to foster unstructured creative inquiry. Pulitzer Prize recipient and Artist Mentor Raven Chacon wants students to know, “It’s okay to make things that you don’t know exactly the outcome. And you may fail. Because that is what an experiment is.” Many students identify the mistakes, along with creative explorations, as part of the growth process; this approach provides the possibility for transformation beyond one’s practice. For instance, Shane Hendren entered the program with more than 30 years of experience as a metalsmith and jewelry maker, but during his first year, he turned his attention to filmmaking, working with Artist Mentors like Chacon and Anna Hoover. Hendren’s films document intergenerational historical, personal, and environmental storytelling. “Matanza” presents a pig butchering to honor the life of Larry Ortiz while contextualizing Genízaros, descendants of Native American captives, in New Mexico. Collaborating with his family and Navajo community, the films “Grandma Said” and “Grandma Says Diné” impart knowledge exchanged through oral and active listening, while “Sunup to Sundown” is a montage film of his meditative practice of watching sunrises and sunsets and is projected in a round stock tank filled with water. 

At the Coe Center, all the artists utilize innovative installation techniques. Margarita Paz-Pedro shifted from production pottery to a multidisciplinary conceptual practice. “Parts of the Whole” is a large installation that interrogates how knowledge is produced and shared through history, land, structures, and relationships. Traditional pottery designs are painted directly on walls as monumental murals and adobe bricks that serve as abodes or habitats for her ceramic pottery, and shards. 

Dominick Porras said that working with Artist Mentor Jackson Polys helped form his concept of “memory deposits,” or individual/community cultural story building (i.e., dreams, mythologies, lived experience), as valid forms of research. Porras’s interactive installation work, “p’Akenmamm,” includes a large-scale net that hangs from the ceiling, inviting the public to interact with and touch it, which triggers a video projection of fish. His films “Culture Confidential: Talking Stones” and “Simulation: Voladores” employ digital 3D sculpting/animation and investigate Mesoamerican cosmovision/cosmology and environmental consciousness. Interdisciplinary artist Nika Feldman is interested in making visible the unseen exploitation of land labor in textile and fashion production. Her haunting hanging installation of white t-shirts, titled “Kriah and the Hungry Ghosts,” explores Jewish tradition, in which holes are cut in clothing, to illustrate grief/grieving. “Footnotes of Atrocity” is another part of a larger trilogy, titled Unmaking a Coded Call, and all these works explore her concepts of sartorial sabotage, schmatte prowess, and feminist chutzpah. 

Margarita Paz-Pedro, “Parts of the Whole” (2023), installation of porcelain clay, adobe, mural, dimensions variable

Carmen Selam’s interdisciplinary installation “Switch Dance” flows in a circular movement, much like powwow or dance, and welcomes the public to engage with that flow. She offers “new mourning protocols,” emerging from lived experience. They include large photographs and videos, along with seed bead buckskin bags — “23 Tamish” and “The Black Pearl.” As a Queer Indigenous past pageant queen who grew up on the reservation, she’s reevaluated her visibility and positionality in the arts, which she defines as “revolutionary,” and continues to highlight with her work.

Joseph (wahalatsu) Seymour, Jr., whose work is on display at the Container Gallery, states, “I work with whatever medium I can to preserve Coast Salish culture […] and mentors like Sara Siestreem took me to task on moving beyond a static image.” Because his traditional language’s alphabet is only about 50 years old, Seymour explained how important it was to include the language in his image making, as in “Enjoy Beautiful bastiqiyu.” In his paper weavings, like “Mesa in the Valley,” he deconstructs two archival documents and weaves a new image representing Salish agency. Angélica M. Garcia’s installation “El Altar Olvidado” includes some of her ventures in paper-making, sound, and film. Her work centers her maternal grandmother, Teofila Peña, who died on a coffee plantation in El Salvador. She intertwines personal histories with the violent realities and impacts of global capitalism. On opening night, Garcia performed a live serenade offrenda, or offering, which further activated the altar space. 

Another artist working with paper, Susanna Mireles-Mankus expanded her painting practice by exploring larger-scale works incorporating text and bookmaking. She looks at the materiality of seeds and their symbolic cyclical potentiality. “Memories of Heat” is an accordion book incorporating watercolor, photo collage, ink, and poetics from her dreams and lived experience. The work journeys through land, dreamscapes, and potential futures. 

Nika Feldman, “Kriah and the Hungry Ghosts” (2023), secondhand t-shirts, string, starch, 30 pieces, 36 x 20 x 20 inches each

Madelynn Boyiddle-Schoel, aka Madboy, placed her work outside the gallery space at Container. “Whole Bison Mindset” is a sculpture of an ear made from a butterfly chair frame, wire fence, packing foam, and other repurposed materials. Boyiddle-Schoel credits her environmental research findings and program mentors like Sara Siestreem for prompting her to “educate the already established educators,” with diverse methods of making rooted in sustainable arts pedagogical practice. Her art production has inspired her daughter to recycle and reimagine what kinds of things can be considered art supplies.  

This cohort of students pursued their education and art practice during the pre-vaccine COVID-19 pandemic and completed their first year completely online. During their first semester, the cohort tragically lost their friend and colleague DeAnna Autumn Leaf Suazo. At their hooding graduation, her family was given an honorary certificate of recognition and a scholarship was established in her memory. 

Beyond Mastery showcases the powerful creative openness of “continuous learning” in IAIA’s first MFASA cohort. Much of the public discourse around Indigenous traditions and history sets up stereotyped expectations of “Native art.” This exhibition instead illustrates how the IAIA is liberating and expanding truly beyond those expectations in and out of the art community. 

Angelica M. Garcia, “Altar Olvidado (The Forgotten Altar)” (2023), digital print on canvas, wood frame, burlap coffee sack
Shane Hendren, left to right: “Grandma Said” (2022), video, 4:11 mins., “Sunup to Sundown” (2023), video and stock tank, 6:42 mins., “Matanza” (2022), video, 16:04 mins.
Susanna Mireles-Mankus, “Memories in the Heat” (2022), accordion book, watercolor, photo collage, and India ink, 15 x 35 1/2 inches
Dominick Porras, “p’Akenmam” (2023), projection, interactive nets, nylon cordage, camera sensor, touch designer application, dimensions variable
Joseph Seymour Jr., “The Mesa in the Valley” (2022), paper

Talk to the Trib: Juneteenth and hip-hop

Talk to the Trib: Juneteenth and hip-hop

The University of Pittsburgh and 1Hood Media, collaborated to host “This Thing We Call Hip-Hop,” an event celebrating Juneteenth and the 50th anniversary of the emergence of the popular music genre.

The Friday event included music, trivia, and a panel discussion with Pittsburgh native artists including Fedd The God and Hardo.

Five event facilitators sat down with us on video to discuss the event, Juneteenth, and the intersections of history, culture, and music.

  • Chance Wideman, director of equity and Inclusion programs at Pitt
  • Chantel Peterson, panel moderator
  • Farooq Al-Said, director of operations at 1Hood Media.
  • Miracle Jones, director of policy and advocacy at 1Hood Media
  • Cameron Herman, Asst. professor, at Buffalo State University

Watch what they have to say in our new video feature: Talk to the Trib.

Zachary Gibson is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Zachary by email at zgibson@triblive.com or via Twitter .

As Alaska tourism rebounds, state and federal officials crack down on fake Alaska Native art

As Alaska tourism rebounds, state and federal officials crack down on fake Alaska Native art

A Ketchikan man agreed to plead guilty this month to federal charges in conjunction with a long-running scheme to sell fake Alaska Native souvenirs manufactured in the Philippines.

Travis Lee Macaset’s plea deal follows several other guilty pleas this summer that stem from a scheme to sell mislabeled products from two businesses in Ketchikan. 

“It occurs more often than we would like,” said Jack Schmidt, the assistant U.S. Attorney who prosecuted the cases.

With tourism rebounding from the COVID-19 pandemic, so is the market for souvenirs. In the shops along the Southeast Alaska waterfront, authentic Alaska-made items sell for many times the cost of mass-manufactured ones created overseas, and the threat of fake products appears to be growing.

“The temptation is always there,” Schmidt said.

In the United States, souvenirs sold as authentic products of tribes or tribal members and identified as coming from American Indians and Alaska Natives are specifically protected under the federal Indian Arts and Crafts Act.

That law makes it illegal to market and sell artwork falsely labeled as created by an Alaska Native or a Native tribe. The act is enforced by the federal Indian Arts and Crafts Board, which collects complaints and investigates violations.

Breaking that law might seem like a minor crime, said attorney Jacob Adams, but the long-term consequences are large.

“Allowing non-genuine products like that to be out there in the market, and essentially take over a lot of areas, it makes the environment that much more difficult for Indigenous craftspeople to live off of their culture, and that causes many follow-on effects,” Adams said.

“If people are unable to make use of their culture, to live off their culture … then it disincentivizes upcoming generations to pick up those crafts,” he said.

Three years ago, Adams represented Sealaska Heritage Institute, a Southeast Alaska Native cultural group, and several other plaintiffs in a lawsuit against Neiman Marcus, the luxury retailer. At the time, Neiman Marcus was selling a “Ravenstail” coat that the plaintiffs said was the copyrighted work of a Native weaver.

The parties later settled the suit with an undisclosed agreement.

Statistics for the scale of the problem are hard to come by, Adams and others said.

In 2011, the federal Government Accountability Office concluded that it was impossible to gauge the size of the illegal market with available data but noted that of 649 complaints filed with the Indian Arts and Crafts Board between 2006 and 2010, almost a quarter involved apparent violations of federal law.

Anecdotally, officials and artists pointed to the number of prosecutions and actions against the sellers of fake products as a demonstration of both the problem and actions being taken to combat it via the Indian Arts and Crafts Act.

“To a great extent, for the most part, we’re seeing more of its use both in the private and the criminal side in recent years, in the past decade or so,” Adams said, referring to the law.

This spring, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Seattle prosecuted a man who sold fake American Indian and Alaska Native artwork at Pike’s Place Market.

Two years ago, the attorney’s office in Alaska prosecuted the former owner of the Arctic Treasures gift shop in Anchorage. Seven years ago, four shops were charged by federal prosecutors.

Fines for violations of the Indian Arts and Crafts Act are common, but jail time remains rare, Tribal Business News reported in 2021.

The arts board operates a special investigations unit, Schmidt said, with one investigator based out of Juneau and another out of Anchorage.

“There’s a lot of potential for fraud out there,” Schmidt said.

The state of Alaska also investigates complaints via its consumer protection unit and in 2022 filed a civil lawsuit against the owners of an Anchorage business, accusing them of shipping Alaska-bought bones and antlers to the Philippines before turning them into knives and other products there.

At the start of this year’s tourist season, the Department of Law sent a warning letter to 44 tourism businesses, warning them not to remove foreign country markings from souvenirs.

“In the past, CPU has received information indicating that some businesses serving the tourist market may be removing foreign country of origin markings from products, which confuses or misleads consumers into believing that the products were made in Alaska,” the letter said in part.

Patty Sullivan, an attorney and spokesperson for the department, said that the letters weren’t intended to target particular businesses and aren’t a sign that the state believes those businesses are doing something wrong.

“These are stores that we believe serve the tourist market. There have been allegations that this conduct is happening in stores that serve the tourist market. We may send a second round of letters to additional shops in the future,” she said.

Adams said the issue is worth continued attention.

“Many people would think this discussion is trivial, but it’s actually essential to the identity of Indigenous groups,” Adams said.

“If we are going to support not only the Indigenous people but also celebrate the idea of diversity, we have to protect and secure these types of valuable pieces of identity,” he said.

HOW TO BUY SMART

Here are some tips recommended by the state of Alaska and the Indian Arts and Crafts Board if you’re looking to make sure that you’re buying something authentic:

  • Shop at stores with good reputations, those linked to tribes or tribal groups, and ask for a written guarantee or written verification that what you’re buying has been made by an Alaska Native.
  • If possible, get a receipt that includes all the information about the maker, the maker’s village or tribe, and where they’re from.
  • Look for a certification tag. The board and the Alaska State Council on the Arts’ “Silver Hand” program each offer a certification process that includes a label.
  • Go beyond “Made in Alaska.” Something can carry a “Made in Alaska” logo but be made by a non-Native. Instead, look for labels and explanations that something was made by a member of a particular tribe.
  • Price, materials and appearance are all clues. Authentic items will cost much more than mass-produced ones. If something is advertised as hand-carved but is right next to identical pieces, be skeptical. Something advertised as soapstone might actually be made of resin — real stone is cool to the touch, plastic is warm, and stone is heavier.
  • If you need to file a complaint, visit the Indian Arts and Crafts Board online or call 888-278-3253.

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Summer Is Social with Free Artist-Designed Events at the Walker Art Center

Summer Is Social with Free Artist-Designed Events at the Walker Art Center

DJ sets, poetry readings, art-making opportunities, and more:Summer Social is an event series that invites you to partake in artist-designed programs at the Walker Art Center. 

Co-created with over a dozen local artists and community partners, these weekly Free Thursday Night activities at the Walker extend beyond the museum walls and onto the hillside for summer evenings that are sure to delight and inspire, reminding us all how great it is to be together.

Summer Social features experiences such as James Beard Award–-winning chef Justin Sutherland cooking custom bites after an artist talk, a reading curated by All My Relations Arts’ Native Author Program (one of three poetry readings this summer), and inspired activities developed by numerous Filipinx community organizations. The series concludes with the annual Sounds for Silents program that combines live music and silent films for a one-of-a-kind concert from this year’s musician, Papa Mbye. 

Between the fresh air, free gallery admission, and refreshments available to order fromCardamom’s menu, there’s something for everyone at the Walker this summer! 

Explore the full lineup below or atwalkerart.org/summersocial.

Donte Collins performing at Green Roof Poetry: Queering Juneteenth, Curated by Free Black Dirt. Photo: Awa Mally. Courtesy Walker Art Center.

Green Roof Poetry: Curated by All My Relations Arts’ Native Author Program

June 22, 6 pm

Green Roof Poetry invites several of the Twin Cities’ most dynamic writers for an evening of readings on the Walker’s hillside. All My Relations Arts’ Native Authors Program will curate a lively lineup of writers and mentors.

Community Opening: Kahlil Robert Irving  

June 29, 6 pm

Celebrate Kahlil Robert Irving’s Archaeology of the Present exhibition with a dynamic conversation between the artist,creative consultant Jerald Cooper (@hoodmidcenturymodern), and writer and curator Antwaun Sargent. Following the talk, enjoy conversation and small bites by James Beard Award–winning Chef Justin Sutherland (Handsome Hog, Iron Chef winner, Top Chef alum).

What’s in Your Crate: Curated by Yasmeenah  

July 6, 6 pm

Multidisciplinary artist and DJ Yasmeenah invites local DJs to get to know each other through their respective music collections. She shares: “I’m looking forward to people getting to know some of the Twin Cities most exciting DJs in a more intimate way.” The artists will spin songs in response to questions and conversation. What song would they play if they were stuck on an island? What song is their favorite but doesn’t translate well on the dance floor? As the evening gives way to dusk, we’ll get to know these DJs and their relationship to music. 

Common Ground. The Art of Taking Over with the Four Story Collective. Photo: Carina Lofgren. Courtesy Walker Art Center.

To Green Roof Poetry: Homage to Hip Hop curated by Tish Jones  

July 13, 6 pm

Poet, narrative strategist, educator, and cultural producer Tish Jones has a deep and resounding love for Black people, arts and culture, youth development, and civic engagement. Join us for an evening celebrating 50 years of hip hop, from its signature beats to the community it fosters.

Place + Making: July 2023

July 20, 6 pm

Mutual care, history, interconnectedness, and resilience are but a few of the many things we can learn from plants and the places we are rooted within. Participate in plant tours throughout the evening and get creative with the artist-led artmaking station.

Buhay Na Buhay: Curated by the MN Filipinx Community

July 27, 5 pm

The hillside will be so alive – “Buhay Na Buhay” – as Filipinx community organizations come together to curate a night of inspiring activities. The event celebratesPacita Abad’s work and the rich community in Minnesota through performance, art, and togetherness. The Cultural Society of Filipino Americans, Filipinx for Immigrant Rights & Racial Justice Minnesota, and the Philippine Study Group of Minnesota are just a few of the organizations curating the evening.

The Cultural Society of Filipino Americans, CSFA Philippine Day 2022. Photo: Shari and Benjie Mahigab. Courtesy of the artists. 

Green Roof Poetry: Curated by Danez Smith

August 3, 6 pm

Award-winning poet, writer, and performer Danez Smith is the author of three poetry collections, including Homie and Don’t Call Us Dead. Bring your blanket and relax for an evening of fresh-air readings by writers Farah, Isha Camara, Arleta Little, and Tish Jones, as curated for what Smith is proclaiming “an Official Unofficial Birthday Reading” in celebration of their 34th birthday.

Place + Making: August 2023

August 10, 6 pm

Find inspiration in the natural world while exploring the native plants found around the Walker campus and the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. Participate in plant tours throughout the evening and get creative with the artist-led artmaking station.

Sound for Silents 2023: Film + Music on the Walker Hillside 

August 17, 7 pm

Annual favorite Sound for Silents pairs electrifying live music with films from the Walker’s Ruben/Bentson Moving Image Collection. The event features a newly commissioned score from musician and visual artist Papa Mbye and his collaborators, including Symbioscia and Zak Khan.

Arrive early for a DJ set by Diane Miller from The Current’s Local Show.

Green Roof Poetry, FAWK. Photo: Awa Mally. Courtesy Walker Art Center.

To learn more: Visit walkerart.org/summersocial. See all summer programming atwalkerart.org/summer

MORE SPONSORED CONTENT BY WALKER ART CENTER


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First US Deep-Water Arctic Port To Allow Large Cargo And Military Ships

First US Deep-Water Arctic Port To Allow Large Cargo And Military Ships

The cruise vessel with approximately 1,000 guests had anchored off Nome, too huge to squeeze into the tiny port of tundra city. Its tourists reportedly had to shimmy into significantly small boats for yet another ride to the shore.

It was 2016, and at the time, the cruise vessel Serenity was the greatest vessel to sail via the Northwest Passage.

However, as the ice of the Arctic Sea relents under the pressure of global warming and opens up the shipping lanes across the top of the world, many more tourists are venturing toward Nome — a northwest Alaska destination popular more for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and the 1898 gold rush compared to luxury travel.

Deep-Water Arctic port

Representation Image

The problem continues: There is no place to park the big boats. While smaller cruise vessels are capable of docking, officials mention that half of the dozen reaching this year will anchor offshore.

That is likely to transform into a $600 million+ expansion making Nome, with a population of 3,500, the nation’s first-ever deep-water Arctic port. The expansion, likely to be operational by the decade’s end, will be able to accommodate not larger cruise vessels of up to 4,000 guests but cargo vessels to deliver additional items for 60 Alaska Native villages in the region and military vessels to counter the presence of both Chinese and Russian vessels in the Arctic.

The prospect excites business owners and relevant officials in Nome. Still, it does concern others who are worried about the effect of additional tourists as well as vessel traffic on the environment and all the animals Alaska Natives are dependent on for subsistence.

The expansion aims to support the local economy and local and indigenous artists who have access to visitors and teach and share their culture and language and how they make beautiful art, stated Alice Bioff, an Inupiaq resident based in Nome.

Bioff, a tour guide, greeted the Serenity’s passengers as they returned in 2016. One of the guests admired her kuspuk, a traditional Alaska Native garment that she was wearing. A kuspuk is similar to a smock. The guest wanted to know if what she was wearing was water-resistant. It was not.

However, the interaction inspired Bioff to create her line of waterproof jackets similar to the kuspuks. She sells to locals and tourists alike from her Naataq Gear gift store, a retail spot in the post office building, where nearly 20 Alaska Native artists also offer beadwork, ivory carvings, or paintings via consignment.

Studies reflect that cruise ship passengers generally spend nearly $100 daily in Nome, Glenn Steckman, the city manager, said.

With the expansion, he has been hoping that guests on larger cruise vessels will extend their stay to experience more of the tundra and Nome, view its wild musk ox or sip a nice drink at its Board of Trade Saloon, which is 123 years old.

Climate change has made this possible.

Nome, discovered after gold had been found in 1898, has seen six of the ten warmest winters on record in this century alone. The Bering Strait shipping lanes have gotten busier since 2009.

On average, the Bering Sea ice typically reaches Nome around late November/December, two to three weeks later than it used to be 50 years ago, explained Rick Thoman, a climate expert associated with the International Arctic Research Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Back in 2019, mushers in the Iditarod, who typically drive dog teams on the Bering Sea ice to the finish line in Nome, were compelled onto the beach due to open water. The ice season tends to get shorter, Thoman mentioned.

The existing port causeway was executed in the mid-1980s. The expansion will likely be done in three phases and double its size. The first part is funded by $250 million in federal infrastructure money, with an additional $175 million from the Alaska Legislature. The fieldwork is also likely to begin in 2023.

Currently, three vessels can dock simultaneously; the expanded dock can accommodate seven to 10 such ships.

Employees will dredge a new basin that is 40 feet deep, permitting large cruise vessels, cargo vessels, and all U.S. military ships except only the aircraft carriers to dock, Joy Baker, the Port Director, informed.

The expanded port is expected to become the centrepiece of the strategic infrastructure of the U.S. in the Arctic. The military has been building up its resources in Alaska, strategically placing its fighter jets at bases in Fairbanks and Anchorage, setting up a brand new Army airborne division based in Alaska, training its soldiers for cold-weather conflicts, and has missile defence abilities.

The northern seas near Alaska are starting to get more crowded. A U.S. Coast Guard patrol board has faced seven Russian and Chinese naval vessels cooperating in an exercise in 2022 approximately 86 miles north of Kiska Island, Alaska.
In 2021, coast guard vessels encountered Chinese vessels almost 50 miles off Alaska’s Aleutian Islands.

Last year, Jens Stoltenberg, NATO’s Secretary General, warned that China and Russia have pledged to extend their cooperation in the Arctic. This strategic collaboration challenges its values as well as interests.

However, the prospect of Nome wanting to welcome more tourists and increased military presence bothers some residents. An Inupiaq native, Austin Ahmasuk, said that the port’s first construction had displaced an area conventionally used for fishing or subsistence hunting, and the expansion would not help.

References: ABC News, Military Times, stltoday

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