Video | IG Live Discussion Setting the Record Straight about LV and Pharrell

For this video, we welcome Lauren Good Day, Cece Meadows, and Jamie Okuma for a very interesting discussion about the cultural exchange that occurred between members of the Lakota and Dakota Nations with Louis Vuitton and Pharrell Williams. 

This discussion stems from misinformation that was spread by various Native American “influencers” and “news reporters" on social media.

And this begs the question - What is our responsibility to NOT spread misinformation? 

How do our decisions to spread lies and assumptions harm actual humans, their businesses, and their mental health? How do these actions affect or influence our youth and young adults. How can we do better moving forward? or are we just stuck in a world that feeds off of drama and lies? 

We need to talk more about our ethical obligations to be truthful, helpful, positive, and to disclose if/when you do not have the facts.

This video was a powerful one. We share a lot of information and education, we hit to the core of hard issues, but we also laugh - because we want to show how much fun and wonderful support and allyship can look like.

 

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Video | IG Live Discussion about Native Fashion and Some Challenges

Hi friends! 

Our second IG Live video features designers Angela LaRocque and Rebekah Jarvey, Native Max Magazine founder Kelly Camille Holmes, and dancer and huge supporter Niko DeRoin-Silva. 

We chat openly about a variety of topics, including challenges getting mainstream media coverage, the hard work that goes into putting together fashion shows, the importance of having a website, being market-ready, accountability, the uniqueness of Native American fashion, tokenism, active exclusion by the broader industries, why allies are so important, and more!

We are learning as we go, we are thinking out loud, we don't have the answers, but we enjoy the process of learning and hearing different perspectives.

So click the link below and listen along. PS: It is another 2 hour long discussion (we had a lot to say) so listen while you are working on an art project or on your daily commute. 

(PPS: We also had some random small tech glitches - again, this was our second live event and we are getting better with the tech I promise!)

 

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Video: IG Live Intro Discussion about Native Fashion

Hello friends and family!

I recently started hosting Instagram Live conversations with various folks in the Native arts, fashion, and business worlds. 
 

This first IG Live is unedited, with our honest thoughts, and include Jared Yazzie, Lara Evans, Adrienne Keene, Michelle Brown, Jeremy Arviso, and Carrie Wood.
 

So click the link below and listen along. PS: it is a 2 hour discussion (we had a lot to say) so listen in while you are working on a project or hitting your daily commute <3
 

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Rock Your Mocs | To Feel the Earth

In 2009, the School for Advanced Research hosted the first of three Moccasin Seminars. The moccasin documentation seminar brought together Navajo, Pueblo, and Apache moccasin makers to discuss the Indian Arts Research Center moccasin collection and learn from each other.

With the goal of sharing information and enhancing preservation, the moccasin makers came together to look at and discuss new and old techniques, changes and innovations in moccasin making, and the need to encourage a new generation of artists. 

Rematriate

It's time to rematriate! I was so excited when our featured artist, Autumn Dawn Gomez, created a t-shirt design for us that focused on the concept of rematriation. 

(PS: Typing rematriate is hella hard because autocorrect keeps wanting to change it to repatriate! Dirty bugger…)

First, a definition: “Rematriation is a powerful word that Indigenous women of Turtle Island use to describe how they are restoring balance to the world...it means ‘Returning the Sacred to the Mother."

Activism Through Fashion

Last month, my dear friends at the Institute of American Indian Arts asked me to record a guest lecture on the topic of Activism Through Fashion. I had a great time putting the video presentation together - falling down a BUNCH of rabbit holes and refreshing my thoughts on the power of fashion to communicate. 

It was for the course, "ARTH 306: Controversy in Native Arts," which explores the various issues facing contemporary Native American artists. The main focus is on identity, aesthetics, the marketplace, legal issues, and the role of the artist in light of social and tribal issues.