Indigenous Peoples’ Day
About the Project
Where: Seattle, WA
When: October 2020 and 2021
Connect: www.seattle.gov/canoes
yəhaw̓ worked with Seattle’s CANOES to commission poster designs by local Indigenous artists for their annual Indigenous Peoples’ Day Celebration. Printed posters were gifted to community and shared online.
CANOES - City of Seattle Native American Employees, is an association of Native American and Indigenous Nation employees of the City of Seattle and related supporters. CANOES exists to create an active network of informed and interested employees who wish to help guide the future growth of the Native American and Indigenous people, Community and other people of color.
CANOES encourages and promotes members to work with each other, learn from each other, develop new leadership skills together, and improve each members' capacity for growth. CANOES also raises, addresses and advances issues that are important to the Native American community within the City of Seattle and its surrounding communities.
2021 Posters - All My Relations
The theme in 2021 was ‘All My Relations’. CANOES, Seattle’s Department of Neighborhoods, and United Indians hosted two virtual events:
https://bit.ly/IndigenousPeoplesDaySeattle2021
https://www.unitedindians.org/events/indigenous-peoples-day/
Sean Gallagher
About the Artist
Sean Gallagher (Asuruk, Inupiaq) is a visual artist and traditional watercraft vessel builder who specializes in carving, two and three-dimensional art in using multiple mediums. His works are influenced by traditional teaching and current experiences with a reverence for the future. Themes include Environmental Justice, making visible endangered traditional works, and the experiences of essential workers including carvers and labor. Becoming a father inspires Sean's work through depictions of arctic animals in a way relatable to storytelling and the imagination. Although a lot of loss and hardships are currently being experienced, it is important that works engage youth and impacted communities to create safe spaces for them. Sean reduces barriers for others to access arts, with the understanding this is an important aspect of resilience, cultural revitalization, and equity.
About the Art
Umiak connects to the theme ‘All My Relations’ through depiction of people in harmony with each other and space. The paddles up represent safety and connection to the elements and all beings. The yellow horizon with the black mountains are the balance of day and night, actions with contemplation. The people are contrasted with red which shows life force and spiritual connection. The people mirrored below are the physical representation, alongside green for growth or plant relations. Water is the foundation of the image as water is life and ties together all my relations both living and nonliving.
Click to download the image.
Carmen Selam
About the Artist
My art is a reflection of living in contemporary society as a queer Yakama-Comanche woman. I am a multi-disciplinary artist working in printmaking, painting, and installations in addition to being a traditional tribal artist in the fields of weaving and beadwork. My work explores the relationships between living on and off of the reservation and how these relations influence my way of life. I tend to use iconography and popular culture as a tool to delve deeper into the untold Indigenous history of America.
I was born and raised on the Yakama Reservation located in Washington State. I am an enrolled member of the Yakama Nation and also of Comanche descent. I attended the Oregon College of Art and Craft located in Portland, Oregon prior to graduating with my BFA in studio arts from the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, NM. Currently I am an MFA student at the Institute of American Indian Arts. I live and work in Wapato, WA.
About the Art
Indigenous Peoples’ Day is a reminder to honor those ancestral kinship ties. The relationships that we have with our relatives that live in the water, fly in the air, walk on the land. This piece is inspired by the phrase “All My Relations”. The young figures are caretakers of our universe, the balance between the light of the day and the dark of the night.
Click to download the image.
2020 Posters - Together We Rise, Resist, Reclaim
Kate k̓yʔk̓ablu Neayuq Ahvakana
Kate k̓yʔk̓ablu Neayuq Ahvakana is suq̓ʷabš a Suquamish Tribal member and artist. Kate grew up in an artistic home with prominent Native artist parents on the Port Madison Reservation where she still resides in her family home. Pulling inspiration from both her suq̓ʷabš and Iñupiaq heritage Kate creates traditionally grounded meaningful designs for her tribe and community, contributing art to various Suquamish tribal entities. Kate attended University Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) and hold a bachelor’s degree in art. Kate currently works for the Suquamish Tribe as a Program Manager for the ʔiišədalʔtxʷ suq̓ʷabš the Suquamish Family and Friends Center, and sits on the Suquamish Cultural Board. Kate enjoys working for and with her Suquamish Tribe to promote Suquamish culture and art.
Paige Pettibon
Paige Pettibon is a visual artist based in Tacoma, Washington. Paige is Black, white, and Salish from the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation in Montana. She was raised on the Puyallup reservation, and has been welcomed by the Puyallup Tribe working as a mentor to youth, and mentee to the Puyallup Tribal language department. Paige is a recent graduate from Tacoma Community College where she received her Associate of Arts and Science degree, and she is currently continuing her education at the Evergreen State College. As an artist Paige strives to develop her fine art skills as well as cultural arts skills. Her work shows influences of her upbringing and strong cultural ties. Her main focus is painting with acrylics, and she has extended her talents to other mediums such as jewelry making, fiber arts, and writing. See more of her work on Instagram @plain_to_sea, or on her website www.paigepettibon.com.
