Tasha Abourezk – Three Affiliated Tribes
Lincoln, NE
Website – Facebook – Instagram
As a Mandan-Hidatsa artist I take great pride in handcrafting leather bags that reflect my culture and history. My work blends a contemporary design with traditional geometric motifs of Northern Plains Tribes to create something that is truly one-of-a-kind and distinctive. There is something special about my bags that makes them stand out: their durable and high-quality construction, modern style, and individual look. With each bag I strive to make something unique that combines elements of the past and present, showcasing my cultural heritage while helping the wearer to showcase their own distinctive style.
Sydney Akagi – Tlingit
Juneau, AK
Sydney Akagi, is an enrolled member of Tlingit and Haida Tribes of Alaska, and was born and raised on the land of the Lingit Aani in Juneau, Alaska. Growing up Sydney developed a passion for the arts, and always had a deep love for fiber arts. It wasn’t until 2018 when Sydney first began weaving Ravenstail style, that she felt a calling to one particular artform. In 2020 Sydney apprenticed in Chilkat weaving under Lily Hope, and although equally passionate about both styles of weaving, she finds a great love for combining the two within her artwork. Since beginning weaving, Sydney’s work has reflected her relationship with her culture and the healing that has occurred by replicating and being inspired by traditional ceremonial woven pieces. Today, Sydney’s woven pieces and designs reflect the environmental issues surrounding mining and fishing returns on the Taku River. Her other work looks at combining more contemporary designs in traditional forms and creating pieces from wool that may have been traditionally mens artwork. Sydney plans to spend the next year collaborating with artists on woven work, and teach students traditional methods of Chilkat and Ravenstail weaving.
Shane Beeshligaii – Navajo Nation
Tuscon, AZ
I make jewelry because it’s the main way for me to keep in contact with my cultural heritage. To understand and embrace my culture and make a meaningful life in modern day society. I think there’s still room for advancement within jewelry. The one main focus of the work I’ve been learning over the last 30 years is micro-inlay which is my dad’s checkerboard pattern of overlay work. I want to push the limits of jewelry design and incorporate more technology within my works as the future comes along.
Jamie Bennett – Muscogee (Creek) Nation
Porum, OK
Hesci, my name is Jamie Bennett and I am a proud Muscogee citizen. I have been involved in some form of artistry as long as I can remember but am now focusing on design. I teach cultural classes on a wide range of topics in order to ensure our traditions survive. I work in many different mediums, and have had the exciting experience of sharing my work across Indian country. I am passionate about educating and uplifting others through shared experiences and art. My goal is to create a brand that can transition Native styles into all spaces, and show that we are still here! I use my Mvskoke designs to represent the southeastern population of Indigenous people. Mvto!
Ethan Brown – Pamunkey Indian Tribe
King William, VA
I take an organic intuitive approach to creating my artwork, exploring both my personal mythology as well as my cultural Pamunkey heritage through a mixture of traditional and contemporary techniques and materials. In this way, creation has been a way for me to personally connect with identity and explore my community’s past, present, and future, and in turn these stories and experiences are reflected in the finished products, resulting in pieces that show different aspects of culture and history while simultaneously existing in a unique world of their own visual aesthetics and symbols. I often like to use gourds as a medium for artwork. I first started making gourd art by watching my Grandma who lived on the Reservation and worked at the Pamunkey Indian Museum, make and sell gourd art there. Gourds are this traditional material that would be used in varying ways— as containers, as instruments, etc. The artistic techniques I employ are contemporary, though the material of the gourd itself feels ancient in your hands when working. It is this magical experience, because it is often the mottling on the gourd’s shell itself that suggests the lines of the artwork. My process usually starts with a line drawing that gets burned into the shell of the gourd. I then use paints, dyes, stains and varnish to achieve the desired effect.
Beth Bush – Pokagon Band of Potawatomi
Cleveland, OH
I am a Potawatomi mixed media artist who enjoys working with brilliant, vibrant colors, sharp angles, and soft textures in contrasting proportions. My ancestors love and pain, and my time in nature all have an impact on my works. My objective is to leave something beautiful, exceptional, and long-lasting behind. I was born and raised in a little native settlement in Bradley, Michigan, and now live in Cleveland, Ohio. Beads, paint, fabrics, and quills are my art materials. Nature and the Great Lakes inspire me. I enjoy listening to my people’s tales and putting them into art. My greatest accomplishment is being requested to make beautiful and personal pieces of art.
Leslie Deer – Muscogee (Creek) Nation
Holdenville, OK
Leslie A. Deer, Muscogee (Mvskoke) Nation of Oklahoma, is an apparel designer and textile artist who began her career by making her own dance regalia while on tour with the American Indian Dance Theatre. Early on she was introduced to traditional applique ribbonwork art by two Sac & Fox women in her central Oklahoma community (Viola Spoon and Sarah Franklin) and has incorporated these techniques into a style that is now uniquely her own. “My work is influenced by the motifs of Mvskoke people and their ancestors, the Moundbuilders. I believe that I am meant to work with these designs: we are descendants of the Moundbuilder Culture from the Southeast and these designs are not something that should be left in the past forever. It’s part of my responsibility to reach back and pull them forward: to bring them into the present day and modernize them. As part of my Mvskoke tribal community, I want to ensure these designs survive for future generations to learn from, remember, absorb, and pass on. It’s really kind of like bringing our ancestors with us wherever we are – in the present, and in the future. We hold space for them and bring them forward with us.”
Sarah Dogeagle – Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Hunkpapa Lakota Three Affiliated Tribes Hidatsa, Xxo’shga & Nueta
Bismarck, ND
Sarah Dogeagle works as a fashion designer, creating new looks while utilizing Indigenous Artists prints, fabrics and blankets as primary material sources to perpetuate interest in others while supporting their work. Her Grandmother and namesake, Buckskin Horse Woman, taught her to sew at a very young age, finding joy in creating new pieces of clothing for others to enjoy, wearing them in everyday fashion and ceremony. Finding these deep roots and rekindling this connection brings great joy to her work. Incorporating prayer and good thoughts to each piece is an important part of her creative process. Seeing clients wearing her fashions is a wonderful experience that confirms her purpose in this space.
Cheyenne Dorrell-Giles – Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska
St. Joseph, MO
I bead to connect to my Indigenous ancestors – to see my grandmother’s hands in my own. Her house was my favorite place, full of art, food, and beautiful traditions. My love for beading started there, sitting on the arm of her chair watching her create the most beautiful things. She had an old cookie tin that was full of seed beads that she let me string together dozens of necklaces. As I grew, my mother taught me how to use a loom. She would draw patterns on grid paper and I watched as they came to life. Loom beading – bead by bead, line by line, – helps me still my mind and ground my soul, reminding me that mistakes can be made and worked into the pattern in a new way, finding beauty in imperfection.
Aubree Fast Horse – Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska
Everett, WA
When I picture the wearer of my creations, I picture many scenarios – a girl at her first job putting her jewelry on for representation of her culture. Aunties at a powwow wearing her brightest and biggest earrings. A man slipping on their favorite pair of beaded shoes to feel their best. I use their inspiration to design and craft each earring, shoe, hat, and bag. I source colors and materials to express feelings. I use designs and technique taught to me from my mother, grandma, and aunts handed down to them for years from the mothers, grandmas, and aunts before them. I have learned to take in and express all that I see and feel to make wearable traditional Native American art for everyone.
Yvonne Goad – Pamunkey Indian Tribe
Disputanta, VA
My name is Yvonne Goad, and I am a citizen of The Pamunkey Indian Tribe, a federally recognized tribe with one of the two oldest reservations in the country. I am a gourd artist who creates both traditional and custom gourd work designs My journey with gourd art over the past 14 years has been an inspiring journey. I started in my kitchen and now have my own dedicated studio space. Creating art is a deeply fulfilling and rewarding experience, offering a way to channel my emotions and creativity into something tangible and beautiful. Cutting and cleaning the gourds provides a sense of connection to my artwork from start to finish. A unique approach to experimenting with different rims on the gourds showcases my creativity and attention to detail. Exposure to different artistic traditions ignites a passion within me. The Southwest and Eastern Woodland Indians’ art forms, such as beading, pottery, and gourd rattles, add a cultural depth to my work. By incorporating elements from various indigenous cultures, I am expressing my creativity and honoring and preserving these traditional art practices. It’s important to understand the significance and craftsmanship behind these traditional items. Gourds have been utilized by Native American tribes for centuries, not only as practical containers but also as pieces of art and symbols of cultural heritage. I look forward to sharing my art with you to bring a piece of history and authentic Native culture to your home.
Allyson Gray – Pamunkey Indian Tribe
King William, VA
Allyson Gray is an enrolled citizen of the Pamunkey Indian Tribe, born and raised on the reservation in Virginia. In 2018, she began her journey learning about traditional Pamunkey pottery from a few respected potters in her tribal community. Since then, she has continued to expand her knowledge through research and a lot of trial and error, while sharing her experience with the community through demonstrations and lectures. Her talent has been recognized by institutions including the National Museum of the American Indian, Fairfield Foundation, and Jamestown Rediscovery.
Rykelle Kemp – Mvskoke Creek-Euchee/ Choctaw/ Diné
Mesa, AZ
Website – Facebook – Instagram – TikTok
I create wearable art with a Modern & Traditional approach. My work represents Ancestral knowledge attained from my Tribes in the Southeastern Woodlands (Mvskoke Creek-Euchee/ Choctaw) and the Southwestern Deserts (Diné). My works are made with Materials & Techniques that have been used in my Tribes for countless Generations. Material used in my jewelry tells a story of trade routes and specific geographic materials important to my people. Incorporating: Shell, Pearls, Carving/Etching Techniques from the Southeast & combined with: Tufa Casting, Silver & Turquoise from the Southwest. As an Indigenous Artist, it’s important that my art is viewed as ever-evolving, not stuck in the past but in reverence to the past, holding true to traditional values and uphold Ancestral Knowledge. Modern Indigenous jewelry is my resilience. Everything I create is Indigenous.
Shelby Merry – Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska
Kansas City, MO
My name is Shelby Merry and I currently reside in what we know of today as Kansas City, Missouri. I was raised on the tall grass prairie and the blood that moves through my being comes from Celtic, Swedish, and native North American Ioway peoples. My work as a clinical herbalist, basketmaker, land tender, and chandler is centered on the act of remembering that we are not separate from our landscape and all who reside within it, animal, plant, and human. The past decade of my practice has been dedicated to plant relationships: making medicine, stewarding native plants, and seed saving. In the past year, I have embarked on a journey as a basketweaver. As with my plant medicine, my artistic focus is on working with bioregional materials, working with plants that grow abundantly wild or can be cultivated in the place in which I reside and am in direct relation with.
Desiree Nuckols – Pamunkey Indian Tribe
King William, VA
My work encompasses the beauty of the river and surrounding wildlife my tribe used to survive. The Pamunkey Tribe relied on fishing and hunting to not only feed their family but also to make an income. The Pamunkey river and landscape was a vital part of our survival. In my work you will find garfish scales and cut deer antler encompassed by beautiful beadwork. Hunting and fishing were and still is an important part of our culture, I wanted to represent the importance of that in my work. All my work is inspired by the Pamunkey River, surrounding marsh, and my Pamunkey Heritage.
Phillip Pursel – Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, Bear Clan
Kansas City, KS
Phillip J. Pursel was born and raised in Kansas City, Mo. and is an enrolled member of The Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska – Bear Clan. Although Phillip grew up off the Ioway Tribe reservation, he has remained close and involved within his Tribe attending Pow Wow’s and Tribal functions. Phillip is an artisan, moccasin maker, and teacher who’s inspiration comes from Traditional Ioway moccasin design and floral beadwork. Phillip has taught beadwork and moccasin making workshops for The Potawatomi Nations Culture Center in Kansas City, Missouri, Cultural Center for the Arts in Atchison, Kansas and The Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska in White Cloud, Kansas.
Amanda Rutland – Muscogee (Creek) Nation
Okmulgee, OK
Website – Facebook – Instagram – TikTok
Amanda Rutland, a citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and of Seminole Nation descent, is a member of the Raccoon Clan with a deep connection to her tribal heritage. Growing up attending traditional Mvskoke churches, Amanda’s artistic journey began with a degree in Visual Communication from Oklahoma State University’s Institute of Technology. While formally trained as a photographer/videographer, she has evolved into a self-taught artist, specializing in copper and gemstone jewelry that embodies the spirit of her Mound-builder ancestors and the natural world. In 2019, Amanda established Indigo Art & Textiles to share her tribal culture through one-of-a-kind wearable art pieces. Inspired by Mississippian designs, her work merges ancestral iconography and symbolism with contemporary color and pattern concepts, creating a unique narrative in each piece. Her artistry has garnered recognition, including winning the gorget maker title on the television reality show Maker Nation Challenge. Her creations are housed in collections such as the Muscogee Creek Nation, Council Oak Health Facility, and historical parks in Alabama and Georgia. Amanda currently resides in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, with her husband and two children, continuously exploring new artistic horizons.
Liandra Skenandore – Oneida Nation of Wisconsin
De Pere, WI
Liandra Skenandore (Oneida Nation of Wisconsin) is a black ash basket weaver who specializes in creating contemporary utility baskets that highlight strong, elegant forms and feature occasional minimal surface designs. Liandra also makes traditional Haudenosaunee utility and ceremonial baskets. She harvests her own black ash logs and log pounds off the splint material by hand. She hand splits her splints and uses only a knife and scissors to prepare every weaving piece before free-form weaving the basket. Her limited use of tools and emphasis of hand and eye techniques contributes to the creation of one of a kind pieces that honor traditional process methods. In a quiet strength and grace, Liandra’s baskets are woven to fulfill their responsibilities of carrying as utility vessels while adding beauty to the everyday and always holding a connection to the land.
Allyson Stumpf – The Osage Nation / The Cherokee Nation Of Oklahoma
Bethany, OK
My inspiration for my animal figures stems from the diverse fauna found in Northeastern Oklahoma. As a member of the Wazhazhe, and Cherokee Nation, I continuously deepen my understanding of my cultural heritage and the role I play within it. As a creator, I specialize in handcrafting a variety of pieces, including mugs, bowls, plates, and vases, incorporating ancient glazing methods. My sculptural work encompasses effigies, animal jewelry, mugs featuring animal motifs, and historical pots. For sculptural pieces, I employ hand sculpting and coil building techniques, while I utilize wheel-throwing for dinnerware and vases. To accentuate texture, I leave effigy pieces unglazed on the outside, drawing inspiration from ancient pottery techniques. Stains are applied to light clay to enhance the features of sculptures. In a contemporary approach, I create sculptures using commercial clay and electric kiln firing, prioritizing safety throughout the process. This method ensures that items remain durable for everyday use, serving as both functional vessels and artistic expressions of my individual journey learning cultural heritage.
Jessica Pilista Towns-Camara – Native Village of Pilot Point
Renton, WA
Website – Facebook – Instagram
Jessica Pilista Towns-Camara, a multi-heritage artist hailing from Sugpiaq/Alutiiq, Yup’ik, and Scotch-Irish lineage, utilizes jewelry as a potent medium to forge profound connections with her ancestral Sugpiaq homeland in Alaska, particularly the Native Village of Pilot Point. Based in Renton, Washington, her work resonates with the enduring strength and resilience of her Alutiiq ancestors. Drawing inspiration from her ancestors, Jessica weaves cultural narratives into her jewelry, skillfully employing unique shapes and materials as visual expressions of her artistic evolution. Her leadership extends beyond artistry, as Co-Director of the Pacific Northwest Alutiiq Culture Camp, fostering a community of sharing, learning, and cultural vitality. Recognized with prestigious grants, including the Bill Holms Center Visiting Researcher Grant at the Burke Museum in 2022, the Creative Native Grant from the TESC House of Welcome in 2023, and a Phoebe Hearst Museum Research Visit, Jessica’s journey transcends aesthetics, bridging the past and present in her creative expressions. Her work is a profound dedication to celebrating and practicing her culture, offering a conduit to connect with Sugpiaq ancestors and perpetuate the cultural legacy of her people.
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