Amerind Autumn Fest

Amerind Autumn Fest

Celebrating the history, culture, and arts of the Diné (Navajo).

Saturday, October 21, 2023

10:00 am – 4:00 pm

$10 per vehicle

Join Amerind at our annual Autumn Fest as we celebrate the history, culture, and arts of the Diné (Navajo).  Rich in tradition, history, and culture, Diné teachers, artists, singers and dancers will hold a day-long cultural celebration at the Amerind Museum in Dragoon, Arizona.

This year, Autumn Fest will feature performances by the rock band Sihasin, the Jones Benally Family Dance Troupe, and flutist Mary Redhouse, public talks about Diné culture from Diné scholars Wade Campbell, PhD and Poet Laura Tohe, PhD. and the event will also welcome various Native artists who will be showing and selling their art, youth activities and food.  This year Amerind announces the People’s Choice Artist Award, visitors will vote for their favorite artist, the top three winners will win a cash award.

Amerind is pleased to announce the Sihasin band, the Jones Benally Family Dance Troupe, and Mary Redhouse will play as part of The Angelo Joaquin Jr. Cultural Performance Series, with thanks to donor Ann Parker, PhD.

Autumn Fest is Saturday, October 21, from 10:00 am until 4:00 pm at the Amerind Museum in Dragoon, AZ. $10 per vehicle.

Amerind Free Online Talk: Arizona’s Creation Story: Treaties and Executive Orders Regarding Native Nations and the Arizona Territory from 1846-1912 with Millicent Michelle Pepion, PhD

Amerind Free Online Lecture

Arizona’s Creation Story: Important Treaties and Executive Orders Regarding Native Nations and the Arizona Territory from 1846-1912

with Millicent Michelle Pepion, PhD

Saturday, October 28, 2023, 11:00 am – Arizona Time

 Navajo elders say we exist in the “Fourth World,” the glittering world. In this world, we were given all of the support we needed to sustain life within the boundaries of four sacred mountains. For the Mojave people of the Colorado River Indian Tribes, life began with Mvto at Spirit Mountain. For O’odham peoples, whose traditional territory covered much of southern Arizona and northern Mexico, the epicenter of life lies in the Baboquivari Mountains where, in a cave at the base, resides their Creator, I’itoi. As for the Havasu Baaja, the People of the Blue Green Waters, what is now considered the Grand Canyon National Park also served as the womb for their people’s existence. This talk will focus on the creation stories of these four nations in comparison to the Creation Story of the State of Arizona. Much of the history shared involves the transfer of ownership from Mexico by way of the Gadsden Purchase, along with agreements, treaties, and Executive Orders signed between the Navajo, Mohave, O’odham, and Havasupai peoples, and what we now consider early Arizona pioneers such as Kit Karson, Charles Poston, Jedidiah Smith, and Rutherford B. Hayes, all which played a part in the creation of America’s last contiguous state signed into the Union.

Dr. Millicent Michelle Pepion is Bitter Water Clan born for the Blackfeet Nation. She currently resides in Tucson where she earned a Ph.D. in American Indian Studies from The University of Arizona. Her dissertation research draws connections between U.S. Census data for Native populations and Native Voter Suppression in Arizona. Dr. Pepion’s survey included an overview of all 22 Native Nations in Arizona in comparison to county and state statistics regarding history, land, law, and representation. However, her expertise does not end there. Through various work, Dr. Pepion has developed courses, workshops and presentations that span topics such as Federal Indian Law and Policy, Sovereignty, Native and Western Views on Philosophy, Protection of Sacred Places, Introduction to Navajo Literacy and Culture, Positive Indian Parenting, Traditional Indian Medicine, Indigenous Methodologies, and Writing in Two Worlds. Other degrees include: A.A. in Liberal Arts (Haskell Indian Nations University, 2012), B.S. in Liberal Studies (Arizona State University, 2014), and M.S. in Family and Human Development (Arizona State University, 2016). Dr. Pepion is a 2012 Clinton Global Initiative University Commitment Maker and the recipient of the Cal Seciwa Memorial Scholarship (ASU, 2015), the Heard Museum Eagle Spirit Award (ASU, 2016), and the Margaret Susseman Memorial Scholarship (UA, 2017-2020).

To register for this free online event, visit: https://bit.ly/AmerindOnline10282023

 

Amerind Free Online Artist Talk: The Art of Matagi Sorensen

Amerind Free Online Artist Talk

The Art of Matagi Sorensen (Yavapai-Apache)

Saturday, July 15, 2023, 11:00 am – Arizona Time

Join us as we welcome artist, Matagi Sorensen for an online artist talk.

Matagi Sorensen (Yavapai-Apache) is a contemporary jeweler/metalsmith who creates hand fabricated and lost wax-cast jewelry.  His contemporary style has garnered the attention of many. His designs are sleek and modern with an urban aesthetic that draws from traditional and natural motifs rooted in his Yavapai-Apache heritage.  His curiosity and drive to learn more about his craft make him an exciting artist to follow. Please take this opportunity to join us as Matagi discusses his work, journey and the inspiration behind his incredible creations.

Matagi Sorensen was born in Cottonwood, Arizona. He had an interesting childhood, traveling around the Southwest with his family, making small craft items to sell. When he was 15 his family moved back to the reservation where Matagi began working for a summer youth program. At 18 he went to work for his tribe and contemplated becoming a social worker.  He went on to enroll at Yavapai Community College eventually taking a jewelry making class, beginning his journey to become a professional jeweler.  He graduated from Northern Arizona University with BFA in 2011 followed by an MFA from Arizona State University in 2021 where he was able to further his knowledge and skills in metalsmithing and design, as well as experiment with natural and culturally traditional materials.  Matagi has gone on to exhibit his work throughout the country at various shows including Santa Fe Indian Market, Heard Museum Fair, Eiteljorg Indian Market, and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian Art Market among others.

To register, visit: https://bit.ly/AmerindOnline07152023

Amerind Free Online Talk: The Distribution of Cultural Lac Scale Use (Tachardiella spp.) in the Arid Southwest

Amerind Free Online Lecture

The Distribution of Cultural Lac Scale Use (Tachardiella spp.) in the Arid Southwest

with Marilen Pool, PhD

Saturday, August 12, 2023, 11:00 am – Arizona Time

This talk will discuss the examination of the lac scale insect in the arid Southwest and the distribution of its cultural use. Three species, Tachardiella fulgens, Tachardiella larreae and Tachardiella pustulata are those most known to have been utilized by the indigenous peoples of the region from as early as the Archaic period to the modern era as an adhesive, mastic, and coating for the fabrication of tools, weapons, musical instruments, kicking balls, ornaments, and amulets. It was also used for hermetic sealing of containers to protect foods and seeds from pests and as a repair material for mending pottery.

Marilen Pool, PhD, is a Senior Project Conservator at the Arizona State Museum and Objects Conservator and owner of Sonoran Art Conservation Services in Tucson. She recently earned her doctorate degree in Arid Lands Resource Sciences at the University of Arizona. She has a graduate degree in Museum Studies from Oregon State University and is a graduate of the Sir Sanford Fleming Art Conservation Program in Ontario, Canada.

To register for this free online event, visit: https://bit.ly/AmerindOnline08122023

Amerind Free Online Lecture: Caretakers of the Land: History of Land and Water in the San Xavier Community with Jacelle Ramon-Sauberan, PhD

Amerind Free Online Lecture

Caretakers of the Land: History of Land and Water in the San Xavier Community  

with Jacelle Ramon-Sauberan, PhD

Saturday, September 30, 2023, 11:00 am – Arizona Time

San Xavier del Bac is known as the White Dove of the Desert, but not many know the rich history surrounding the community called Wa:k (where the water goes in). Long before our urban centers and city lights lit up the dark desert skies, the Tohono O’odham were cultivating and shaping the land with abundant agriculture—from squash and beans to corn and cotton.

For generations they passed down their rich knowledge and culture grown from their connection to the desert.  Join us for a program with Dr. Jacelle Ramon-Sauberan as she shares her knowledge about the history and culture of her people, the Wa:k O’odham.

 

Dr. Jacelle Ramon-Sauberan is Tohono O’odham and from the San Xavier District. She serves as faculty in the Tohono O’odham Studies Program at Tohono O’odham Community College. Ramon-Sauberan earned her PhD in American Indian Studies with a minor in Journalism at the University of Arizona in May 2023. Her research focuses on the history of land and water in the San Xavier District and she has written for news publications across the US including Indian Country Today. Ramon-Sauberan is also a communication specialist for the National Science Foundation’s AURA/NOIRLab closely working with Kitt Peak National Observatory.

To Register Visit: https://bit.ly/AmerindOnline09302023