Amerind Free Online Artist Talk: The Art of Ryan Singer

 

Amerind Free Online Artist Talk

The Art of Ryan Singer, Diné (Navajo)

We apologize and appreciate your patience on September 16th.  Due to some technical difficulties, we have had to rescheduled to:

Saturday, November 4, 2023, 11:00 am – Arizona Time

Join us as we welcome artist Ryan Singer for an online artist talk.

Ryan Singer is a Diné (Navajo) artist-painter based in Albuquerque, NM. Creating artwork based on his Navajo heritage and incorporating pop culture elements including science fiction imagery. He weaves stories of his childhood memories with nostalgic iconography. He has been included in the “Indigenous Futurism” movement but has been drawing Star Wars characters since 1977. Ryan also enjoys creating portrait realism of Native subjects with a contemporary appeal. His artwork is in collections of several museums and collectors worldwide. Ryan had garnered several awards including from the renowned SWAIA’s Santa Fe Indian Market. He has acquired his BFA in Art Studio from UNM, where he was in a collaborative lithography class with the Tamarind Institute. He now plans on working towards his MFA. Born in Cedar City, Utah, but originally from Tuba City, Arizona, Ryan is of the Tódich’iinii (Bitter Water) clan and born for the Kinya’aani (Towering House) clan. Having grown up in various parts of the Navajo Reservation, Ryan often reflects on his childhood in his artwork through his depictions of science fiction and pop culture icons. Ryan’s other notable works of art include the popular “Mutton Stew” painting which he modeled after Andy Warhol’s “Campbell’s Tomato Soup Can” series but with a distinct Navajo twist; his iconic “Wagon Burner” which has become his trademark symbol. He has been part of exhibitions featuring this new genre of art. He also co-curated an exhibition along with Tony Abeyta at the Navajo Nation Museum about the “Long Walk”.

To register, visit:  https://bit.ly/AmerindOnline09162023

“Hope in a Hogan”, 2022

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 Artist Talk: The Art of Shaun Beyale

Amerind Free Online Artist Talk

The Art of Shaun Beyale (Diné)

Saturday, July 1, 2023, 11:00 am – Arizona Time

Join us as we welcome artist Shaun Beyale for an online artist talk. Shaun Beyale (Diné)Navajo will discuss his art and his journey as a comic book artist, illustrator, painter, screen printer and, digital artist. From growing up in Shiprock, New Mexico on the Navajo Nation to his early interest in comics, superheroes and his passion for drawing that sparked a lifelong journey to create.  Shaun was drawn toward the genre of comic books and superheroes because it reminds him of the old traditional stories of good versus evil. Using his cultural stories as inspiration to create something new and more modern.  Creating his own Indigenous Superheroes.  Powerful Native women define Beyale’s characters, reflecting his upbringing, being surrounded by generations of strong women, inspired him.  In Navajo culture, we’re a matrilineal society, women tend to have more power and have a strong presence in our cultural stories.

Shaun has recently created Indigenous Superheroes for the Marvel Universe, a lifelong dream. He hopes that his characters and comics will be a source of education about contemporary Indigenous culture.  His motto is “empowerment thru art”.  He creates and shares his empowering art with hope to inspire future generations to find their inner “Monster Slayer” to face life’s challenges.

To register, visit:   https://bit.ly/AmerindOnline07012023

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

 

 

Amerind Free Online Lecture: Origins of Maya Civilization Examined at Aguada Fénix, Mexico with Takeshi Inomata, PhD

Amerind Free Online Lecture

Origins of Maya Civilization Examined at Aguada Fénix, Mexico

with Takeshi Inomata, PhD, University of Arizona

Saturday, June 3, 2023, 11:00 am – Arizona Time

 

The talk will discuss recent findings from the site of Aguada Fénix, Mexico, which was discovered in 2018.

Its central platform, which measures 1400 x 400 m horizontally and 10-15 m in height and was built around 1000 BC, is the largest and oldest monumental building in the Maya area.

The results of investigations at this site are changing our understanding of how the Maya civilization and surrounding societies developed.

 

Takeshi Inomata, PhD, is a professor at the School of Anthropology, University of Arizona.

He has been investigating social changes in the Maya area through field projects at Aguateca and Ceibal in Guatemala and in the Middle Usumacinta region of Mexico.

 

To register visit: https://bit.ly/Amerindonline06032023Inomata

 

 

American Indian Voices in Horse Histories with Kelsey Dayle John, PhD (Diné)

 

Free Online Lecture

American Indian Voices in Horse Histories with Kelsey Dayle John, PhD (Diné)

Saturday, March 13, 2021, 11:00 am – Arizona Time

Kelsey John, PhD (Diné) will explore several aspects of horse origin stories through a Native American lens. Using a critical view of place and the more than human world, she highlights some important misconceptions about how we view the horse’s history in relationship with other narratives about Indians, lands, and the settlement of the Americas. In her work, Kelsey discusses the importance of viewing horses as agents, persons, and teachers who have something to say about their own histories.

Kelsey Dayle John, PhD (Diné) is an assistant professor with a joint appointment in American Indian Studies and Gender and Women’s Studies. Her work is centered on animal relationalities, particularly horse/human relationships as ways of knowing, healing, and decolonizing education. Alongside her work in Indigenous animal studies, Kelsey’s research interests also include: Indigenous feminisms, decolonizing methodologies, and Tribal College and Universities. She finds her theoretical locations within transnational feminism, Indigenous studies, settler colonial studies, Diné Studies, and foundations of education.

This online lecture is free, but space is limited. To register visit: http://bit.ly/AmerindOnline031321

Free Online Lecture – Far from Isolated: Resilience and Adaptation Among the Rarámuri in the 20th Century with José Miguel Chávez Leyva

 

Free Online Lecture

Far from Isolated: Resilience and Adaptation Among the Rarámuri in the 20th Century with José Miguel Chávez Leyva, PhD Candidate, University of Texas at El Paso

Saturday, February 20, 2021, 11:00 am – Arizona Time

The Rarámuri (Tarahumara) have traditionally been viewed as a group that retreated into the mountains and canyons of Chihuahua, fighting outside influence with isolation. This ignores the ways that the Rarámuri have responded to the multiple intrusions to their territory over the course of the 20th century. From fighting in the Mexican Revolution to working as railroad laborers, the Rarámuri have never shied away from participating in a society that has branded them as primitive. This lecture will explore some of the rich tapestry of Rarámuri history, looking at ways in which they have actively worked to preserve their way of life from the turn of the century through the 1970s.

José Miguel Chávez Leyva is a Ph.D. candidate in Borderlands History at the University of Texas at El Paso. His research is centered on the environmental ethnohistory of the Chihuahuan and Sonoran deserts, and how Indigenous peoples in these regions have maintained their identities despite outside pressures from the colonial era to modern times.

This online program is free, but space is limited. To register visit: https://bit.ly/AmerindOnline022021

Free Online Lecture: The Navajo Nation and the COVID-19 Pandemic with Jennifer Nez Denetdale, PhD (Diné)

 

Free Online Lecture

The Navajo Nation and the COVID-19 Pandemic with Jennifer Nez Denetdale, PhD (Diné)

Saturday, January 9, 2021, 11:00 am – Arizona Time

Amerind welcomes University of New Mexico Professor Jennifer Nez Denetdale (Diné) as she examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic upon the Navajo Nation.  As the first-ever Diné (Navajo) to earn a PhD in history, Denetdale is a strong advocate for Native peoples and strives to foster academic excellence in the next generation of students interested in Indigenous Studies. Denetdale is a Professor of American Studies and teaches courses in Critical Indigenous Studies, Indigenous gender and sexuality, Indigenous feminisms and gender, and Navajo Studies.

This online program is free, but space is limited. To register visit: https://bit.ly/AmerindOnline010921