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APRIL 1, 2023
Smoke Signals
Tribe selects five artistic fellows
By Danielle Harrison
Smoke Signals assistant editor/staff writer
Five Northwest Native American artists, who
work in various mediums, have been selected for
the 2023 Indigenous Place Keeping Artist Fel-
lowship, including Grand Ronde Tribal member
Steph Littlebird Fogel.
The fellowship was created in 2022 and pro-
vides up to $20,000 to each selected artist. It was
created to develop Indigenous artist capacity
within the Grand Ronde Tribe9s homelands and
to help the fellows become more competitive for
local, regional and
nationwide fund-
ing opportunities.
The fellowships
are open to individ-
uals who demon-
strate a verioable
Indigenous connec-
tion to ancestral
peoples of western
Oregon from the
lower Columbia
Steph Littlebird Fogel
River in the north
to the Klamath River in the south.
Fellows are selected based on available fund-
ing and the fellowship is administered by the
Tribe9s Cultural Resources Department.
The selection panel includes Grand Ronde
Tribal Council member Lisa Leno, Chachalu
Manager Travis Stewart, Grand Ronde Cultur-
al Policy Analyst Greg Archuleta, Oregon Arts
Commission member Liora Sponka and Meyer
Memorial Trust member Stone Hudson. Cultural
Resources Department Manager David Harrel-
son is the fellowship administrator.
<Art by Indigenous people is one of the most
effective and recognizable ways that we, as In-
digenous people of place, can hold a place in our
homelands and further our own recognition and
persistence,= Harrelson said. <Indigenous Place
Keeping work can be a unioer as it informs the
very identity of places and practices no matter
a person9s connection.
<I have immense gratitude to the Grand Ronde
Tribal Council, our funding partners, Meyer
Memorial Trust and Oregon Community Foun-
dation, as well as our artist residency partners:
Sitka Center for Arts and Ecology and Oregon
State University9s Patricia Valian Reser Cen-
ter for the Creative Arts in making the IPKA
Fellowship in 2022 and 2023 a well-supported
opportunity for indigenous artists. The fellowship
includes funding for a season of work, lodging and
opportunities to connect with fellow creatives.=
In January, Tribal Council approved accepting
an $113,972 grant from Meyer Memorial Trust
to help fund the fellowships.
After the fellowship with Grand Ronde is com-
plete, all fellows will have an offer of two-week
artist residencies at Sitka Center for Arts and
Ecology in Otis, Harrelson added. Additionally,
other artist residency opportunities may be
available through Oregon State University9s
Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative
Arts programs.
Fellows
The 2023 fellows are Fogel, Amber Kay Ball
(Siletz), Joseph Scott (Siletz), Shirod Younker
(Coquille) and Lofanitani Aisea (Tongan, Modoc,
Klamath and Tahlequah).
Fogel works as a painter, writer, curator and il-
lustrator. She applied for the fellowship because
her <highest purpose= as an artist is serving her
Tribal community.
<The IPKA fellowship will enable me to focus
on a project that is specifically made for my
Grand Ronde community, which is a dream come
true,= she said.
During the year-long fellowship, Fogel will be
writing and illustrating a children9s book based
on the Tribe9s ikanum stories, which will feature
both English and Chinook Wawa translations.
<As a younger Native person I noticed there
was a lack of representation of Indigenous people
in media and books,= Fogel said. <It9s my goal
to help change that and create more materials
for our community that uplifts and celebrates
our culture. & I am excited to use my skills as
a digital illustrator and author to create some-
thing that is speciocally for our unique Tribal
community. I9m looking forward to producing a
complete book and story that our students can
learn and understand more about themselves,
their ancestors and our culture.=
Ball works as a theater writer/director and
currently serves as executive ofoce coordinator
and special projects liaison for the Native Arts
and Cultures Foundation, and also works as re-
mote executive director of In the Margin, based
in Sacramento, Calif.
She recently collaborated with Fogel on <This
IS Kalapuyan Land at Pittock Mansion,= a group
exhibition at the Pittock Mansion in Portland
that runs through the end of July. The exhibit
features historical panels sharing accurate
representations of Indigenous people9s continued
presence in the area, as well as contemporary
Indigenous artwork.
<In hearing about this fellowship it felt
like a beautiful op-
portunity to bring
together my art
making and ances-
tral knowledge for
new play develop-
ment,= Ball said. <I
applied for this fel-
lowship as I want
to be a champion of
my own work and
Amber Kay Ball
story. This fellow-
ship is special in
the support of Indigenous knowledge and art
making 3 to be a part of this amazing cohort of
artists creating work in connection with space
and place is such a special honor.=
Ball plans to develop a one-act play centered
on a family's story of removal from their tradi-
tional homelands and the ripples of devastation
through time. She describes it as a <new-age;
post-grunge; alt-Native comedy.=
<This work is important and exciting to me as
I know many generationally will resonate in the
genre and aesthetic of 8alternative,9 = she said.
<By choosing a play
with elements of com-
edy, tragedy and love,
I can share a story
showing the fullness
of my Native heritage
and legacy.=
Scott works as a pro-
gram director for the
Traditional Ecologi-
cal Inquiry Program,
where he teaches Trib-
Joseph Scott
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al youth, families and communities. He also
works as a Tribal language curriculum consul-
tant for Betterment Labs.
His artistic medium has included everything
from <B-movies to raku pottery.= During the
fellowship, he9ll explore the <craft and beauty=
of Indigenous ore ecology as a way of life.
<There is a rhythm to the cycle of the Tribal
seasonal rounds, and inherent beauty in the role
of ore as the land and people shape each other,=
Scott said. <I think I can see some of that and I
think I can share what I see. My ancestors are
from the Rogue River Tribes. In spite of removal,
I believe our songs, ceremonies and ceremo-
nial objects send us a long connection back to
our homeland through deep ancestral under-
standing of the area9s
ecology. & Hopeful-
ly there will be new
songs and other good
words. Then, ideally,
the community will
tell the story.=
Younker works as
a Tribal Youth Water
Summit director and
has mentored others
as a Tribal carver for
Shirod Younker
several years. For
the fellowship, Younker will focus on carved
artifacts.
<Off and on for the last several years, (I) have
been discussing with cultural administrators
from Southern Oregon about the lack of cultural
artifacts in our area. (I) ogured this would help
give me some time to ond out what9s out there.=
During the fellowship, he will be researching
museum repositories to document what ancestors
left behind, mainly researching a medium to help
facilitate traditional wood carving, if possible.
<(I) hope to use the collected data to present
to other Tribal carvers to see if we can start a
movement to perpetuate traditional carving that's
uniquely tied to both our geography and ances-
tors,= Younker said. <Our art forms help inform us
of the values of ancestors, so it's only right that if
we are in the process of making our communities
whole again, that we take a good look to find,
replicate and put into
practice the art forms
that epitomized their
philosophies and prin-
ciples.=
Aisea is the found-
er and digital creator
of Lofanitani LLC
and also works as a
production assistant
for Warner Brothers
Production & Apple
Lofanitani Aisea
TV.
<Art has been a tool
that I, my people, and my ancestors have used
to survive,= she said in her artist portfolio intro-
duction. <I truly believe Indigenous art is vital
to the survival and thriving of our communities.
Creating art, claiming space, building communi-
ty, and pushing the boundaries of what Natives
can have always (has) been what my life has
been about. Telling stories brings me joy. I make
olms and series on my ancestral homelands with
our community that explore the raw and rigid
beauties of place-based Indigenous storytelling
through horror, comedy and drama.= þ
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