Indigenous Creatives

Indigenous Creatives

Arts and Music Series / 1 Season

Indigenous Creatives – Season One, a production of Nia Tero, spotlights diverse artists and culture bearers rooted in a variety of creative practices from across Turtle Island and Pasifika. Each of the featured participants share common threads through both the personal and cultural breadth, depth and meaning of Indigenous storytelling and care of the Earth.

3m 58s

Linley B. Logan

S1 E2 / 4m 29s

Seneca artist Linley B. Logan talks about how growing up in matriarchal culture and living off the land emphasizes a connection to everyone, and how working with other Indigenous artists heightens this connectivity to each other and the land to push the boundaries of contemporary Native art.

John Taukave

S1 E3 / 4m 33s

Rotuman musician and performer John Taukave shares how Rako Pasefika brings awareness of Rotuman culture and art to inspire young Pacific artists to create and express their own art and stories; and the importance of togetherness and diversity of Indigenous storytelling throughout the world.

Kiliii Yuyan

S1 E4 / 3m 42s

Nanai/Hèzhé photographer and filmmaker Kiliii Yuyan shares his connection to heritage through his mother and grandmother’s cultures, and how building experiences on the land with other people led to his passion in storytelling through photography; and that Indigenous photographers are ambassadors between worlds.

Mia Kami

S1 E5 / 4m 21s

Tongan singer and songwriter Mia Kami talks about how storytelling is a way of reconnecting with Indigenous roots and identity for all Indigenous people, and that songwriting is a vehicle for messages that tell the importance of Indigenous ways of environmental conservation and connecting to nature.

Asia Youngman

S1 E6 / 4m 16s

Cree/Métis/Haudenosaunee filmmaker Asia Youngman talks about how initially working in public health inspired her to create films to uplift and support Indigenous youth; and how the overlapping themes of land, connectivity and tradition create empowering representations of Indigenous youth and women.

Alex Sallee

S1 E7 / 4m 33s

Iñupiaq filmmaker Alex Sallee shares how they were inspired by an understanding of the cultural significance of sound in Indigenous storytelling; and how their desire to represent Indigenous women, matriarchs and queerness informs their work in film, radio and community across Turtle Island.

Chad Charlie

S1 E8 / 4m 38s

Chad Charlie talks about knowing he was a storyteller all his life, continuing his familial tradition of oral storytelling through film with a contemporary lens, and involving community members to inspire an understanding of the true stories.

Justyn Ah Chong

S1 E9 / 3m 42s

Kanaka Maoli filmmaker Justyn Ah Chong begins by describing his work as being centered around Hawaiian culture, issues and stories. He shares how his work is spiritually rooted and how these stories can be a vessel for Indigenous people to connect to identity and self.

Lehuauakea

S1 E10 / 4m 20s

Kanaka Maoli kapa maker and artist Lehuauakea talks about growing up with glimpses of traditional practices and culture to reclaim these through learning painting and kapa, and how meaningful it is to bring it back into contemporary Indigenous life, and for future generations of Indigenous people.

Ciara Lacy

S1 E11 / 4m 55s

Kanaka Maoli filmmaker Ciara Lacy describes her heritage and growing up Chinese-Hawai’ian. She talks about the difficulty of stepping away from connectivity and, ultimately, the need to focus on the creative process and the collective shift in perspective and work to come.

Wa Na Wari

S1 E12 / 8m 39s

Wa Na Wari co-founders Inye Wokoma and Elisheba Johnson share some histories of Seattle’s Central District and the mission of Wa Na Wari as a meaningful creative and cultural space. They discuss the interconnectivity of Black and Indigenous liberation to lift each other up through art and community.

Raven Two Feathers

S1 E13 / 3m 53s

Cherokee/Seneca/Cayuga/Comanche filmmaker, poet and multidisciplinary artist Raven Two Feathers shares how storytelling in their art is about being as truthful and honest as possible; and discusses their history in writing and filmmaking that expanded their practice into multiple disciplines across media.

Rooted

S1 E14 / 5m 1s

Mia Kami wrote and directed “Rooted” to reflect the deep connection between people of the Pacific, their land, sea and their identity. The video portrays a diverse group of strong, beautiful and creative people with many stories to tell who are rooted in their place, cultures and traditions.

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