phone: (605)348-0324 FAX: (605) 348-6594
P.O. Box 2977, Rapid City, SD 57709-2977 email: info@firstpeoplesfund.org
online: www.firstpeoplesfund.org
shipping address: 601 Twelfth Street, Suite 3
Rapid City, SD 57701

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Lori Pourier, President
October 24, 2005 (605) 348-0324

(RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA) – On December 3, 2005, the First Peoples Fund will honor its 2006 Community Spirit Award recipients with an exhibit and reception at the Journey Museum in Rapid City, South Dakota, followed by an award ceremony and event at the Central High School Theater.  Each year First Peoples Fund recognizes four artists for their unselfish work to bring spirit back to their communities through their artistic expression, commitment to sustaining cultural values and, ultimately, service to their people.  The honorees include;

David Moses Bridges – (Passamaquoddy/Wabanaki)
Perry, Maine

Nellie Two Bulls – (Oglala Lakota)
Pine Ridge, South Dakota

Lois Chichinoff Thadei – (Aleut)
Olympia, Washington 

Apolonia Susana Santos – (Tygh, Yakama)
Warm Springs, Oregon

 The prestigious annual fellowship award, established in 1999, recognizes four exceptional American Indian artists with a gift of $5,000. Recognized as culture bearers within their communities, artists are nominated by members of their communities and those that exemplify the idea of community spirit are selected by an independent panel of American Indian reviewers.   This year’s panel of American Indian reviewers include:  Ron Looking Elk Martinez, Isleta/Taos, Gloria Lomahaftewa, Hopi/Choctaw, Linley Logan, Seneca, Darrel Norman, Blackfeet and Jhon Goes in Center, Oglala Lakota.

“Collective Voices from the Four Directions,” an exhibit of work by 2005 and 2006 Community Spirit Award recipients will begin during the event reception at the Sioux Indian Museum at the Journey Museum.  The exhibit will run from December 3 – 31, 2005.  This is an opportunity to personally meet the honorees and purchase their art. This year’s theatrical honoring of the Community Spirit Award Recipients will be directed and produced by Periaktos Productions. 

Mayor Jim Shaw and his Honorary Host Committee representing fifty of Rapid City’s business and civic leaders invite the community to join First Peoples Fund as we embrace the true spirit of cultural diversity through arts and as we honor one of South Dakota’s cultural treasures, Nellie Two Bulls.  Jeff Viken, South Dakota Federal Public Defender, says, Grandmother Nellie Two Bulls, “She is a living treasure, her mind and spirit are sacred repositories for the songs and stories of the Lakota People”.  He added, “Her voice evokes the old days but resonates with all who listen to her in these changing times”.  Mayor Jim Shaw and the City of Rapid City have proclaimed December 3, 2005 as Community Spirit Day.   Judy Olson Duhamel, a member of the honorary host committee commented, “Last year’s event was absolutely one of the finest I’ve ever seen in this community or anywhere.”

Lori Pourier, President of First Peoples Fund, states, “we at First Peoples Fund are truly moved by these individuals whose spirit and love for life causes us to pause for a moment and simply reflect on the greater society, the beauty of the human spirit, and our own generosity towards others”.   She added, “Our Community Spirit Award recipients represent the heart of our work here at First Peoples Fund.  

Tickets are $10 per person for the honoring ceremony and event at the Rapid City Central High School or tickets may be purchased at $50 per person and includes the exhibit and banquet reception at the Journey Museum and the honoring ceremony at Central High School.   Tickets can be reserved by calling First Peoples Fund at 605-348-0324. 

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Founded in 1995, First Peoples Fund’s purpose is to honor and support the creative community-centered First Peoples artists, and nurture the collective spirit that allows them to sustain their people.  The Fund is supported in part by the Ford Foundation’s Media, Arts and Culture, New Works and the Indigenous Knowledge and Expressive Culture Initiatives, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Bush Foundation and All Tribes Foundation.

First People’s Fund is based in Rapid City, South Dakota.  www.firstpeoplesfund.org 

Nellie Two Bulls (Oglala Lakota)
Pine Ridge, South Dakota
Storyteller

“My art is my ability to sing and tell stories about my people, the Oglala Lakota. I have spent the majority of my life telling stories, and singing the traditional Lakota songs. This is my contribution to preserving our culture.” – Nellie Two Bulls

“Grandmother Nellie Two Bulls is a living treasure. Her mind and spirit are sacred repositories for the songs and stories of the Lakota people. Her voice evokes the old days but resonates with all who listen to her in these changing times. Whether at home on Pine Ridge Reservation, on the road to some cultural event in the country, singing an honoring song, or telling a story to instill virtues, Grandmother Nellie’s artistic expression will continue to educate and enliven community members and visitors long into the future”

- Jeff and Linda Lea Viken, Nominators 

Lois Chichinoff Thadei – (Aleut)
Olympia, Washington
Weaving, Printmaking 

“Weaving is the core of my creative expression.  Guided by an ancient hands and echoes of voices recently passed, I manipulate materials.  The pieces determine their own dimension and form, I offer only the hands.  Others are the heart and soul of my work.  Storytelling and Printmaking frame the Weaving.  My art is practiced with friends, across artistic disciplines and sometimes miles.  Once I acquire knowledge, I immediately pass it on to others, for I cannot remember alone.  I believe the bit of knowledge I have, when paired with a bit of knowledge from another will be bigger than the both. ”

– Lois Chichinoff Thadei

“Lois is a tireless teacher and artist.  She has taught numerous weaving classes.  She is one who teaches by example and one always feels richer having spent even a little time with her. She tells stories, passes along technical skills, finds a venue to show off their accomplishments and then she moves on, Lois engages people in an almost magical way.” – Pete Peterson, Sr., Nominator

Apolonia Susana Santos (Tygh, Yakama)
Warm Springs, Oregon
Painting and Sculpture 

“Through the passing of generations, indigenous are becomes an historic and cultural document of our existence. The next generation may vary well be dependant on our art and how we act today, for their continued survival. I create art as an effort to manifest or explore the human spirit and to heal the wounded spirits. I only hope that my art serves to depict strong images of nature, women and our men, in order to recapture memory. I believe Art has curative powers. My new directive in Medicine Art is to first; heal myself, and our people with the formula that we developed to fight cancer. This personal journey to healing and artistic enlightenment involved the prayers and ceremonies of medicine societies and people throughout the world from the Canadian and Amazon rainforests, Hawaiian Islands, Mexico and, other Indigenous and interfaith communities.” – Apolonia Susana Santos 

“Susana has always been so generous with herself.  Through sharing her skills and talents with others, especially the youth, she has assisted directly in the transformation of many lives through artistic expression, cultural teaching, and by providing valuable information she has learned along her path about caring for our Mother Earth and all she provides us.” – Susan Balbas, Nominator 

David Moses Bridges – (Passamaquoddy/Wabanaki)
Perry, Maine
Birch Bark Canoes and Baskets 

“As I work within our Wabanaki communities I feel a deep connection with the past and I remind our young people that this work is not mine alone.  It was created by the land and our people.  My canoes are built to match the traditional hull forms developed by my people, the Passamaquoddy, Penobscot and Malecite, and use traditional methods of fastening and joining.  No nails, screws or other metal fasteners are used in their construction” – David Moses Bridges 

“David’s canoes, his art, are based on a particular worldview that’s not only uniquely Passamaquoddy, it is an expression that promises and speaks to Passamaquoddy cultural vitality and creativity.” – Vera Francis, Nominator