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By Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer, 2015 Artists in Business Leadership Fellow  

Slack key guitarist Cyril Lani Pahinui (Native Hawaiian) has performed at Carnegie Hall, contributed to three Grammy Award–winning albums, received several Hoku Hanohano Awards, and recorded on more than 35 Hawaiian musical releases. Through First Peoples Fund, Cyril received a Community Spirit Award and two Cultural Capital fellowships. Cyril lives with his wife, Chelle, in Honolulu and Hilo.

The aroma of beef stew and rice welcomed some of the greatest Hawaiian musicians to Cyril Lani Pahinui’s home as his father’s fame grew. The setting was perfect for the rejuvenation of Hawai’i musical traditions. But it wasn’t easy for Cyril to learn.

Since his dad — music legend Gabby Pahinui — slacked his guitar strings and hid it in the closet at night, the only way Cyril could learn was to get up at 4 a.m. to prepare breakfast for Gabby so he would spend one-on-one time with Cyril. Gabby only taught those who wanted to learn, who paid attention. Listened. Practiced. Dedicated themselves.

Cyril’s dedication paid off the day his dad asked him to join his band. That moment began a lifetime of mastering what Gabby and other slack key guitarist taught Cyril in the coming years. His dad said, “One day, my sons’ time will come.”

Cyril played with Gabby, his brothers, rock-’n’-roll bands, country music stars. He toured in Germany, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Japan, and across the U.S. with Ledward Kaapana and Dennis Kamakahi.

After Gabby passed, Cyril continued his father’s legacy. When he walked onto the stage at Carnegie Hall for a historic Hawaiian music concert, he said, “Dad, we made it.” He could feel his dad there with him, and he played as though Gabby was the only one listening, his perfect ear on every note.

Cyril found love in teaching at schools and communities throughout the Hawaiian Islands. Workshops, music videos, mentorships. He’s focused on archiving historical content while sharing it with the world. With support from previous First Peoples Fund programs, Cyril completed award-winning CDs with and for his students, expanded teaching programs, and produced a film, Let’s Play Music with Cyril Pahinui and Friends Part I, that won the Na Hoku Music Video of the Year and aired widely on PBS.

Failing health and hospitalization hasn’t stopped Cyril. He mentors advanced students from his hospital room and is creating an online monthly video series, working on an instructional book, videos and another film (Let’s Play Music Part II), organizing the 10th Annual Gabby Pahinui Waimanalo Kanikpila Festival (featuring 150 musicians and dancers), and producing a new album.

Cyril wants to ensure the next generation can carry this style of Hawaiian music forward.

By Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer, 2015 Artists in Business Leadership Fellow

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An avid painter and tattoo artist for over a decade, and a member of the Turtle Mountain Tribal Arts Association, Derek Poitra (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians) is a full-time artist. He was awarded an Artist in Business Leadership (ABL) fellowship in 2014 and 2016. Derek resides in St. John, North Dakota.

Derek Poitra sees the world through the light of his culture, which gives to him and to his art. He gives back through his time and through drumming, and now through helping other artists in his community by giving them a chance to grow their revenue.

Derek’s work is deeply rooted in oral tradition, his strongest platform when creating his art. Elder Native artists influenced his work when he was a youth working for them, cleaning their studios. He knew then he had to be an artist. He wants to influence his generation and future generations, to tell the stories behind the imagery.

With Derek’s First Peoples Fund fellowship, he purchased a quality camera, lens, and printer to create prints of his original paintings. He offers this service to other artists for whom this was far beyond their reach. Some of the artists didn’t know the possibilities. Now they do. It’s strengthening the art in his community.

The expense of an original piece is outside the budgets for most buyers in his market, but with high-quality prints, they can take pieces of art into their homes. A piece of Derek and his culture.

Though Derek does his best, always pushing his boundaries and reaching for the next hardest thing, he never thought of himself as a good artist. But the blessing of the ABL fellowship has shown him the true worth of his labor. It’s made him appreciate his life and his gift from the Creator.

By Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer, 2015 Artists in Business Leadership Fellow

Just do it. This is what Gilbert Kills Pretty Enemy III (Standing Rock Sioux) tells emerging Native artists. But it was something he had to first do himself.

His 20s passed before he realized he should take the art inside him seriously. All he needed was to pick up a pen and release his emotions on paper. Or click a mouse and create the bold lines that inspired him as a kid. Through his business, Chameleon Horse Art & Design, Gilbert has branched off into more art mediums: painting, wood burning, mixed media, ledger art.

With education and support, his personal mission is to push himself. Test limits. Pour his heart and soul into all his work.

This tenacity spills out to the artists around him in the Bear Soldier District community in McLaughlin, South Dakota. Gilbert shows other artists how every piece created is simply practice. To not worry if others don’t like what they create. Make mistakes. Fall, get up, keep at it.

To Gilbert, everyone is a sculptor, chiseling and sculpting themselves throughout their lives. He tells soon-to-be artists not to waste their abilities. Life is too short to wait for someone else’s approval. Just do it.

There were times when Gilbert thought he should have gone down a different road. But at a First Peoples Fund training, he learned he wasn’t alone on this journey. There are other artists working, creating, bringing tears of healing to peoples’ eyes with their work. He’s glad he stuck with being a Native artist. He sees the happiness his art brings – the gratitude in a friend or a stranger – and that tells him he’s doing the right thing.

First Peoples Fund has helped undergird his day-to-day business as his “art changes like a chameleon, with the strength of a horse that drives him.” He just does it.

Main photo: Toddler Moccasins by Lani Hotch (Tlingit). Image courtesy of Juliana Brown Eyes Clifford (Oglala Lakota).

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First Peoples Fund is pleased to announce the 2017 artists chosen by a national selection committee to receive the 2017 Artists in Business Leadership and Cultural Capital Fellowships. First Peoples Fund offers $5,000 annual grants to Native artists dedicated to the wellbeing of Indigenous artistic expression and its relationship to the Collective Spirit® of First Peoples.

“We are proud to welcome artists from across Indian country into the First Peoples Fund family,” said First Peoples Fund President Lori Pourier. “Each one of these fellows works within their artform and their community to further the cultural values we hold strongly at First Peoples Fund – generosity, wisdom and integrity.”

The Artists in Business Leadership program provides support for artist entrepreneurs to achieve and sustain financial independence. These Fellows are mid-career artists who have demonstrated a commitment to pursue their art as a career and are leaders in their communities.

2017 Artists in Business Leadership Fellows:

• Razelle Benally – (Oglala Lakota/Diné), independent filmmaker, Chinle, Arizona
• Jason Garcia – (Santa Clara Pueblo Tewa), printmaker, Espanola, New Mexico
• Erin Genia – (Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate), mixed media sculptor, Olympia, WA
• Annie Humphrey – (Anishinaabe / Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe), singer/songwriter, Deer River, Minnesota
• Mic Jordan – (Ojibwe), hip-hop recording artist and performer, Fargo, North Dakota
• Gunner Krogman – (Rosebud Sioux Tribe), hip-hop recording artist and performer, St. Francis, South Dakota
• Cary Morin – (Crow/Assiniboine), singer/songwriter, Fort Collins, Colorado
• Marlena Myles – (Spirit Lake Dakota), graphic and drawing visual artist, Saint Paul, Minnesota
• Wade Patton – (Oglala Lakota), drawing and painting visual artist, Rapid City, South Dakota
• John Isaiah Pepion – (Piikani), ledger and graphic visual artist, Valier, Montana
• Paul Wenell, Jr. – (Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe), hip-hop recording artist and performer, Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Tanaya Winder – (Duckwater Shoshone, Pyramid Lake Paiute, and Southern Ute), poet and spoken word artist, Boulder, Colorado
• Crystal Worl – (Tlingit Athabascan), graphic and painting artist, Juneau, Alaska

Cultural Capital Fellows are committed to keeping their tribal heritage and culture alive. First Peoples Fund’s Fellowship program provides selected artists the opportunity to further their important cultural work in their communities that is grounded in traditional values.  

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2017 Cultural Capital Fellows:

• Tasha Abourezk – (Mandan/Hidatsa), textiles and sewing artist, Omaha, Nebraska
• Lydia Apatiki – (Sivuqaghhmii – St. Lawrence Island), skin sewing artist, Gambell, Alaska
• David R. Boxley – (Ts'msyen), wood carving artist, Metlakatla, Alaska
• Deborah Magee – (Blackfeet), quillwork and beadwork artist, Cut Bank, Montana
• Mary Menadelook – (Native Village of Diomede), skin sewing artist, Little Diomede, Alaska
• Dana Tiger – (Mvskoke / Cherokee), painting artist, Muskogee, Oklahoma
• Matika Wilbur – (Swinomish/Tulalip), photographer and storyteller, La Conner, Washington

“We are humbled by the creativity, talent and community commitment this new cohort of Fellows embodies,” said Jessica Miller, First Peoples Fund program manager. “They bring a strong array of skills and cultural perspectives to our organization and the communities we partner with.”

First Peoples Fund is supported by The Ford Foundation, The Bush Foundation, Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies, Nathan Cummings Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Northwest Area Foundation, HRK Foundation, The Howe Family Foundation, Surdna Foundation, U.S.D.A. Rural Business Opportunity Grant, and Johnson Scholarship Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities, and National Endowment for the Arts.

By Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer, 2015 Artists in Business Leadership Fellow

A member of the Chilkat Indian Village Tribe in Klukwan, Alaska, Lani Hotch (Tlingit) weaves contemporary woolens in the Pacific Northwest tradition. She is a 2011 First Peoples Fund Community Spirit Award honoree, a founding member and on the board of the Jilkaat Kwaan Heritage Center nonprofit organization, and a member of the Ravenstail Weaver’s Guild.

The challenge is doing what she’s never done before — helping to revitalize an art form, a community, a people. To capture songs and stories in book form, establish a cultural center, lead a cultural renaissance, weave new patterns. All in her gentle way. Lani Hotch, 60, learned from elders, learned to encourage others how to show respect for traditional Tlingit ways.

Lani realized her people needed something tangible to heal from historical trauma when she took a seminar on the Holocaust in the early 1990s at the University of Alaska Southeast. Seeing the genocide of the Jewish people and how they healed set her on a journey after she returned to weaving in the 1990s. The inspiration of the Klukwan Healing Robe came to her at a time when her community was in transition, turmoil, and loss.

At a community gathering in 1992 to mark the beginning of the Healing Robeproject, highly esteemed elder Joe Hotch, Lani's uncle-in-law, told the story of ancestors who went on long, cold journeys — trading expeditions — traveling over the icy lake Dezadeash. The elder likened the years of cultural oppression to a long, cold journey, but the weaving of the Healing Robe signified the ending of that journey. His words were prophetic.

Years later the robe, a healing prayer, and a new song let the community collectively throw off oppression and hurt. The end of their long, cold journey.

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Haa Aan Kaa woo, Haa toot dax, kei aanwatee.

Haa toowoosigoo ka yei al’eix aan kaawooch haa, ee yaaw lidlaak

God took away the sadness, the heaviness we carried and presented unto us joy

     and dancing as a permanent gift.

Many good things have come to their village since then.

In 2016 — through funding from the Surdna Foundation, assistance through First Peoples Fund, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services — the Jilkaat Kwaan Heritage Center opened its new exhibit for the community and visitors. When visitors walk into the Chilkat Cultural Landscape Map exhibit, they are grounded by the huge 15-foot by 30-foot map. Next comes paintings by Haines, Alaska artist Rob Goldberg of Chilkoot and Chilkat villages that no longer exist; a carved wood panel depicting Three Guardsman Peak by master carver Jim Heaton; a glass-and-wood sculpture depicting Dikeenak Yeigi, or the Ever Present Spirit, as he is found within the glacier; and a mannequin with traditional clothing made by Jennie Wheeler (FPF 2016 Community Spirit Honoree).

By Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer, 2015 Artists in Business Leadership Fellow

Brian Szabo is a Sicangu Lakota artist who creates contemporary jewelry with traditional motifs. He and his family of five live in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

A perpetual learner of his craft, culture and heritage, Brian Szabo puts that knowledge to use as he creates jewelry and knives made with traditional materials. He grew up watching and working alongside his father, an accomplished silversmith, who helped guide his work. Brian learned the art of using natural and traditional elements, and how to apply a contemporary twist while working with buffalo, elk, deer, antelope bone, horn and antler, turquoise, lapis, black onyx (beads), fossilized ivory, silver, wood, carnelian and red pipestone, which is an important material to the Lakota.

Brian learned to apply what he knows through his work while balancing the critical things in life — caring for and showing respect to family and friends; giving his time and knowledge to others; and taking pride in his culture and history. In Wisconsin, he welcomes questions from the many people interested in Lakota culture. He does his best to educate them and continues to learn more himself so he can become a strong voice for his people. To become a leader for Native arts.

Balancing full-time art with his full-time job of being a stay-at-home father brings tradition, creativity and raising a family together for a fulfilling experience. His wife, Angie, splits her time between teaching middle school art, being a mom and fitting her own pursuit of art into the mix. They’ve supported one another’s art since they met and fell in love on the Rosebud Reservation when Angie came to teach art at the middle school.

Though Brian’s work has put him on the Earth, Wood and Fire tour and garnered top awards and recognitions at the Eiteljorg Indian Market, Northern Plains Indian Art Market, and Native POP, he’s still learning. He’s developing stronger confidence in his ability as a businessperson through his First Peoples Fund program. He wants to carry on what his father taught him with the hope to share what he’s learned with future generations.

By Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer, 2015 Artists in Business Leadership Fellow

Molina Parker (Oglala Lakota) is a Lakota bead artist, one in a long line of artisans from her Two Bulls and Ten Fingers families. She lives in the community of Red Shirt Table on the Pine Ridge Reservation with her husband — also an artist — and their child.

To say 2016 moved fast for Molina Parker is an understatement. The rapid passing of time included a residency at the Crazy Horse Monument; joining the B.Yellowtail Collective; having jewelry represented in the upscale jewelry store Twila True by Mardo; a business trip to Newport Beach, which involved being part of the Lakota artists represented at the True Sioux Hope Foundation Gala; acceptance into the Heard Indian Art Market; and the move to Red Shirt Table with her husband and baby. In between these travels she created a new logo, business cards and banner; designed a new line of jewelry (Grandma's Garden); and had a necklace win its division at the Red Cloud Art Show, while a bracelet won at Native POP.

But time has also slowed. Molina examined what she needed to do to move her art business from cute to professional. Her opinion has changed — rather than small pieces that sell quickly, she wants to invest in large pieces that are meaningful to her in a personal way. She takes more time to create something beautiful and with a deeper sense of pride, which enables her to sell her work.

Every day, Molina challenges herself to do something she’s never done. And with a good heart to create memories in every piece she makes, sometimes using designs inspired by her Lakota ancestors. She works primarily with size 13 Czech glass beads, elk hide, and high-quality crystals and metals. Some of her designs are inspired by Lakota clothing and accessories from the 1800s. Hers are pieces to stand the test of time, as her people have.

A passing of one test came at the SWAIA Indian Market. While Molina was there to assist her husband with his booth, fashion designer Bethany Yellowtail (Northern Cheyenne and Crow), a former FPF fellow, approached Molina and said she’d been looking for her to purchase a piece of Molina’s work. Having been inspired by all Bethany has accomplished, Molina never dreamed the founder of B.Yellowtail Collective would seek to collect from her!

Perhaps for that moment, time stood still. And Molina knew the time had come to take her art seriously.

Molina Parker is a 2016 Artists in Business Leadership Fellow.

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Cover Image: Rolling Rez Arts by Bird Runningwater

By Lori Pourier, President of First Peoples Fund

2016 MARKS A NEW CHAPTER FOR FIRST PEOPLES FUND.

We welcomed more artists and culture bearers than ever before into our fellowship programs and partnered with dozens of organizations in their efforts to build local Indigenous Arts Economies across Indian Country.

Close to home, we launched the first of its kind Rolling Rez Arts on Pine Ridge, bringing art and banking services across the reservation through our partnership with Lakota Federal Credit Union and Artspace Projects. Dances with Words™, our youth development program on Pine Ridge, is going stronger than ever. The Jennifer Easton Community Spirit Awards returned home to Rapid City to the biggest audience yet through tremendous support and generosity from the local community and our family of artists.

With our national partners we prepared for the launch of Intercultural Leadership Institute early next year. ILI is committed to cultural equity and change making within and among diverse community arts leaders. We contributed the Native perspective to the national conversation about arts, economy and community, most recently through a contribution to the National Endowment for the Arts’ 50th anniversary celebration publication, How to do Creative Placemaking.

After nearly 20 years of programming and ten years of rapid growth, First Peoples Fund also made time for a pause. We developed a detailed plan for strengthening our organization in support of Native artists, their families and their tribal communities for years to come.

But so often this year our hearts were with our relatives of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

Our thoughts were with the storytellers and the leaders of songs, dance and prayer — the culture bearers and water protectors who wove together a diverse and peaceful community of people connected by a simple truth. Mni wiconi. Water is life.

Through a collaboration with Google American Indian Network and First Peoples Fund’s artist fellow Louie Gong (Nooksack) and Eighth Generation, the first Native-owned company to produce wool blankets, we helped make possible delivery of 55 blankets to the Oceti Sakowin camp just before the season’s first big storm hit earlier this month.  

Artists and culture bearers have always been the carriers of truth, activating human integrity, connectedness and generosity. At First Peoples Fund, we know that together we enter a new chapter in which a fundamental commitment to truth and free expression is broadly in question, our work on behalf of Native artists and culture bearers is more important than ever.

Please join us. Subscribe to our newsletter, follow us on social media, volunteer, and if you are moved, please make a financial contribution.

In community spirit, lila wopila tanka.

By Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer, 2015 Artists in Business Leadership Fellow

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Ronald J. Paquin (Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa) is a self-taught traditional Native artist and birch bark canoe maker. In 2012, he received the Life time Achievement Award from the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe’s Ziibiwing Cultural Society, as well as a Native Arts and Culture Foundation National Fellowship. He has received 11 Michigan State University Master Artist Grants, multiple awards, fellowships and national recognition. Ron is an elder of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, and 2007 Community Spirit Award honoree. He and his wife Molly live in Brevort, Michigan.

While working at the Museum of Ojibwa Culture, Ron Paquin decided to make a canoe. He studied books, talked to experienced people, and by trial and error, he said he managed to build a pretty bad canoe.

A few years later he tried again, this time with his carpenter brother-in-law. Through the Michigan State University Traditional Arts Program Master Artist/Apprenticeship grant, they built a 10-foot canoe.

So far, Ron has made over 50 canoes, won multiple awards, served in artist-in-residence programs, and has apprentices. His artwork — baskets, antler carvings, walking sticks, jewelry and more — is his therapy. He never sought recognition, never dreamed it. For Ron, his credibility comes by showing up, teaching, having fun, and being honest, respectful, compassionate. This enables him and others to achieve the status of artists, not solely crafters. The awards are an honor that add to the credibility both for those who see Ron’s work and for himself to believe that he is indeed an artist. He keeps it simple with, “Whatever your little heart wants you to do, that’s what you do.”

Ron teaches workshops every year throughout Michigan — porcupine quill boxes, birch bark containers — for schools, art galleries and tribal educational programs. He’s passing on his skills and traditional art forms, teaching students how to be proud of their Native heritage. He learns things from the woods where he gathers material and from every student he teaches. Every person is unique. When people take their hands off keyboards and phones, and journey into nature, the art they create is beautiful. Ron says, “Keep your hands busy, and your mind will be straight.” Coming from a challenging background, as described in his book (Not First in Nobody’s Heart: The Life Story of a Contemporary Chippewa), Ron knows many may not be scholars, but they can still be scholarly, respected, and develop their talents.

Ron is recovering from an illness, and with support from First Peoples Fund, he’s creating art again and preparing to open his own studio. It’s his lifetime dream. What his heart wants to do.

Ronald J. Paquin is a 2016 Artists in Business Leadership Fellow, 2009 Cultural Capital Fellow, and 2007 Community Spirit Award Honoree.

By Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer, 2015 Artists in Business Leadership Fellow

WE NEVER CREATE ALONE.

Three a.m. — Clarissa Rizal (Tlingit) finished the last weaving kit with her helpers for the class coming at 9 a.m. These kits made for an easier start on a historic project.

In ancient days, Chilkat-Ravenstail robes were cut apart, the pieces given to tribal leaders. Now, woven pieces come together in a healing ceremonial robe. New beginnings pieced together.

This robe, called Weavers Across the Water, was deservedly displayed at the 2016 award show for the National Endowment of the Arts, where Clarissa received a National Heritage Fellowship.

On the world stage, well-practiced fingers spun and wove as Clarissa demonstrated this art. The robe was brought out, swaying gently on the rack. Its beauty, purity, graciousness, love and peace connected all who viewed this creation.

But Clarissa didn’t create it alone. Over fifty Northwest Coast (NWC) Chilkat and Ravenstail weavers donated their carefully woven squares to become a part of the Weavers Across the Water robe. It’s a Chilkat-Ravenstail ceremonial robe for a dignitary to wear while hosting a community NWC Canoe Gathering. And to be worn during maiden launches of traditional dugout canoes in Washington state, British Columbia, southeast Alaska, and Yukon Territory.

The idea for this monumental project came on a whim, a conversation between Clarissa and a fellow weaver that grew into the Weavers Across the Waters robe. The true honor for Clarissa came from holding each priceless square in her hand. The squares represent symbols of the canoe world — nature, animals, mankind. Mountains, ocean, rivers, lakes, canoes, paddles, faces, claws. The squares were made by people who treasure the ancient skill of weaving. They came together to create healing.

With this project, Clarissa continues to fulfill a promise to her mentor, the late Jennie Thlunaut, to help revive Chilkat weaving. The robe honors tradition and is a culmination of all that has been before. This generation is the legacy of those who came before them.

As Clarissa says, we never create alone.

Weavers who have contributed to the robe are Della Cheney, Suzi Williams, Lily Hope, Vicki Soboleff, Margaret Woods, Veronica Ryan, Catrina Mitchell, Chloe French, Annie Ross, Stephany Andersen, Karen Taug, Dolly Garza, Nila Rinehart, Teahonna James, Ursala Hudson, Edna Lamebull, Courtney Jensen, Sandy Gagnon, Kay Parker, Marilee Petersen, Alfreda Lang, Georgia Bennett, Willie White, Pearl Innes, Koosnei Rainy Kasko, John Beard, Joyce Makua, Michelle Gray, Gabrielle George, Sally Ishikawa, Darlene See, Douglas Gray, Peter McKay, Shgen George, Debra O’Gara, Marsha Hotch, Irene Lampe, Davina Barrill, Yarrow Vaara, Mary Ebona Miller, and Clarissa Rizal

Clarissa Rizal was a 2016 Cultural Capital Fellow and 2011 Artists in Business Leadership Fellow. In loving memory and honoring her spirit.

Images courtesy of Danny Frost. Danny Frost is a 2016 Artists in Business Leadership Fellow.

By Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer, 2015 Artists in Business Leadership Fellow

Follow your dream, even when your journey may be difficult. This is what Danny Frost (Cheyenne River Sioux) hopes to inspire in other artists now that he has lived his dream for over 20 years — creating tattoo art full time and supporting his family. Coming from Eagle Butte, S.D., his Native culture gives his dreams direction.

Danny’s journey has taken a new path through his First Peoples Fund’s Artist in Business Leadership Fellowship. The program allowed him to attend an airbrush getaway, Murals on Steel. He learned airbrush fundamentals he had lacked, and it gave him an understanding of what is possible. A different approach from the conventional, it took on the form of fine art or oil painting, resulting in a look of brushes, layers. Danny plays around with color palettes, ideas. There are no limits.

He’s expanded his abilities in the field he has aspired to for a long time. He’s no longer limited to having flesh to create his art with his tattoo work. He can create anything with an airbrush, making art anytime. And use it to bring awareness of his culture and community.

Danny converted his garage into an art studio. It puts him close to the love and support of his wife and three little girls. He wants his girls to be proud of their Native roots, and to know they can succeed at anything.

Danny has a vision to pay it forward, to mentor youth in his tribe. He was once where they are. With hard work and dedication, he built a business from the ground up. He wants to show them dreams can come true and how art can have a profound, positive impact.

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Though his journey has not always been easy, he’s never given up on his dream.

Follow your dream, even when your journey may be difficult. This is what Danny Frost (Cheyenne River Sioux) hopes to inspire in other artists now that he has lived his dream for over 20 years — creating tattoo art full time and supporting his family. Coming from Eagle Butte, S.D., his Native culture gives his dreams direction.   Danny’s journey has taken a new path through his First Peoples Fund’s Artist in Business Leadership Fellowship. The program allowed him to attend an airbrush getaway, Murals on Steel. He learned airbrush fundamentals he had lacked, and it gave him an understanding of what is possible. A different approach from the conventional, it took on the form of fine art or oil painting, resulting in a look of brushes, layers. Danny plays around with color palettes, ideas. There are no limits.  He’s expanded his abilities in the field he has aspired to for a long time. He’s no longer limited to having flesh to create his art with his tattoo work. He can create anything with an airbrush, making art anytime. And use it to bring awareness of his culture and community.

Danny converted his garage into an art studio. It puts him close to the love and support of his wife and three little girls. He wants his girls to be proud of their Native roots, and to know they can succeed at anything.  Danny has a vision to pay it forward, to mentor youth in his tribe. He was once where they are. With hard work and dedication, he built a business from the ground up. He wants to show them dreams can come true and how art can have a profound, positive impact.  Though his journey has not always been easy, he’s never given up on his dream.    Danny Frost is a 2016 Artists in Business Leadership Fellow. Images courtesy of Danny Frost.

By Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer, 2015 Artists in Business Leadership Fellow

A link in the chain for cultural preservation. Artwork that honors the memory of women —mentors — who have walked on. What they stood for, did and shared must be passed on. It can’t end with Leslie Deer (Muscogee [Creek] Nation).

That’s the inspiration behind Leslie’s textile art and apparel design. She adapts modernity to traditional designs, her own take on them. Photos and memories blended with her personal tastes create garments rooted in Native heritage, yet relevant to fashion today.  

Her designs are influenced by the spirals and abstract floral of the Muscogee people. This shows in the dress Leslie created for Lori Pourier (President, First Peoples Fund) to wear during the 2016 Community Spirit Awards ceremony. The motifs for Lori’s dress came from the Moundbuilder culture. The curvilinear design represents the Creator’s breath. The circular design reflects the sun and the world. This dress expresses how the Creator made everything, including each of us.

Leslie’s garments are a combination of brightly colored satins and silks (for the traditional appliqué ribbon work), simple lines and silhouettes, abstract floral designs of the Muscogee people, Woodland floral designs and printing her own art designs on fabric.

Distinct, unmistakable. Leslie’s hallmark.

She is committed to excellence, to share her art with the public, to pass on the wisdom and skills she was given. In these things, she honors her mother, who first encouraged her enthusiasm for sewing; an 82-year-old relative who is still her mentor; and her Sac & Fox mentors. Leslie learned their traditional appliqué and patternmaking techniques she now teaches youth. A link in the chain, she preserves traditional techniques and tribal designs until the next generation of artists comes to keep it up.  

Leslie knows she is right where she belongs, and at the right time. A link between the past and the future.

Leslie Deer is a 2016 Artists in Business Leadership Fellow.

Images courtesy of Leslie Deer.