Guided by Ancestors: Reconnecting with Culture Bearers Through Film

This past year, our founder and senior fellow, Lori Pourier, traveled nearly 20,000 miles across Turtle Island from Tlingit homelands in Alaska to Hawai‘i, to the eastern shores of Wampanoag territory, and to the Qualla boundary of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Nation to reconnect with six remarkable Culture Bearers.

After 26 years of honoring more than 126 tradition keepers from over 100 tribal nations, we felt it was time to sit down with them, share stories, and reflect on what this collective journey has meant and where it might lead us next. With the support of talented filmmakers, we visited our honorees, to learn how far they have come since receiving First Peoples Fund’s highest honor, the Jennifer Easton Community Spirit Award.

“If you talk about baskets and other traditional things, and somehow, they were lost — what would you do to get them back? “

Our first visit was with Alfred “Bud” Lane on the Siletz Reservation in Oregon. While filming, Bud wasted no time in getting to the heart of his message: “If you talk about baskets and other traditional things, and somehow, they were lost — what would you do to get them back? “ His messages resonates deeply. In 1955, the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz were terminated by an act of Congress, and it took 22 years to restore their federal recognition and recently gain their fishing and hunting rights. Since then, Bud and a handful of others have dedicated their lives to revitalizing their language, rebuilding the traditional plank (dance) house, and making regalia for their dances. Bud stands with conviction, noting that the younger generation now grows up with these traditions intact — never having to imagine life without them.

“If you believe in it, you can make a living from it”.

Tahnibaa Nataanii and her mother, Sarah (featured in Fry Bread Face and Me), share a quiet moment at their kitchen table speaks volumes of the intergenerational love and the value of weaving and speaking the language as sovereign act. Sarah, shares her wisdom she learned from her mother:  “If you believe in it, you can make a living from it”. It was so important to Tahnibaa maternal grandmother she gave her name, translating to The Weaver.  In the film, Tahnibaa describes it as the seed being planted by her mother who gave it water through the sheep and their wool.  Years later, Tahnibaa would move home to living the cycle of the land and sheep.  “Weaving Embraces You” became the title of  Tahnibaa film, expressing the spiritual power of weaving and embraces every part of their very being.  Through hardship, both Sarah and Tahnibaa learned that everything they needed to make a living was already in their hands. Something Sarah’s mother told her early in her marriage. 

“Weaving taught me patience. Weaving taught me perseverance,”

In Lani Hotch’s story, we learn the critical importance of language and how it connects them to all living beings, grounds them in their clan roles within family and community while serving as a tool for healing and reclaiming cultural heritage. For Lani, this has taken many forms: a healing robe, a youth fish camp, a longhouse, and ultimately, a heritage center centering Chilkat weavers from Klukwan. “Weaving taught me patience. Weaving taught me perseverance,” Lani reflects. Today, the tribe council and its members are fighting to protect the Chilkat River and the five species of salmon it sustains. Together with four other weavers, Lani is creating woven representations of the five salmon species, using their artform as a platform to teach the world about environmental stewardship.

We were honored to learn our four of our films were selected to premiere at SWAIA’s Get Indigenous Film Festival during the 103rd Indian Market, in partnership with the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture. 

‍“First Peoples Fund’s support of these artists demonstrates how narrative change happens when we center Indigenous voices and celebrate those who dedicate their lives to keeping our cultures alive and flourishing. Through film, we witness their journeys and understand how artistic excellence and community leadership are inseparable in Indigenous communities. These short films represent more than documentation; they are living classrooms that will educate countless viewers about the sacred responsibility of cultural transmission and the vital role artists play in keeping our traditions vibrant and evolving,” — Joely Proudfit, a SWAIA GIFF team member. 

During the “Narrative and Nibbles” panel at the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA), Bud, Lani and Tahnibaa shared their collective experiences as basket makers. Though they come from entirely different environments, without hesitation they agreed that our Indigenous language is central to our identities, cultural practices, and understanding our relationship to the land — including the animals, traditional foods and medicines. Most importantly, their work is never done alone, it is rooted in family and sustained by a community. 

As she begins the next series of interviews and phase of her legacy work in her Senior Fellow role, Lori reflected on her journey across Turtle Island:

‍“This journey and deep relationships with our honorees remind me that our spiritual connection to all of creation lies at the center of our work at First Peoples Fund. It is what grounds us and guides us in our responsibilities. I believe wholeheartedly that our ancestors are present in everything we do.”