First Nations Announces Inaugural Cohort of Luce Indigenous Knowledge Fellows

Clarence is from New Mexico and, over the next year, he will begin to document past and present potters of Tewa and Ohkay Owingeh heritage. He plans to write a book that celebrates Pueblo potters, their families, ancestors and the histories of knowledge and culture that Pueblo potters have invented, perpetuated and passed down for generations. When completed, this will be the first compilation of Pueblo potters written by a Pueblo person. Clarence hopes the book will help people appreciate the contributions of Pueblo potters and serve as source material for writing on Tewa Art and Culture.

Dorene has worked to reclaim Indigenous Birthing knowledge and is driven by her passion to provide a place for girls, young women, and grandmothers to access Traditional Lifeways and traditional women’s teachings. She hopes to create greater access to traditional knowledge on birthing and female Lifeways for Indigenous women who want and need that information. Her program would be a pilot; she would bring together a group would learn over a year and also produce recordings and other resources.

Montgomery is from New York and is focused on the creation, dissemination, and perpetuation of the Great Law of Peace within his community. The Great Law of Peace is essentially the constitution of the Iroquois Confederacy, a governance system that existed long before Europeans stepped foot in what is today called North America. Montgomery has not been able to identify any records or mention of a Tuscarora version of the Great Law of Peace and there are no Tuscarora elders alive with this knowledge. Thus, over the next year, he will work to translate the Great Law of Peace into the Tuscarora language. He believes that having their own version will not only lift the minds of the community but demonstrate their commitment to maintaining their language and ultimately their existence as a sovereign people. It would also reaffirm their recognition of the importance of the Haudenosaunee way of life and their belonging to the Confederacy.

Lisa is from North Dakota and will undertake research on traditional justice systems. She will assess the potential of a traditional justice program for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, conducting interviews with elders and historians, researching landmark cases, meeting with other Tribal Nations to review traditional court programs, and seeking guidance from Native-based legal organizations, universities and Native American Law programs. In collaboration with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Court officials, she plans to outline and design a quality, culturally-appropriate model of what a traditional justice system could look like for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, rooted in the values, customs, and traditions of the Standing Rock people.

Trisha is from New Mexico and is seeking to further develop and contribute to the Philosophy of Indigenous Education, a program of the Indigenous Montessori Institute (IMI), by researching and writing on Indigenous Early Childhood Development through an anti-bias/anti-racism lens. She will work on curriculum development for future Native language teachers, Montessori as a tool in service to Indigenous Education, and the history of the IMI. She will also begin writing a children’s book so that Indigenous children can see themselves and their experiences reflected in contemporary times.

Corine is from California and is one of five remaining basket weavers in her area. Over the next year, she wants to grow the number of traditional basket makers by teaching, revising and expanding her book and creating a video series on instructional basket weaving. She has spent the last three years harvesting and processing a large quantity of natural, native materials to teach larger classes and to mentor new weavers. Her weaving heals the land and the people, connecting future generations to a living cultural identity.

Hanna is from Alaska and plans to develop 4 separate collections of Alutiiq cultural objects for the purpose of expanding, sharing and celebrating Ancestral Alutiiq knowledge and stories. The first collection will consist of recreations of ancestral Alutiiq objects, made with the intention of illustrating and sharing traditional techniques. The second will highlight how traditional techniques can be used and celebrated today. The third will be a collection of miniatures designed to explain daily life and stories to young people. Lastly, the fourth will be a large-scale mural collection with pieces designed to celebrate Alutiiq history and tradition. The goal of collections is to preserve and share knowledge of Alutiiq history and stories, as well as inspire her people.

Lloyd is from Hawaiʻi and will work to create a community of ʻieʻie basketry weavers who will revitalize this practice and teach the greater Hawaiian community. Traditional weavers gather and prepare the ʻieʻie (a native woody climbing vine) rootlets for the purpose of creating sturdy baskets to sort and protect their food and personal valuables, as well as serve as the repository for their bones. For the fellowship, Lloyd will teach a cohort of students how to weave six different traditional helmets (mahiole) worn by the ruling chiefs of old Hawai’i using ʻieʻie weaving. He will also mentor and guide students to teach and demonstrate these techniques in public in order to share knowledge with Native Hawaiian and Pacific communities, raising awareness and generating interest in this unique form.

Lance is from Alaska and plans to create a Native language revitalization kit to be used by other Indigenous peoples that summarizes how to replicate best practices in their own communities. He will formalize a partnership with all entities producing Tlingit materials, create websites and blogs for the Tlingit language so that curricula can be shared and easily downloaded, and develop his own collecting, organizational and distribution abilities. He will also set up and field test at least three language access centers in Tlingit communities. “Tell me what you want your grandchildren to know and I will teach it to them,” Twitchell told his Tlingit elders.

Peter is an artist and activist from Alaska who works in the medium of Native marine mammal craftwork. He will continue his work to build a dialogue with allies in the world of environmental science to broaden the market for and to perpetuate traditional arts, such as his handmade “fur paintings.” He will also advocate for the Alaska Native lifestyle by traveling to his birthplace to interview elders on the Yup’ik creation story, marine mammal hunting, and past and present perspectives on 1971’s Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. He hopes to learn how the elders anticipate subsistence will evolve in the future, particularly in light of climate change.