Author: Erika Ross

Thelma Whiskers was raised by her grandparents and parents in the Ute way of life. From them, she learned two Native languages, Ute and Navajo, and the traditions of her people. Thelma knows the Ute handgame and Bear Dance, weaves baskets out of willows, makes cradleboard for her grandchildren, and…

Jennie Seminole Parker (Northern Cheyenne) is from the Tongue River area of Ashland, Montana.  Her Cheyenne name, Otse’eme, translates into “Brave Woman.” She is a Sundance Woman who stands strong in her belief that ceremonies help heal the people and the land. Jennie is fluent in the Cheyenne language and…

Faith Spotted Eagle is a mother, grandmother and matriarch who protects and defends the sacred.  She was born into this role, having her entire community flooded by the United States Army Corp of Engineers in building the Fort Randall Dam on the Missouri River.   Faith descends from the Oceti/Peta…

Born to Yuchi parents and raised on her father’s allotment in Sapulpa, Oklahoma, Maxine Wildcat Barnett learned to speak English at public school but was allowed to speak only Yuchi at home, at the insistence of her grandma Eliza.  She never forgot those precious words.  Today, Maxine is the last…

Sharon M. Day is enrolled in the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe, and makes her home in Minnesota, where she is a founder and executive director of the Indigenous Peoples Task Force, a vital provider of culturally appropriate health services, programs and housing. She is a grandmother, great-grandmother, and an…

Carrying a wealth of traditional knowledge, Onita provides culture-based care for her remote rural community. Her work sheds light on the ways Indigenous and Western practices, often regarded as opposing forces, can complement one another.  Onita’s knowledge of Native plants for medicinal purposes and nutrition has made her an invaluable…

Diane Brown, known as GwaaG̱anad, has lived her life in close relation with the land, waters and wildlife of Haida Gwaii. The remote cluster of more than 150 islands is about 80 miles off the coast of what is now British Columbia. It’s where Diane grew up speaking only Haida,…

Elder Kathy Wan Povi Sanchez – Brief Life Narrative Kathy Wan Povi Sanchez a fourth-generation Tewa traditional potter from San Ildefonso Pueblo in northern New Mexico was well nurtured by matriarchal ancestors Maria and Julian Martinez. Not only was she nurtured in the art of the distinctive black ware pottery,…