Christian Parrish Takes The Gun (Apsáalooke Nation), who performs as Supaman, has won a Nammy (Native American Music Award), an Aboriginal Peoples Music Choice Award, and the 2017 MTV Video Music Award for "Best Fight Against the System"—the last as part of the group of Native and non-Native musicians who recorded "Stand Up/Stand N Rock." What motivates him, however, isn't recognition but spirituality, Native culture and values, the people he meets on the road, and the chance to make a difference in the world.
Daniel Kahikina Akaka, who died today at the age of 93, was the first Native Hawaiian to serve in the U.S. Senate. In 2013, shortly after he retired, he spoke with the museum about his determination to protect the languages, cultures, and traditions of the world's Indigenous peoples; support for Hawaiian self-determination; and hopes for Native Hawaiian young people. We're republishing Sen. Akaka's interview tonight in remembrance of his life of service.
In the Northern Hemisphere, the December solstice is the year’s day of least sunlight, when the sun takes its lowest, shortest path across the sky. North of the Arctic Circle, it is the midpoint of the period of darkness, when even twilight doesn’t reach the horizon. We asked a few of our Native friends to share traditions they’ve heard about the winter solstice. Their answers highlight winter as a time for storytelling.
In May 2018, when the museum in New York opens its new imagiNATIONS Activity Center (iAC), one highlight will be a traditional Yup’ik kayak frame—15 feet of historically correct white spruce driftwood—made at the Qayanek Qayak Preservation Center in Kwigillingok, Alaska. The New York iAC will offer young museum-goers hands-on experiences that make vivid the origins and outcomes of Native innovation, including the genius of kayak-building.
Suspension bridges, which connected Andean peoples who had previously been isolated from one another, were essential to the organization and administration of the Inka Empire and played a crucial role in the social history of the region into the 20th century. No wonder neighboring communities take pride in getting together each year to rebuild the last Inka bridge.
Autumn White Eyes (enrolled member of the Oglala Lakota Nation, Turtle Mountain Anishinaabe, Northern Cheyenne, and Pawnee descent) talks about writing, revision, and the evolution of her work. She sees poetry and spoken word as forms of oral tradition and storytelling: "I was lucky to grow up with my great grandmothers," she says, "and I loved hearing them tell stories, which always sounded like poetry to me." Their stories are one source of her inspiration; others include the writing and performance styles of John Trudell, Mayda del Valle, Tanaya Winder, Supaman.
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