Panel time and more info coming soon!

Native Artists on the Frontline of Social Justice focuses on the intersection between the arts and social justice efforts in indigenous communities throughout the United States. The session will feature NACF National Artist Fellows: Layli Long Soldier (Oglala Lakota), whose poem WHEREAS challenged an official “apology” to Native Americans by the US Federal Government; Allison Warden aka AKU-MATU (Iñupiaq), whose hip-hop performances embody different characters including an Ancestor from the Future and a polar bear who laments, "Oh, Where Did All the Ice Go?" Anthony Hudson aka Carla Rossi (Grand Ronde), whose Looking for Tiger Lily confronts white supremacy, complacency and the confusion of “mixed” identities; and Cannupa Hanska Luger (Mandan, Hidatsa/Arikara/Lakota), whose Mirror Shields were part of protest actions at Standing Rock Reservation. This panel will delve into tactics Native artists are taking up to push back on centuries of cultural oppression. We will revisit the Occupation of Alcatraz (1969-71), which established a precedent for Indian activism. John Trudell, Lakota activist on Alcatraz said, “We must be willing in our lifetime to deal with reality. It's not revolution we're after; it's liberation. We want to be free of a value system that's being imposed upon us. We do not want to participate in that value system. We don't want to change that value system. We want to remove it from our lives forever. Liberation. We want to be free”.

Panelists:

Layli Long Soldier (2015 NACF National Artist Fellow in Literature) – see:
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/layli-long-soldier
Allison Akootchook Warden (2018 NACF National Artist Fellow in Music) – see:
www.allisonwarden.com
Cannupa Hanska Luger (2016 NACF National Artist Fellow in Visual Arts) – see:
www.cannupahanska.com/
Anthony Hudson (2018 NACF National Artist Fellow in Performing Arts)