Renewal: A conversation with luk’upsíimey / North Star Collective: núunim nimipuutímt, núunim wéetes/our language, our land
Join us in a very special celebration of Summer Fishtrap’s theme of “Renewal” with luk’upsíimey / North Star Collective, a group of Nez Perce artists, writers, and Indigenous language activists who write and perform in Niimiipuutimt / Nez Perce language, speaking with and from their ancestral homelands of the Wallowas.
Friday, July 15, 2022 – 7:30pm
Wallowa Lake Lodge
“As members of luk’upsíimey/North Star Collective, we express our love and commitment to our language, our land, and our collective future as niimiipuu through creative expression. In our program, we will share a range of writings, stories, and expressive movement, including a nimipuutímtki oration of a historical narrative of Chief Joseph’s name in relation to Wallowa Lake (with English translation), an original monologue, poems and stories, a “words to movement” performance, and a meditation on the theme of renewal. Reflecting our practice as a writing collective devoted to language revitalization, we center nimipuutímt (language), wé:tes (land), and nimipuuwítki (ways of doing) in the works that we share.”
The Presenters:
Julian Ankney is Nimiipuu residing on the Nez Perce Reservation in Lapwai Idaho, she teaches Native Literature, creative writing fiction/nonfiction, English 101, and a language revitalization class that focuses on reclamation, revitalization, and the importance of Nez Perce language and culture. Ankney is currently the fiction editor for Blood Orange Review and co-director of the Visiting Writers Series at WSU. Ankney is a voice on The Old Mole at Portland’s KBOO radio, and her work is published in Talking River,Yellow Medicine Review, and EcoArts on the Palouse. Lastly, Ankney is a member of the Nimiipuu Luk’upsíimey Writer’s Collective.
Phillip Cash Cash (PhD) is of the Cayuse and Nez Perce Nations of Oregon and is a younger speaker of Nez Perce, one of the world’s most beautiful Indigenous endangered languages. He is an artist, writer, published poet, translator, and award winning scholar. He received his double doctorate in Linguistics and Anthropology in 2018 from the University of Arizona. He is committed to community-based language research that fosters an exploration of contemporary nascent Indigenous realities.
Sarah Hennessey is Nimíipuu and she is a poet, performer, playwright, and youth empowerment theater practitioner. Her work highlights the symbiosis of storytelling and language reclamation. By integrating her penchant for literature and performance into her educational outreach, Sarah infuses her instruction with not just interdisciplinary pedagogy, but also both traditional and contemporary storytelling techniques. Her work has been published in literary journals such as Yellow Medicine Review and Pork Belly Press. Her first short play Weet’u Naqaacnim ‘iceyeeye’ (Not My Grandmother’s Coyote) was featured in Lewis-Clark State College’s Humanifest in Spring of 2021.
Beth Piatote is a writer of fiction, poetry, essays, plays, and scholarly works. Her 2019 mixed-genre collection, The Beadworkers: Stories, was longlisted for the Aspen Words Literary Prize and the PEN/Bingham Prize for Debut Short Story Collection, and shortlisted for the California Independent Booksellers “Golden Poppy” Award for Fiction. Her play, Antíkoni, was selected for the 2020 Festival of New Plays by Native Voices at the Autry, and continues in development for stage; her poems, stories, and essays appear in numerous journals and anthologies. She is Nez Perce, enrolled with the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, and a founding member of luk’upsíimey/North Star Collective, a group of Nez Perce writers and language activists. She is an associate professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Berkeley.
Angel Sobotta, Ta-lalt-lilpt Sunset is a member of the Nez Perce Nation, the Nimiipuu people. She comes from a line of historians and storytellers. Ancestors from her mother’s side come from the White Bird, Salmon River, and Seven Devil’s country in Idaho and Oregon.The Wallowa band is on her father’s side, from Wallamutkin and his son was Old Chief Joseph. His daughter and sons were Sarah, Ollokut and Chief Joseph. Sarah married into the Black Eagle family. Rebecca Black Eagle married Francis McFarland. They had a son, John or known also as Jack, who married ‘eele’, (paternal grandma) Louise High Eagle Matthews, and had Angel’s father, Larry Laverne McFarland, Sr. Angel has been a Nez Perce Language Program Coordinator, a Nez Perce Arts Council and a Nez Perce Appaloosa Horse Club member since 1998. She has written and produced Nez Perce legends and original stories with Niimíipuu youth since 1997. She also wrote “Walking on Sacred Ground: The Nez Perce Lolo Trail” (2003) and “Surviving Lewis and Clark: The Niimíipuu Story” (2005) that she also narrated. Both documentaries received the Aurora and Telly Awards respectively. Her film experience includes the 1994 movie “Lakota Woman”, as Barbara. An on stage performance of Tim’néepe — Heart of the Monster was her Master’s research project at the University of Idaho. She received her interdisciplinary Masters in May 2013 and is currently pursuing a doctoral degree at the UofI, documenting Indigenous knowledge within Coyote stories. Her husband is Bob Sobotta, Niimiipuu, and they have four children – Payton, Glory, Grace and Faith.
Kellen Trenal (pronounced like “Chanel”) is a visual artist, performer, small business owner, alumnus of the University of Notre Dame, and holistic wellness enthusiast, born and raised in the Pacific Northwest. Proudly representing both African (Black American) and niimíipuu (Nez Perce) ancestry, Kellen embraces these multiple identities to empower their work in all its manifestations. Kellen shares (he)artwork through Trenal Original, a traditional-arts based, 2SLGBTQ+/BIPOC-owned, small business. Each piece is a custom creation aimed at bettering conditions for historically excluded communities. Kellen utilizes a wealth of Indigenous knowledge to explore the tradition of continual innovation. The works range from hand-crafted accessories and jewelry design, gallery art, traditional niimíipuu regalia, modern apparel, to much more.
Kellen’s work is best understood as a meditation, recording thousands of hours of dedicated time to developing a variety of artistic skills. With the use of modern materials, Kellen continues a great legacy of ancestral traditions passed down through the generations.