Episode 76: Indigenous Queer Resilience Through R.I.S.E. Fellowships - a podcast by Ginger Dunnill

In this episode BBP sits down with R.I.S.E. founder/director Demian DinéYazhi´ to find out exactly what is was like to launch  R.I.S.E. Fellowship, the first of its kind, which centers Indigenous Queer, Gender Gradient/Non-Conforming, Trans, and/or Two Spirit artists and poets. We talk about the many reasons for creating this fellowship through R.I.S.E. and go into the process of putting out the call, reviewing applicants and long term community relationships with all artists and poets who applied, including but not limited to the recipients. We also get into conversation with R.I.S.E. Fellowship lead recipient artist Katherine Paul / Black Belt Eagle Scout (Swinomish Indian Tribal Community / Iñupiat NANA Shareholder), and additional R.I.S.E. Fellowship recipients Whess Harman (Lake Babine Nation) and fabian romero (Purepecha) who all share about their practices and explain what it means to them to have been selected as a 2018 R.I.S.E. Fellow.

R.I.S.E.: Radical Indigenous Survivance & Empowerment is an Indigenous led artist/activist initiative amplifying Indigenous Queer, Trans, Gender Non-Conforming/Gradient, Two-Spirit, and Matriarchal voices that challenge and actively decolonize heteropatriarchal and settler colonial sociopolitical structures.

For its inaugural fellowship, R.I.S.E. is honored to celebrate the critical work of three Indigenous Queer, Gender Gradient/Non-Conforming, Trans, and/or Two-Spirit artists. The award of a $1,000 unrestricted Artist Fellowship is presented to R.I.S.E. Fellowship lead recipient artist Katherine Paul / Black Belt Eagle Scout (Swinomish Indian Tribal Community / Iñupiat NANA Shareholder), and thanks to a generous donation, R.I.S.E. is also able to offer two additional $500 fellowships recognizing the invaluable work of Whess Harman (Lake Babine Nation) and fabian romero (Purepecha).

This year, our artistic panel of three Indigenous artists and organizers gathered to carefully select the 2018 Fellows, facilitated by R.I.S.E. founder/director Demian DinéYazhi: Hank Cooper (Arts Program Manager at Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center), Kevin Holden (artist and co-director of LOCUSTS zine), and Ginger Dunnill (founder of Broken Boxes Podcast, founding member of Winter Count Collective, and Indigenous Goddess Gang and Dear Patriarchy contributor).

On behalf of the judges, R.I.S.E. congratulates the rigorous, crucial, and compelling work of the R.I.S.E. Fellowship Recipients who exemplified all the criteria and objectives highlighted in the Fellowship. R.I.S.E. would like to thank the all the applicants who applied to this year's Fellowship and additionally honor all the time and energy put into their application, but more importantly the passion and dedication each artist and poet brings to their art and community. We would like to also address three honorable mentions for this year's cycle: Cleo Keahna (White Earth Ojibwe, Meskwaki, Blackfeet, Sioux), AuMAR (Edo (Nigeria) & Bassa (Cameroun)), and Dåkot-ta Alcantara-Camacho (Matao). We encourage all applicants to apply to next year's Fellowship and invite you to join us in celebrating this year's Fellows and the numerous applicants whose work is equally empowering and of critical importance!

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