Program and Presenters - Casting a Net of Story

Soroptimist House, California State University Long Beach

 Friday, November 2, 2012 – Symposium  

9:00-10:00 a.m  Registration (free, donations accepted)

10:00   Welcome -- Cindi Alvitre (Tongva),

Ernest Siva (Serrano/Cahuilla), CISA Board Chair

Louie Robles (Acjachemen) - Master of Ceremonies

10:15   

--> The Life Work and Collective Song  of Sam Kaha`i Ka'ai

10:30   Sam Ka’ai (Hawaiian), Opening Speaker

11:00   Water Forum: Kealoha Blake (Hawaiian), moderator

              Cindi Alvitre (Tongva), Darryl B. Wilson (Iss/At’we), 

             Brian Tripp (Karuk), Ernest Siva (Serrano/Cahuilla), 

             Angela Mooney D' Arcey  (Acjachemen)

11:45   Speaker - Mahina Rapa Tuki - The Welling Being of Our Peoples

12:15  Announcements

12:30-1:15 Lunch  Break

1:15     Speaker - China Leipakumakaniokalani Ching – Indigenous Peoples’ Biocultural Climate Change Assessment Initiative

1:45     Panel: Canoe Cultures and the Conditions of our Waterways and Our Relationship to the Rivers, Oceans and Living Creatures of the Water- Marcus Lopez (Chumash), facilitator, Rico Miranda (Ohlone), Elaine Grinnell (S'Klallam), Woody Morrison (Haida),  Takirirangi Smith (Maori), Sam Kaai (Hawaiian)

2:30     Break

2:45     Brian Tripp (Karuk), The Salmon Story

3:30     Community Dialogue

4:00     Closing Song by Brian Tripp (Karuk)


Saturday, November 3, 2012 - Storytelling Festival

12:30 pm Registration

1 pm    Welcome

1:15     Darryl Babe Wilson , Ph.D. (Iss/At’we) 

1:45     Brian Tripp (Karuk)

2:15     Elaine Grinnell (S'Klallam)

2:45     Woody Morrison (Haida)

3:15 – Break

3:30     Takirirangi Smith (Maori)

4:00     Mahina Rapu Tuki (Rapanui)

4:30     Rico Miranda (Ohlone), Closing Song

    

Biographies of Presenters

 

California

Darryl Babe Wilson (Iss/A’te) Ph.D. is founder of CISA and a member of the Pit River tribes of Northeastern California, he holds a doctorate in Comparative Ethnic Literature from the University of Arizona.  Dr. Wilson is a scholar, writer, poet, storyteller, oral traditions expert, and teacher.  He is a published author of a variety of articles and books on California Indian culture and history and, in particular, the history of his tribe’s connection with Hawaiians from long ago to today through the oral traditions and more.

Ernest Siva (Serrano/Cahuilla) is the Chair for the CISA Board. He is a tradition bearer, storyteller, ethnomusicologist in American Indian music hailing from the Morongo Reservation in Banning, CA.  He is one of the founders of the Malki Museum at Morongo and the Dorothy Ramon Learning Center has worked to preserve the culture and history of tribe from southern California, such as Cahuilla Bird Songs and the Serrano language.

Mati Waya (Chumash) is a ceremonial leader and Dolphin Dancer and a lifelong resident of Ventura County.  He founded the Wishtoyo Foundation, a non-profit organization, in 1997.

Mr. Waiya addresses cultural resource laws protecting sensitive archaeological sites as well as endangered species and natural resources. He is involved with Chumash cultural preservation and educational programs teaching the Chumash values and environ-mental preservation.

Deborah Sanchez (Chumash) is a poet and storyteller who devotes herself to the preservation of Chumash language and culture. She is a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge, the first Native American judge elected to the Superior Court. Deborah is a member of the California Tribal and State Court Forum and is the co-chair of the Barbareño Chumash Council. 

Rico Miranda (Ohlone) is a teacher and researcher, singer and historian. He is an activist in the preservation of Ohlone culture, songs, and stories.

Louie Robles, Jr (Acjachemen) is a storyteller and culture bearer from the Acjachemen tribe in southern California, near San Juan Capistrano.

Brian Tripp (Karuk) is a renowned and multitalented artist, poet and traditional singer. His studio is located in Eureka. As an honored Karuk traditionalist, singer and dancer, Tripp has been instrumental in the preservation of his people’s traditions.  In addition to being a highly regarded contemporary visual artist, Tripp serves as a cultural consultant for a number of organizations. Tripp has exhibited and lectured in San Francisco and New York, as well as having done residencies at the Kunst in Der Landshaft, Prigglitz, Austria, Ecoe d’Art Aix en Provence, Provence, France, and the Open Air Modern Art Museum in Pedvale, Lativa.  His paintings are modern and hard-edged, yet faithfully based on Karuk designs.  

Angela Mooney D' Arcey  (Acjachemen), has been working with Tribal Nations, Indigenous peoples, and grassroots organizations on Indigenous environmental justice issues for over fourteen years.  She teaches Indigenous Cultural Resource Protection Law in Theory and Practice as part of the UCLA Extension and Tribal Learning and Community Educational Exchange Program, Native Nations Law and Policy Center’s Working in Tribal Communities program. She is also the Co-Director for the United Coalition to Protect Panhe (UCPP), a grassroots alliance of Acjachemen people dedicated to the protection of their sacred sites.

 

Georgiana Sanchez (Chumash), CISA Board member, is a storyteller, poet, writer and professor of Native American Literature at California State University, Long Beach.  She works extensively in the community as a cultural tradition bearer, language learner and activist.  

Marcus Lopez (Chumash) is the Co-Chair of the Barbareno Chumash Council and Tomol Captain for the Chumash People. He is an activist in the preservation of sacred sites and a builder of the Tomol--the traditional plank canoe of the Chumash people. Currently, he is the host and producer of American Indian Airwaves on KPFK in Los Angeles and

Coyote Radio in Santa Barbara.

Paul Kealoha Blake (Hawaiian) CISA Board, is a videographer, musician and cultural activist. He has worked within the Native Hawaiian community for more than 20 years. His production, with the Pacific Island Cultural Association, concerning the arrival of the voyaging canoe Hoku'lea in California has won numerous awards both nationally and internationally. He has collaborated with CISA since 1998 as an organizational and cultural advisor and as CISA’s primary videographer/documentarian. He has participated as a founder of the League of Indigenous Voices since 2007.

China Leipakumakaniokalani Ching is the Associate Program Officer for The Christensen Fund. She works on both the San Francisco Bay Area Program and in the Global Program focusing on supporting and increasing Indigenous participation and representation in global processes affecting Biocultural Diversity and in global policy work. China has provided capacity-building assistance to Indigenous communities across the United States and in Africa with a particular focus on using media technologies and storytelling to promote social and community change and to complement cultural documentation and preservation.  China was a founding member of Third World Majority, a new media training and production resource center where she was the Director of Circle of Voices, a Native-specific training program.  China holds a Master’s Degree in Oral History from Columbia University.

Washington – Elaine Grinnell, (S’Klallam) is a basketweaver and storyteller, a teacher, counselor of native American students and historian for her Tribe, and conveyor of Native American culture and language for forty years.

Alaska – K ‘awan Sangaa--Woodrow Morrison (Haida) is a lawyer and writer who resides in Vancouver, Canada. During the past 15 years he has worked as a Cultural/Story Consultant on 17 Hollywood films. K ‘awan Sangaa ‘s travels have taken him to Aotearoa, Samoa, Tonga and Fiji, to all but 2 of the 50 US States, 5 of Canada’s 10 Provinces and to most of the countries of Northwestern Europe.

Hawaii – Sam Ka‘ai (Hawaiian) is a visionary and storyteller of metaphoric expression, a principal in the Hawaiian warrior movement, a teacher and a mentor to many Native Hawaiians. Recognized for his vast knowledge of history and cultural practices, Ka‘ai is a master woodcarver and artist of ceremonial ‘awa bowls and an internationally renowned collection of weaponry, basketry, and fishhooks. He is an Native oceanographer and fisherman who has been instrumental in inspiring the preservation and presentation of Hawaiian Maritime Culture, Hawaiian language and history.

Aotearoa (New Zealand) – Takirirangi Smith, Ph. D, (Maori) the multifaceted artist; an accomplished master carver, sculptor, painter, contemporary music performer and composer. He had lead the carving of 7 carved meeting houses, several entrances, gateways and facades in New Zealand. He is also an accomplished carver of canoes and has particular interest in reviving the Maori small sailing canoes. 

Rapanui (Easter Island) - Mahina Rapa Tuki is a cultural preservationist and activist, devoted to protecting Rapanui from extinction.  She is an internationally renowned culture bearer, singer and storyteller.