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hello my name is siku alelu I am one of

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the co-curators of the woven in

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exhibition

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I’m the daughter of Mary Lynn larocque

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the founder of Indiana news from Indian

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America

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my name is Carmen Dino Vice Guerrero I’m

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the co-editor of Indiana news with Maria

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Elena Rock I’m very happy to be here

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being part of this exhibition

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documenting the historical activism on

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[Music]

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we’re delighted to share with you the

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cover and the Insight cover that from

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their issue dedicated to indigenous

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women of the Americas from 1975 1976.

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I was a student at Berkeley when I met

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Marie Lane and I fell in love with her

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project and I was able to be a

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contributor to indihina for a few years

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hindihina was the only bilingual

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newspaper in the whole American

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continent dedicated to issues of Native

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America we were able to publish this

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newspaper and circulate it to many other

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areas we should we ship them to Europe

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to South America to Mexico all over

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Canada and we always partner with aqua

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sassanine news

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who was a monthly publication and

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indigina was a quarterly publication

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yeah at the time indigenous had the most

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up-to-date and extensive reporting on

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indigenous political movements in the

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globe

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and it circulated all across the Western

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Hemisphere and was run by these

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brilliant amazing pioneering women who

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had a vision a long-range Vision vast

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interconnected Vision to interleave

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people from all nations from all

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territories in

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you struggle for indigenous people for

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life for Homeland for love of culture

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and for love of our world and to keep

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each other United and strong and focused

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with this exhibition with woven in it

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was really important to Marianne and

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Jerry and myself to unearth these

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histories that were never given proper

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documentation or recognition the

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leadership of indigenous women from all

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of these territories

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who did the lifelong work as leaders in

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their own right as representatives of

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their homelands and their families and

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their people and who worked in a spirit

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of Sisterhood and solidarity and also as

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women thinking of the future generations

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and thinking of all of the other

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life forms and everything that sustains

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our world for the betterment and

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all the beings that can’t speak for

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themselves that it’s our responsibility

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to hold up and that also in return

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sustain us I am so fortunate to have

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Carmen in my life to be able to share

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stories from that time of and from the

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love and the memory of that beautiful

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way of organizing in a spirit of love

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and connection and

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keeping each other’s fire strong

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I also see you in the exhibition that

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these women’s these activists Pioneers

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they’re breaking the ceiling they are

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also unsung heroes a lot of us don’t

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know about them so this exhibition just

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the beginning of sharing their history

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and also modeling leadership for the

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future Generations so that’s why I feel

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it’s really important to be here in this

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exhibition and to talk about this unsung

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here so we have so many of them

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is a lifetime

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to a remember and honor all of them but

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that’s what our intention is yeah

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it’s a dream come true and it’s so

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important because we were saying where

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do you find this history unless you were

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connected in a intimate way through

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relationships with the women leading

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these things where do you ever hear of

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this history and I remembered when I was

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a student here at the University of

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Victoria I did a degree in anthropology

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and Indigenous studies and I was

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studying the red Power movement and I

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was looking through all these resources

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in the libraries and everywhere I could

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find and I found incredible

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work that was led by indigenous Nations

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but it always struck me so deeply that I

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could never find the voices of the women

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and those were so rare and I knew

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through the stories of my mother and the

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stories of Carmen that they lived this

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history they lived the the fight and the

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long-term struggle of indigenous

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Resurgence and Indigenous rights and

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Indigenous Justice and I was looking for

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them and there was nowhere that that

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could be found in in all of my research

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in the archives I had to talk to people

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I had to talk to the woman that I know

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to find this and one of the most

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important things I found as a student

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was Marianne Nicholson’s Cliff painting

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her 90 1998 Cliff painting which

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you know was such a

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such an important marker in our lifetime

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to have an indigenous woman

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make a mark on her territory in the

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tradition of her ancestors that’s a

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legal affirmation and a cultural

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affirmation of sovereignty and to be

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doing that

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in this ancestral line between be

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regenerating that but especially as a

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woman in a marker on the territory that

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really struck me in a deep way and it’s

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amazing to be able to see the trajectory

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of that to the work that she’s continued

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to do with her community and

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regenerating that beautiful practice of

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connection to the land

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why was it very important to document

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those women we don’t know the story of

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Marianne and all those Cliff paintings

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but it’s absolutely amazing to think

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that one person could make such a

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difference in their own community and

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that’s what I feel this exhibition

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showcases the power of community the

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power of ours of us is when you’ve been

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activists and be supported by the

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community

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so I really appreciate you telling those

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stories because those are the stories

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that the Next Generation need to hear

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yes

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and when we were talking with Jerry in

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the organizing of this exhibition I

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would tell her this is what my mom said

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this is what I remember her saying this

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is what I remember her writing this is

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what Carmen told me this is these are

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some of the conversations that they

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would have about the importance of

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giving messages of strength and love and

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having courage to be steadfast in doing

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what needs to be done even admits

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tremendous adversity from male leaders

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at the time and who were not who were

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diminishing women and not giving space

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for this kind of leadership on par on

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equal terms and

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it was beautiful because we wanted to

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Showcase this Dedication that Carmen and

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my mother wrote to indigenous women of

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the Americas nine and Jerry said

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um

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it’s like they’re speaking to us today

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so we wanted to really be able to share

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this with all generations and especially

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to nourish future Generations

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I think it’s amazing that we wrote that

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over 40 years ago and then when I reread

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it right now this is so relevant it’s

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almost like we’re still here you know

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even though we’re part of the movement

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and so many things happen in the 70s we

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had our trance we had

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um

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we had big activism and the Indian

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American Indian movement was very

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visible and very powerful

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but we are still in the same place

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whereas women we’re not being heard so I

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think it’s really important that we’re

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rededicating

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this you know editorial and this

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exhibition to all the women activists

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out there yes

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it’s so good to just be here talking

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about that

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we are living through a period of great

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changes an important time in history the

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destruction of the Earth the hardships

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that our people have known for the last

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500 years cannot go on much longer many

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of us are feeling these things

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our actions of today are shaping our

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future we have been given much in this

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life it is up to us to be mindful of

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what we leave here for our children our

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nations of tomorrow

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it is a time of awareness and

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preparation for Indian peoples

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especially for native women

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they continue to sustain us for to them

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has been entrusted a special

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relationship with the cycles of life

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it is in the spirit of recognition and

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appreciation that we dedicate this issue

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of India to the Indian women of the

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Americas

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tempo

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mucho centimos actions

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is

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Americas

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whoo

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I did it I can’t believe it it’s so

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relevant like I’m reading it again I go

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oh my gosh

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it is it is it’s powerful

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