Contributing Writers
HEATHER AHTONE ( Choctaw-Chickasaw ) is the James T . Bialac associate curator of Native American and non-Western art at the Fred Jones Jr . Museum of Art , University of Oklahoma , where she remains committed to supporting the Oklahoma arts community and the cultural life of her tribal communities .
JASON ASENAP ( Comanche-Muscogee ) is a writer , filmmaker , and information specialist at the Fine Arts and Design Library at the University of New Mexico . He holds a BA in English from the University of Oklahoma and an MFA in screenwriting from the Institute of American Indian Arts . Asenap was a Sundance Institute Native Lab fellow in 2011 . He developed an interest in Indian art by watching his father Hollis Asenap ( Comanche ) paint in his garage for the WPA . Asenap grew up in Norman , Oklahoma , around many notable Oklahoma Indian artists , such as Comanche painters Rance Hood and Doc Tate Nevaquaya , who were close family friends and regular visitors to the Asenap house . Asenap is currently in the post-production phase of his latest short film , Captivity Narrative , and is working on a feature-length , noir script for Navajo filmmaker , Blackhorse Lowe .
DAWN BIDDISON is assistant curator at the Alaska office of the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center . She worked collaboratively with Alaska Native elders , tribal representatives , scholars , and artists on the website , Sharing Knowledge , and the exhibition , Living Our Cultures , Sharing Our Heritage : The First Peoples of Alaska . She is project coordinator for the exhibition Dena ’ inaq ’ Huch ’ ulyeshi : The Dena ’ ina Way of Living at the Anchorage Museum . Biddison works with Alaska Native communities though programming including language workshops , artist residencies , and public lectures .
KATHRYN BUNN-MARCUSE , PhD ( English- American ), is the curator of Northwest Native art and director of the Bill Holm Center for the Study of Northwest Coast Art at the Burke Museum , and assistant professor of art history at the University of Washington . Her publications focus on the indigenization of European-American imagery , 19th-century Northwest Coast jewelry and other body adornment , and the filmic history of the Kwakwaka ’ wakw . In her role as curator , she collaborates with First Nations communities and artists to identify research priorities and to activate the Burke Museum ’ s holdings in ways that are responsive to cultural revitalization efforts .
MARTINA DAWLEY ( Hualapai-Diné ) is the assistant curator for American Indian Relations and faculty member at Arizona State Museum ( ASM ) at the University of Arizona . Primary among her responsibilities is management of ASM ’ s Southwest Native Nations Advisory Board , facilitation of tribal consultations related to repatriation and programs at the museum , and providing training and technical assistance to tribal museums , libraries , archives , and cultural centers . She earned her PhD ( 2013 ) and MA ( 2009 ) in American Indian studies and her BA ( 2006 ) in anthropology with a minor in geoscience at the University of Arizona . Dawley has worked collaboratively with Native artists on Neoglyphix : All-Indigenous Art Exhibition and exhibits featuring Jeremy Singer ( Dinétah Landscapes , Dinétah People ), and the
1519 Rebellion collective on their exhibit , Itom Luturia ( Our Truth ). Martina cofounded and co-organizes Neoglyphix , the all-Indigenous aerosol art collective .
ROSEMARY DIAZ ( Santa Clara Tewa ) is a freelance writer based in Santa Fe . She studied literature and its respective arts at the Institute of American Indian Arts , Naropa University , and University of California , Santa Cruz . Her work has appeared in numerous publications including Beadwork , Collector ’ s Guide , Native Peoples , and the Santa Fean , and she is featured online at Indian Country Today Media Network .
MICHOLE ELDRED ( Catawba Nation-Eastern Band Cherokee ) is a writer , curator , and educator . She received her bachelor ’ s degree in art and museum studies at University of South Florida and her master ’ s in education from Berry College . Much of her work is focused on curating Indigenous art and historical exhibitions . She believes that the process of art making and enjoyment of the arts should be accessible to all peoples . Her work in writing art curriculum and teaching the arts to people with disabilities is reflected in the interpretive planning she implements when creating exhibitions .
SUZANNE NEWMAN FRICKE , PhD ( Ashkenazic- American ), wrote her art history dissertation at the University of New Mexico on 20th-century Native pottery . She has taught art history at the Santa Fe University of Art and Design . She co-curated two exhibits that traveled in Russia in 2012 and 2014 . She curated a third show , Woven Together : Celebrating Spider Woman in Contemporary Native American Art , which exhibited in two Russian museums in 2015 .
NADIA JACKINSKY , PhD ( Alutiiq ), is an art historian and an adjunct instructor at the University of Alaska , Anchorage . She works as a program officer for a grant program dedicated to supporting Alaska Native artists at the CIRI Foundation . Her research interests include Alaska Native art , cultural revival , and identity .
LARS KRUTAK , PhD , is a research associate in the Department of Anthropology , National Museum of Natural History , Smithsonian Institution . His dissertation research focused on Rarámuri ( Tarahumara ) arts-and-crafts producers in Mexico . He is the author of Tattoo Traditions of Native North America : Ancient and Contemporary Expressions of Identity ( LM Publishers , 2014 ), among other books on the subject of Indigenous tattooing . Krutak is a curatorial consultant and photographer for the current Royal Ontario Museum exhibition in Toronto , Tattoos : Ritual . Identity . Obsession . Art ., and Museum of International Folk Art exhibition , Sacred Realm : Blessings and Good Fortune across Asia , in Santa Fe .
MICHELLE LANTERI is a contemporary art scholar and curator currently serving as interim director of the New Mexico State University Art Gallery . In December 2016 , she will complete her master of arts degree in art history with a minor in Native American studies and a certificate in museum studies .
THOLLEM McDONAS is a peripatetic pianist , keyboardist , vocalist , composer , improviser , collaborator , activist , teacher , and author . He has released over 50 albums across the stylistic spectrum on 20 different vanguard labels . He performs
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