Hopa Mountain News Blog

Seventh Generation Fund for Indian Development (SGF), in coordination with Hopa Mountain announce Echoes of the Earth, a convening where Indigenous artists, scientists, elders, leaders, and visionaries will share regional, national and international perspectives on climate change, one of the most significant environmental and cultural sustainability issues facing humanity and the natural world today. All activities will take place April 5-6 in Bozeman, Montana and are open to the public free-of-charge.

Echoes of the Earth will open with a reception and gallery talks by Bill Yellowtail (Crow), Director of Tribal Partnerships at Montana State University and Bently Spang (Northern Cheyenne), multi-disciplinary artist and videomaker at the Indian Uprising Gallery on the evening of April 5 from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. This opening reception is open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

On April 6, Echoes of the Earth will convene from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. at the Emerson Cultural Center where Native American artists, scientists and culture bearers will join in dialogues in the Crawford Theater to discuss and formulate strategies to share their knowledge and perspectives on climate change and its impacts on cultural vitality and tribal ecosystem health regionally, nationally and internationally. An opening keynote address will be given by Dr. Henrietta Mann (Southern Cheyenne), Founding President of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribal College, and Seventh Generation Fund Board member. Panel presentations will include Marcus Amerman (Choctaw), bead, glass and performance artist; Michael Bucher (Cherokee) musician and song writer; Bill Eggers (Crow), attorney; Richard Horn (Blackfeet), traditional artist; Lisa Lone Fight (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Sahnish), co-founder of the Indigenous Geo-spatial Consortium and a graduate researcher at Montana State University in the areas of Indigenous and Geo-spatial Science/Remote Sensing; Oren Lyons (Onondaga and Seneca), elder and Seventh Generation Fund Board member; Josh Mori (Native Hawaiian) filmmaker and instructor at Montana State University; Tilton Old Bull, Sr. (Crow), Director of Crow Voices; Gail Small (Northern Cheyenne), Executive Director of Native Action; Bently Spang, Terry Tatsey (Blackfeet), Director of Institutional Development, at Blackfeet Community College; Allison Warden (Inupiaq), performance artist, and Peggy Wellknown Buffalo (Crow), Executive Director of The Center Pole. The event will be facilitated by Tia Oros Peters (Zuni) Executive Director of Seventh Generation Fund and Chris Peters (Pohlik-lah/Karuk), President and CEO of Seventh Generation Fund.

In addition to the presentations, Native artwork by distinguished artists such as Dg House (Cherokee), painter and owner of Big Medicine Art Studio in Bozeman, and emerging artists, such as Moses Yellow Robe (Crow and Northern Cheyenne), metal artist and University of Montana art major, will be on display and available for purchase in the Ballroom. Artwork will be available for sale from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. in the Emerson Cultural Center’s Ballroom.

“Climate change and especially its impacts on water health and well-being that directly effect Indigenous cultures, peoples and ecosystems is the major threat of the 21st century. It is time to look to and engage with Indigenous traditional knowledge — our artists, culture bearers and visionaries — who hold strategies to bring awareness and action to this critical issue. The time for action is now” stated Tia Oros Peters, Seventh Generation Fund’s Executive Director.

The Seventh Generation Fund is an international Indigenous nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and maintaining the uniqueness of Native peoples throughout the Americas (7genfund.org). Hopa Mountain is a Bozeman-based nonprofit dedicated to investing in rural and tribal citizen leaders, adults and youth, who are working to improve education, ecological health, and economic development (hopamountain.org). Support for this event has been provided by the Bullitt Foundation, Cedar Tree Foundation, Nathan Cummings Foundation, Native Arts and Cultures Foundation & Open Society Foundations. It is made possible with generous support from participating Native artists, scientists, and cultural bearers.

For more information, please visit 7genfund.org or call Hopa Mountain at (406) 586-2455.

Seventh Generation Fund and Hopa Mountain are delighted to announce that, in April 2012, we will publish a digital/print on demand volume of collected poetry, short stories, photography and creative works that addresses the complex relationship between indigenous people and climate change. This volume is meant to accompany the groundbreaking Echoes of the Earth conference on art and climate change to be held in Bozeman, Montana scheduled for Friday April 5-6.

As we face the reality of climate change and the possibility of irreversible damage to the biosphere, we are frequently called to alter our behavior and lifestyles, to revisit our relationship with the environment and, somehow, to ‘reconnect with nature’. But what does reconnection mean, and, more importantly, what does it imply? And does art, literature, and specifically poetry, have any role to play in that reconnection? Is it “echoes of the earth”? Can the creative expression of indigenous people help bridge the growing dissociation that pervades the relationships between contemporary humans and the natural world? Is creative expression in itself a form of environmental action, or can it inspire action?

We are now requesting submissions for this volume.

If you would like to submit your work to our anthology, please email up to four poems, photographs or other creative works that clearly fit the brief above to editor William Harjo at willam.harjo@gmail.com We will accept attachments in Microsoft Word format only, or creative work can be included in the body of the email. We will ONLY accept submissions by email. Please include a short biography with your submission, in the body of the email.

The deadline for submissions is April 2, 2012

We are looking for new, previously unpublished poetry – unless it appears in a very recent or forthcoming collection (in which case please note that we have no budget for permissions fees, and inclusion in the anthology would need to be agreed in writing with the relevant publisher of the collection on that basis).

All contributors to the anthology will receive a free copy of the published book (books will be published in e-pub and other electronic formats as well as services such as lulu.com. We reserve the right to Edit content, substance or length of submission.

Echoes of the Earth is sponsored by The Seventh Generation Fund For Indian Development in partnership with Hopa Mountain. Support for this event has been provided by the Bullitt Foundation, Cedar Tree Foundation, Nathan Cummings Foundation, Native Arts and Cultures Foundation & Open Society Foundations.

Hopa Mountain and Sage Solutions will present their workshop, “Creating Boards that Lead: A Discourse on Nonprofit Board Development, Board Operations and Responsibilities” on March 23-24 in Bozeman at the Fish Technology Center’s meeting room in Bridger Canyon. The workshop will begin at 5 p.m. on Friday, March 23 until 8 p.m. and then continue on Saturday, March 24 from 8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Presented by Terry Profota, Principal of Sage Solutions and Dr. Bonnie Sachatello-Sawyer, Executive Director of Hopa Mountain, this board development workshop is offered as a learning tool for current members of non-profit Boards of Directors or individuals interested in becoming a Board Member and will focus on roles and responsibilities of nonprofit board members and energizing boards. All handouts and related materials will be supplied at the workshop.

Hopa Mountain is a Bozeman-based nonprofit organization that invests in rural and tribal citizen leaders, adults and youth, that are working to improve education, ecological health, and economic development (www.hopamountain.org). Hopa Mountain provides these leaders with training, mentoring, and networking opportunities. Sage Solutions is a consulting practice led by Terry Profota that specializes in organizational effectiveness, program development, and Board relations. The cost of the workshop is $35 for Hopa Mountain members and $40 for non-members. For more information or to register, please call 586-2455 or email info@hopamountain.org.