By Cara Cowan Watts, Cherokee411.com
TULSA, Okla. The University of Tulsa’s Oklahoma Center for the Humanities will host “Art as Sovereignty,” a free two-day symposium Sept. 11-12 exploring Indigenous music, fashion, food, literature, tattooing and typography as expressions of sovereignty. Cherokee Nation citizens appear throughout the program, from panel discussions to a chef talk to a closing conversation on Indigenous horror.
Most sessions will be held at the Oklahoma Center for the Humanities, 101 E. Archer St., with a Saturday afternoon discussion at Magic City Books in downtown Tulsa. Registration is encouraged but not required.
The symposium opens Friday, Sept. 11, at 6 p.m. with a welcome from Sean Latham of the University of Tulsa, followed by a keynote from Gerald Torres, the Dolores Huerta and Wilma Mankiller Professor of Environmental Justice at Yale School of the Environment and Yale Law School. A 7 p.m. panel on tattooing and fashion, “What We Wear,” includes Cherokee Nation citizen Nathalie Standingcloud, a tattooist of Cherokee, Muscogee (Creek) and Salish descent.
Cherokee Nation citizens take a leading role on Saturday, Sept. 12. At 11:15 a.m., the panel “Take Your Medicine: Music and Ceremonial Preservation” includes Cherokee Nation citizens Angelica Lindsey and Richard York, alongside Frank Waln (Sicangu Lakota) and Aryn Ward (Mvskoke/Yuchi), moderated by Torres. At 12:30 p.m., a lunch talk features Frybread Factory owners William and Annette Luethje, both Cherokee Nation citizens. At 2 p.m., Cherokee Nation citizen Chris Skillern gives an artist talk titled “What’s Your Type? Indigenous Typography and Story.”
The symposium closes Saturday at Magic City Books with a 3:30 p.m. discussion on Indigenous horror featuring Cherokee Nation citizen Jessica Doe in conversation with Greg Bigler, an Euchee citizen enrolled with the Muscogee (Creek) Nation of Oklahoma.
The full schedule and registration link are available on the Oklahoma Center for the Humanities website.
Wado.
Sources:
- Oklahoma Center for the Humanities, “Art as Sovereignty” Symposium page: https://humanities.utulsa.edu/
art-as-sovereignty-symposium- 101archer/ - Eventbrite registration: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/
1995123212235?aff= oddtdtcreator - Facebook event listing: https://www.facebook.com/
events/1695613872572496/
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