A Voice from the Eastern Door
A Voice from the Eastern Door
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Over the years, we have met some very talented people via this Artist Spotlight column. We’ve come to know artists that use paint, pencil, charcoal and many other methods. But it has been a while since we’ve met a sculptor. If you have ever worked with soapstone, or any other carving material, you know that it takes a lot of skill, patience and determination to create beautiful masterpieces. One slip of the chisel or rasp (both carving tools) can easily ruin a piece that’s been weeks in the m...
If you walk into Native Creations, on the wall amongst all of the other work, there will be a piece or two that by sheer color and vibrancy, to me, stand out from the rest. The creator of those works is Kit Thomas. Thomas, from Akwesasne, now calls Charlotte, North Carolina home, but has lived many places and it reflects in her work. Thomas said, “I am from Akwesasne. Frogtown Represent!” Thomas said she has always been doing art, it’s just her gift. She says, “I was naturally born with it, I th...
Versatile artists Filfred Tahy and his wife Shirelle are located on Cornwall Island and own Tahy’s Fine Art & Design. Filfred is from the Dine’ Nation, and Shirelle is from Akwesasne. Both Filfred and Shirelle are artists, with Shirelle working on painting, beadwork, moccasins, and sculpture. Filfred, who is self taught, works in a variety of mediums as well, ranging from acrylic, pencil, charcoal, ink. He is now focusing more on his graphic design work--which has his artwork on merchandise, lik...
Ryan Hill, originally from Six Nations, now living in Akwesasne, recently won the Saratoga Springs Native American Festival Art Contest with his soapstone carving entitled “Passing on the Tradition.” Ryan could be seen working in front of the local business “Mohawk Printing” located on Route 37 not far from the Akwesasne Library. During the past summer months, you could often see Ryan transform a solid piece of soapstone into a masterful piece of artwork over a span of several weeks. The bea...
Kay Olan has been telling stories for about 30 years. It wasn’t something she set out to do, but she became a storyteller. It partially started when she was a teacher and a state mandate had many other teachers asking her for help. She began doing various presentations and people started to call her a storyteller. She does not read stories from a book, she listened and re-listened to stories that people like the Fadden family and Tom Porter told. After years and years of people asking her to r...
I had a chance to sit down with Akwesasne artist Kerdy Mitcho this week, and I talked with him about his art, both the paintings and a bit about his music, and about his motivations for much of his efforts to help out in our community. Some of Mitcho’s good work is with a food pantry or donating his work to support the Akwesasne Freedom School. First I asked what he felt were his influences? Mitcho said, “My influences? I’ve got a list of about a hundred people, you know what I mean? I sat d...
Painting, sculpting and drawing are just a few of the many forms of art that numerous Akwesasronon have done in the past. Tammy King is one of the few that were given the skill to create in more than one art form. A triple threat, Tammy stitches together beautiful quilts and ribbon dresses, paints vibrant and colorful images, and captures stunning portraits and scenic photographs. Tammy Renee Catherine Kahentison King, born in Cornwall and raised in Akwesasne, began creating beautiful artwork...
When Jordan Thompson drew a portrait of Kateri Tekakwitha, he probably never dreamed it would later be a piece that would be presented to and blessed by the Pope, and then hung in the Vatican as the official portrait of Kateri Tekakwitha. Jordan’s piece was chosen at the Kateri Tekakwitha Conference by the National Kateri Board from a contest that called on Indian Country in US and Canada to submit their rendering of Kateri. Debbie Thomas, a National Board member, said she was excited and e...
AUGUST 6, 2012 - Akwesasne Hip-Hop Artist and Producer NOKWA has released his Official Debut 6 song E.P. WARRIORS BLOOD, available for download Worldwide. NOKWA-WARRIORS BLOOD can now be purchased on iTunes, Amazon.com/mp3, CDBaby.com and in the coming weeks will also be available on Rhapsody, eMUSIC, Verizon, Googleplay and more. The E.P. can be purchased as an album or as single songs. The E.P. was recorded, mixed and mastered at Jukasa Studios, a $3.5 million, state of the art recording...
Local actress and author, Nikaiataa Skidders has self-published a new book titled “Standing Alone”. “Standing Alone” is a screenplay about a young woman living in a unique community dealing with the most difficult of times. The heroine is someone many of us can identify with; dealing with loss, grieving, and moving on, are all too often things we deal with on a weekly basis. The idea for the screenplay evolved from several different life experiences she, her family and friends have endured...
Ryan Hill, from Six Nations, has been set up on Rt. 37 creating a carving from a block of soap stone. A lot of people have stopped to see the progress of the eagle he is carving, from potential buyers to cultural centers seeking to do videos. Ryan said he has been carving since he was a kid using wood and soap stone. Eagles and Indian heads are his signature pieces. He also said the blocks of soap stones come from Brazil and he picks his blocks very carefully looking for pieces without any...
Jordan Tehaweiakaron Thompson is an artist currently living in Cornwall, Ontario. He plans to move back to Cornwall Island, where he was born and raised, soon. Jordan attended school on Cornwall Island until grade eight, and from there he went to General Vanier for a year. It was after this year that he finished his high school career at the Proctor Academy in New Hampshire. After High School, Jordan Received his B.A. in Art at Plattsburgh State University, and his Masters in Early Education...
On Thursday May 10, 2012, the Akwesasne Cultural Center held a class on Leather tobacco pouch making taught by Bill Loran. The Akwesasne Cultural Center provides classes targeted at Akwesasronon who will hopefully go on to keep the tradition alive. The students really enjoyed the class, and some go on to become quite proficient at the skills they learn in the courses, going to sell the goods they make or teach others. Thursdays class marked the fourth in a series held on May 2nd, 3rd, 9th and...
Mark Kawesoton Light is a 55-year-old artist from Akwesasne. Mark is the grandson of Beatrice Deer Jacobs – who will turn 100 next month – and he is also the son of Darlene and Peter Sunday. Mark has been married to his wife going on 26 years, with two sons, 5 grandchildren, one of which he is raising, and another one on the way. Mark believes in our natural ways as human beings, and his work involves traditional aspects of our culture “reflecting where we come from, and the people we are.” Mark...
Like many Akwesasronon before her, Natasha Thompson-Barnes expresses herself through art. She has been drawing and beading since she was young. She picked up sewing along the years and has only recently started to paint. Photography is also new to her but she enjoys it just as much. Ever since she was young, Natasha would search and search for pencils so she could draw and color pictures for her grandmother. At just 10 years old, after watching her mother and grandmother bead and sew, she fell...
Will Lafrance is his stage name and locals in Akwesasne know him as Ross Lafrance. Will recently had a starring role in a live play at Carleton University titled “Yerma”. Yerma is a play written and first performed in 1934, by Spanish poet and playwright, Federico Garcia Lorca. Yerma is about a childless Spanish woman that is so desperate to be a mother that she commits a horrific crime. The following is my interview with Ross Lafrance about his acting career, in his own words. Monica: What is...
Akwesasne Territory – Mohawk Tribal member Vincent Schilling, co-owner of Schilling Media, Inc., collaborated with three-time Native American Music Award winning Cherokee musician Michael Bucher, to produce Sacred Ground, Extended. Blue Hills Records and Schilling Media, Inc. recently announced that Bucher’s latest music video won “Best Music Video or Film” at the 14th Annual Native American Film and Video Festival. Bucher and Schilling released the video in October 2011. “I’m honored to have Sa...
Akwesasne’s recent snow and ice did not stop locals from gathering together to learn how to sew traditional and contemporary Iroquois regalia from Marie Thompson. Marie recently retired her ten-year business plan as a local seamstress and now she enjoys teaching others how to sew their own ribbon dresses, shirts, yokes, and other accessories. The Ronathahon:ni Cultural Centre hosts classes at their location and other locations in Akwesasne including the Tri-District Elder’s Lodge on Cor...
Niioieren Perkins is an artist who describes her medium as beadwork designs that “employ raised beadwork techniques which are distinctive for its three-dimensional look…although my artwork is based on traditional techniques, I incorporate unique contemporary styles that I bring to my creations.” Niioieren’s ability to combine traditional beadwork with more contemporary styles is exceptional as is her uncanny eye for color combinations and both have given her the rare opportunity to have her wor...
Joe Barnes has always been involved in the arts. Right from his time spent at the St. Regis Mohawk School, including art classes at Salmon River under the watchful eye of Mr. Sauther, then eventually onto Post-Secondary Education – Joe has always excelled at art. His mentor from high school pushed him to pursue the Post-Secondary Education at the Art Institute of Pittsburg where he graduated with a 2-year degree in Illustration and Cartooning. “In the Mohawk School people always asked me to draw...
Kerdy Mitcho is a very diverse artist. He can work with a pencil, airbrush, or guitar. He is also a big supporter of Akwesasne charity and is the founder of the non-profit organization called Red Root Studios. Kerdy is also a St. Lawrence College Alum where he studied Fine Arts and took classes at Iohahiio Adult Education Center in Tsi Snaihne. As all people have both strengths and weaknesses, Kerdy is a firm believer in the positive outcome of collaboration. He originally started out doing comi...
In December 2010, Rarihwenhawi Lafrance graduated from Clarkson University with a Bachelor of Science with an interest in creating art with the use of product design and 3D modeling programs. One of his animations, Ohkwari’ko:wa, was nominated for best animation in the American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco. A highly competitive and expensive field, 3D animation can be seen in movies such as The Lord of the Rings, Shrek, and Beowulf. While it would be great to work for movie p...
Lifegivers is a tribute to the life cycles of women from the first beating of the heart to when her spirit leaves to walk across the stars along the Milky Way as she returns home to the Skyworld where she will be welcomed by her loved ones. Each song is meant to bring the listener to a place of celebration for every cycle of life. As I asked for these melodies to flow, I realized I was inspired by different aspects of rhythm and music from different cultures of the planet. It has been my great...
This is a story of Emma Niles and her friends, as she journeys through a new part of her life. Author Linda Lazore of Akwesasne is proud to announce the release of her new novel Sacred Ground, (published by iUniverse). Surviving high school is a bizarre enough experience for most kids, and for Emma Niles, that’s only one of her challenges. It’s her senior year, and she has to find a way to put the multiple stresses of her home life behind her. Her parents have just been through a messy divorce, and now her father has remarried. Add on cla...
Vaughn Phillips has been an avid fisherman for a number of years and after catching a walleye that he needed a mount for he had the idea to create one out of driftwood. That marked the beginning of his driftwood creations where he uses driftwood pulled from the river to create a number of items. Creating lamps and picture frames from driftwood has been a hobby of his that includes going out to look for the pieces of driftwood either on the shoreline or by boat in the river. Vaughn then lets the...
