Kanyon Sayers-Roods “Coyote Woman” (Costanoan Ohlone-Mutsun, Chumash), is a very active culture bearer in the Native Community. She is an Artist, Poet, Published Author, Activist, Student and Teacher. The daughter of Ann-Marie Sayers, she was raised in Indian Canyon. Kanyon’s art has shown at the De Young Museum, Somarts, Gathering Tribes, Snag Magazine, and numerous Powwows and Indigenous Gatherings. A recent graduate of the Art Institute of California, Sunnyvale, she obtained degrees in Web Design and Interactive Media. She is motivated to learn, teach, start conversations around decolonization and re-inidgenization, permaculture and to continue doing what she loves, Art.
Dr. Jennifer Lisa Vest is a mixed blood Florida Mikasuki Seminole poet, philosopher, performance artist, and healer from Chicago. She has curated, directed, and performed in numerous mixed media shows throughout the US. She founded Daughters of the Dream, and Diva-Nation (DC). The Four Corners Collective (SF) and co-founded the Native Media Collective (Oakland). She helped to write and produce the film Who Owns the Past, starred in the short film, Dos Almas/Two Spirit and formulated the genre of Philo-Poetics. Her poetry has been published in several journals and anthologies and she has performed her work worldwide. She looks forward to reviving her performance art at Weaving Spirits.
P. Dante Cuauhtémoc (Mescalero Apache, Mexika-Chichimeca/Cano ) is a UCR Critical Dance Studies Ph.D. student whose studies have been supported by the U.S. Department of Education Native American Studies Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (G.A.A.N.N.) Fellowship, the Dean’s Distinguished Doctoral Student Fellowship, and the Max H. Gluck Arts Fellowship. Their research focuses on how the House Ballroom Scene children of the western hemisphere have deployed the dance form of vogue (voguing/Performance) as a praxis of decolonization.
Zephyr Elise is an (Hñähñu, P'urhépecha, Wixáritari, Be'ena' Za'a, Euskal) artist, filmmaker, animator, and liberation activist. Born in San Diego, Z has lived all over both coasts, and currently residing in Skokomish territories. Z has been an Earth Protector at frontline actions and protests across the country. Previously they have been: co-organizer of Idle No More- Two-Spirits on Ohlone Lands; member of Two Spirit Council of Indian Canyon; overseer of Wiŋyan Camp at Oceti Ŝakowiŋ. Currently a co-founder of Mason County Climate Justice, supporter of Defenders of the Salish Sea, soil regenerator, and a gluten-free chef/baker.
Amanda and Amelia Vigil (Picuris Pueblo, Purepecha, mixed Spanish/New Mexican) are identical twins, born and raised in San Francisco whose performance career started at the age of 3. They performed together across their youth in talent shows, and their collaboration on Dismantle spans a decade plus, performing locally, at SomArts, the Deyoung museum, the makeout room and other locations in LA, Berlin, and Oakland.
Amanda Vigil Is passionate about media, art & education. As a filmmaker, educator, & performance artist her work has been seen locally and internationally in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Berlin. Amanda believes in the power of the audience, through her work as a facilitator, technical director and curator. She sees media as an access point for conversation and pedagogical practices. She began working with sound and image at the age of 17 with the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) Young Artist At Work program. She holds a BFA from California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in Film/Video and has proudly focused her talents as a video production educator for the last 8 years with the San Francisco Unified School District.
Amelia Vigil is a Two-Spirit, Urban-Indigenous/xicanx, pun-loving, playful, performance artist, poet, outdoor educator, and rock climber. Her advocacy and support of Indigenous self-determination are a constant in their life. They have served on the BAAITS Board of Directors since 2015, and were recently appointed Board Chair in 2019. Amelia has earned two Associate degrees from Feather River Community College in Liberal Studies and Outdoor Recreational Leadership, as well as a Bachelor's in English from Mills College. She completed a 114-miles of the Nuumu Poyo with Indigenous Women Hikes. And became a first year poet in the Masters of Fine Arts program at the Institute for American Indian Arts.
Faun Harjo (Mvskoke, Chikasha) is a two-spirit artist raised in Ada and Sapulpa, Oklahoma. Growing up as a queer person in rural areas and families, they found solice in video games. Digital spaces allowed an opportunity to play with the concepts of gender and love in a safe place. Faun recently graduated from the University of Oklahoma (OU) with a BFA in Art, Technology and Culture. They feel it’s necessary for their narrative to address trauma, identity, and reality through the use of rural, celebrity, and video game elements. Faun is looking forward to sharing this at Weaving Spirits.