Vince Bomberry
Vince Bomberry is from the Six Nations Reserve in Brantford, Ontario. He is a member of the Wolf Clan of the Cayuga Nation. Bomberry’s artistic career began while he was in his teens. In his sculpture and carvings, he combines contemporary styles with traditional Iroquoian motifs and concepts, thus creating modern interpretations of Iroquoian culture. His works are in private galleries and homes, as well as national art collections such as the Native American Centre for the Living Arts (Niagara Falls, NY), the Canadian Museum of Civilization (Gatineau, QC), Indian and Northern Affairs (Gatineau, QC), and the Woodland Cultural Centre (Brantford, ON).
Hannah Claus
Hannah Claus graduated from the Ontario College of Art and Design in 1997 and completed her MFA at Concordia University in 2004. She has participated in solo and group exhibitions at artist-run centres and public galleries throughout Canada, including most recently In My Lifetime at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau (2007) and Fray at the Canadian Textile Museum in Toronto (2006). Her work is represented in various collections, such as the Canada Council Art Bank and the National Bank of Canada. Concurrent with her artistic practice, she is the Artistic Director of the artist-run centre AXENÉO7 in Gatineau.
Ric Galzer Danay
Ric Galzer Danay was born in Coney Island, New York, on August 12, 1942. His father was an ironworker from the Mohawk Indian Reserve of Kahnawake, Canada, and his mother’s family were Jews who immigrated from the Austro-Hungarian Empire before WWI. An accomplished artist and professor, Danay received an M.F.A. from the University of California at Davis, and a BA and an MA in Fine Arts from California State University at Northbridge and Chico. He is a painter and sculptor known for his painted hardhat series Headdresses for Modern Mohawks, which he adorns with ironwork scenes as well as images of nubile women and muscular men. His work is informed by a pop art sensibility as well as his Iroquois background. He has exhibited for over thirty years and his work has been written about extensively, and is included in collections in Canada, the United States, England, Germany and Austria.
Katsitsionni Fox
Katsitsionni Fox is from the Bear Clan, Mohawk Nation at Akwesasne. She is an artist, curator and educator who received an AFA from the Institute of American Indian Arts, a BFA from SUNY Postdam College, and an MFA from Vermont College. Her work includes paintings, installation, printmaking and mixed media that are reflections on contemporary Haudenosaunee culture.
Ellen Gabriel
Ellen Gabriel (Katsi'tsakwas), Mohawk from Kanehsatake, graduated from Concordia University with a BFA. She first came to national attention as spokesperson for the People of the Longhouse of Kanehsatake during the Oka Crisis (1990), and has continued in this role at speaking engagements across Canada, in Europe and Japan. She also views her art as a means of combating stereotypes and misconceptions held by non-Natives.
Jeffrey Gabriel
Jeffrey Gabriel is Mohawk from Kanehsatake. He is a master silversmith who has since become a Band Councillor in his community. His training led him to work for Birks jewellery.
Louis Hall
Louis Hall (Mohawk, 1918-1993) was born on the Kahnawake Mohawk Territory, Quebec. He created beautiful, politically charged works of art that contained a strong message encouraging Indian nations to reverse the affects of colonialism. He is responsible for the design of the famous, although unofficial, red and yellow Iroquois Warrior flag. He also wrote profound political books, such as A Warrior’s Handbook, and self-published newsletters. Although he occasionally accepted private commissions for his paintings, he would never sell a painting outright for profit. He never wanted his paintings to be collected privately because they had a very public message. In his Last Will and Testament, Hall left his writings and artwork to the Warrior Society in Kahnawake. He dreamed that a public museum would one day be built to display his art, so that those interested in his work would be able to access it.
Sue Ellen Herne
Sue Ellen Herne is Mohawk from Akwesasne. She is an artist and Program Coordinator at the Akwesasne Museum, NY. She received a BFA in 1982 from the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence. She has exhibited mainly in New York State, and most recently at the Gary Farmer Gallery of Contemporary Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Lynn Hill
Lynn Hill (Cayuga Nation) grew up on Six Nations Reserve and is a member of the Iroquois Confederacy. Over the past ten years she has written about, curated and juried contemporary First Nations art exhibitions for public galleries, museums, artist-run centres, and community cultural centres across Canada. She currently lives and works in Vancouver.
Alex Jacobs
Alex Jacobs (Karoniaktahke) was born in 1953 on the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation (St. Regis Mohawk Ind. Res.), which straddles the US and Canadian boarders. In addition to working as an artist, Jacobs was the Editor of Akwesasne Notes, a CKON Mohawk Nation Radio DJ, and an ironworker. He attended Manitou Community College (La Macaza, QC), the Institute Of American Indian Arts (Santa Fe, NM), and received a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute in Creative Writing/Sculpture (1986). He is also a poet and spoken-word performer. Jacobs’ assemblage/collage work recently won Best in Show, non-traditional category, at the 2006 SWAIA Indian market in Santa Fe.
G. Peter Jemison
G. Peter Jemison is an artist from the Seneca Nation, Cattaraugus Reservation, New York. Jemison’s paintings, works on paper, mixed media, and video contain elements of abstraction, personal narratives and Seneca ideology. His career spans over three decades, and he was recently honoured with the Excellence in Iroquois Art Award from the Iroquois Indian Museum (Howes Cave, NY). Jemison has created public art in New York City’s subway station, and is known for his series of paper bags. His exhibition history is extensive, including Shared Visons: Native American Painters and Sculptors in the Twentieth Century (Heard Museum in Phoenix, AZ, 1994), Indian Humor (American Indian Contemporary Arts, 1995), and Lifeworlds – Artscapes: Contemporary Iroquois Art (Galerie 37 Museum der Weltkulturen, Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Nordamerika Native Museum Zurich, Switzerland; Woodland Cultural Centre, Brantford, ON, 2004).
Peter B. Jones
Peter B. Jones, Onondaga/Beaver Clan of Cattaraugus reservation in Western New York, is recognized as one of the most accomplished Iroquois artists working in clay. He graduated from the Institute of American Indian Arts (Santa Fe, 1963-68) and his expressive work has earned him commissions from the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center (Mashantucket, CT, 1997), Ganondagan Historic Site (Victor, NY), and most recently, the Summit County Historical Society (Akron, OH). His work has garnered national and international recognition and has been collected by the Museum of Anthropology (Berlin, Germany), the Museum of Anthropology (Frankfurt, Germany), Museum of Fine Arts (Boston, MA), Heard Museum (Phoenix, AZ), the Southern Plains Indian Museum (Oklahoma), the Institute of American Arts (Santa Fe, NM), the Indian Arts and Crafts Board (Washington, DC), and others.
Miriam Jordan
Miriam Jordan is a Haudenosaunee artist and writer. She received an MFA in Interdisciplinary Art from Goddard College, as well as a BA in Visual Arts and a BA in English, both from the University of Western Ontario. Jordan’s solo and collaborative artwork with Julian Haladyn has been exhibited internationally, including at the Ottawa Art Gallery (Ottawa, ON), Modern Fuel (Kingston, ON), Artists Space (NY, USA), and the Woodland Cultural Centre (Brantford, ON). Jordan has also published collaborative critical articles and reviews with Haladyn in Parachute, Broken Pencil, C Magazine, On Site Review, and a chapter in Stanley Kubrick: Essays on His Films and Legacy (McFarland and Company, 2007).
Julian Haladyn
Julian Haladyn is a Canadian artist and writer. He received an MFA in Interdisciplinary Art at Goddard College and an MA in Theory, Culture, and Politics at Trent University. Haladyn has produced solo and collaborative artwork with Miriam Jordan, which has been exhibited internationally, including at the Ottawa Art Gallery (Ottawa, ON), Modern Fuel (Kingston, ON), Artists Space (NY, USA), and Cho-houng Gallery (Seoul, South Korea). In addition, he has published collaborative critical articles and reviews with Jordan in Parachute, Broken Pencil, C Magazine, On Site Review, and a chapter in Stanley Kubrick: Essays on His Films and Legacy (McFarland and Company, 2007).
Colette Lemmon
Colette Lemmon is a cultural research specialist with a specialization in contemporary Iroquois art. She holds a MA in Museum Studies from Prescott College, Prescott, AZ, and a dual BA in Art History and Anthropology, State University of New York at New Paltz.
Clifford Maracle
Clifford Maracle (1944–1996) was from the Mohawk Nation, Tyendinaga Reserve in Eastern Ontario. As a painter and sculptor, he was best known for his depictions of the plight of urban Indians in the 1970s. Maracle studied fine art at the Sir George Brown College (1969) and the Ontario College of Art, where he graduated with an honours degree (1975). He established himself as a leader of a new expressionistic style among Indian artists by not relying on traditional motifs. His work can be found in the McMichael Canadian Collection of Art (Kleinburg, ON), the Canadian Museum of Civilization (Gatineau, QC), the Woodland Cultural Centre (Brantford, ON), and Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (Gatineau, QC).
Alan Michelson
Alan Michelson is a New York-based artist whose multi-media installations engage North American landscape and history. His work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally in a variety of venues, including the National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa) and the New Museum of Contemporary Art (New York). He also presented a solo retrospective exhibition at the National Museum of the American Indian (New York). His public art includes projects with the Public Art Fund Inc., Creative Time, REPOhistory, and the U.S. General Services Administration Art-in-Architecture. Michelson has received several awards, including a National Endowment for the Arts Visual Artists Fellowship and a grant from the New York Community Trust. His work is in the permanent collections of the National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa, ON) and the Smithsonian, among others. Michelson has taught at the Rhode Island School of Design since 2001.
Rick Monture
Rick Monture is a member of the Mohawk nation, Turtle clan, from Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. He has been a Lecturer in the Indigenous Studies Program at McMaster University for four years, as well as an Instructor at Six Nations Polytechnic and Mohawk College. He is currently a PhD candidate in the Department of English and Cultural Studies at McMaster.
Shelley Niro
Shelley Niro is a member of the Six Nations Reserve, Mohawk, Turtle Clan. She is a graduate of the Ontario College of Art (Toronto, ON), and received an MFA from the University of Western Ontario. In 2001, Niro was elected as a fellow by the Eiteljorg Foundation, Indianapolis, Indiana. She participated in Women in the Director’s Chair at the Banff Centre for the Arts (2003) and recently exhibited with Jeff Thomas at Canada House (London, UK, 2006). This summer, she collaborated with performance artist Lori Blondeau and curators Ryan Rice and Nancy Marie Mithlo on The Requickening Project, which was presented at the Venice Biennale. She has exhibited widely and consistently across North America and international venues.
Stephanie Phillips
Stephanie Phillips is from Kahnawake, Mohawk Territory. She has an MA in anthropology from McGill University and currently works as a Research Officer with the Indian Claims Commission. Her areas of interest include Iroquois history, land claims, repatriation, and Indigenous arts and literature in all their forms.
Melanie Printup Hope
Melanie Printup Hope is of Tuscarora descent and was raised on the Tuscarora Indian Reservation in western New York State. She earned a BFA in graphic design at the Rochester Institute of Technology, and an MFA in electronic arts at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She lives in Schenectady, New York, where she owns her own graphic design business and is currently Associate Professor of Graphic Design at the Sage College of Albany. She received a Rockefeller Foundation Intercultural Film/Video/Multimedia Fellowship in 1996, and has received additional awards and fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Jerome Foundation, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the Lyn Blumenthal Memorial Fund. Her biography has been included in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers, Who’s Who of American Women and The World Who’s Who of Women.
Ryan Rice
Ryan Rice, a Mohawk of Kahnawake, Quebec, is an independent curator. He received a BFA from Concordia University (Montreal, QC), an Associate of Fine Arts from the Institute of American Indian Arts (Santa Fe, NM), and an MA in Curatorial Studies from the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College (Annandale-on-Hudson, NY). For the last twelve years, he has worked within the museum/art gallery milieu as an educator, intern, technician, assistant and chief curator. Rice has also worked as a designer and adjunct professor, and is a co-founder/coordinator of Nation To Nation (www.nation2nation.org), a First Nations artist collective, and the Aboriginal Curatorial Collective. In 2007, Rice will present ANTHEM: Perspectives on Home and Native Land at the Carleton University Art Gallery, The Requickening Project in Venice, and Oh So Iroquois at the Ottawa Art Gallery. His video program RED EYE: First Nations Short Film and Video will tour to the Art Gallery of Calgary in the fall. He is also the guest editor for the June 2007 issue of Blackflash, “Seeing RED.”
Jolene Rickard
Jolene Rickard is an artist, curator and scholar focused on the issues of Indigenous peoples globally. She is an Associate Professor at Cornell University, and received her PhD from the University at Buffalo. Most recently, Rickard served as a guest curator for the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, and was an essayist for Canada's 2005 Venice Biennial artist, Rebecca Belmore. Rickard lives within the territories of the Tuscarora Nation. Her work has been shown internationally.
Greg Staats
Greg Staats (Mohawk) was born and raised on the Six Nations Reserve, Ontario. He graduated from Sheridan College (ON, 1985) and embarked upon a photographic career. In his work, he focuses on the message of The Great Law of Peace, and other Iroquoian philosophies and values. In doing so, he aims to present positive, yet non-romanticized images of First Nations People and their relationship with the land. Staats is a recipient of the Duke and Duchess of York Prize in Photography (1999). Since 1991, he has exhibited widely throughout Canada and is represented in many public art collections.
Audra Simpson
Audra Simpson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology and the American Indian Program, Cornell University. She holds a Ph.D. from the Department of Anthropology at McGill University. She specializes in nationalism, citizenship, colonialism, borders (US-Canada) and narrative. She is a Kahnawake Mohawk.
Ehren Bear Thomas
Ottawa-based media artist Ehren Bear Witness Thomas has been producing short experimental videos for over five years. In 2008, Thomas was the recipient of Ottawa’s Golden Cherry Award for Video Artist of the Year. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally at the National Gallery of Canada, The University of Toronto Art Centre, ImagiNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, and the Berlin International Film Festival. Recently, Thomas co-founded RedHanded, a Native DJ collective that hosts the monthly event Electric Pow Wow.
Jeff Thomas
Jeff Thomas is an Iroquois/Onondaga curator, photographer and cultural analyst living in Ottawa. He specializes in the exploration of historical cultural resources, thus bringing voices, stories and perspectives into the present. Recent solo exhibitions include Jeff Thomas: Traces of Iroquois Medicine (Ontario Museum of Archaeology, London, ON, 2007), Shelley Niro and Jeff Thomas: Contemporary Voices (Canada House, London, UK, 2007), Portraits from the Dancing Grounds (McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, ON, 2006), and Jeff Thomas: A Study of Indian-ness (Gallery 44, Toronto, 2005). In 1998, he received the Canada Council's prestigious Duke and Duchess of York Award in Photography. His work appears in major collections in Canada, the United States and Europe. As a curator, he has mined the archival vaults of non-Native visual and written records to recover lost elements of Aboriginal history, producing important exhibitions, such as the acclaimed Where are the Children: Healing the Legacy of Residential Schools.
Samuel Thomas
Samuel Thomas is a member of the Lower Cayuga Band of the Iroquois Nation and a master beading artist. Over his 27-year career, he has given national and international workshops, demonstrations, and lectures. He continues to research new techniques and ideas to incorporate into his work, which is focused on the revitalization and continuance of the Iroquoian tradition of embossed three-dimensional (raised) beadwork on velvet and leather. Raised beadwork is a post-colonialist expression, characteristic of Iroquoian peoples. In 2003, he received a Chalmers Art Fellowship from the Ontario Arts Council to undertake the Great Tree of Peace Project, a collaboration with communities to create a six-foot-tall beaded tree of peace. The project eventually led him to work with the Ogiek, Samburu, Mau, Akamba, Okeirie and Masai peoples of Kenya.
Marie Watt
Marie Watt is a multidisciplinary artist who lives and works in Portland, Oregon. Born in 1967 to the son of Wyoming ranchers and a daughter of the Turtle Clan (Seneca Nation), Watt identifies herself as "half cowboy and half Indian." Her work as an artist draws from Indigenous design principles, oral tradition, personal experience, and Western art history. Her approach to art making is shaped by the proto-feminism of Iroquois matrilineal customs, political work by Native artists in the 60s, the discourse of multiculturalism, as well as Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art. Her work employs a vocabulary of natural materials (stone, cornhusks, wool, cedar) and forms (blankets, pillows) that are universal to human experience and non-commercial in character.
im the king
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