Beading with Damien Montaño

Meztli Projects just launched its Ready to Rise youth development project, an 18-month set of programs which are being co-designed alongside the Native/Indigenous youth they are meant to serve. This project includes an apprenticeship program and we pulled together a cohort of youth and artists that will receive training and support to develop their cultural practices. For this apprenticeship program we co-curated a list of guests who's work is embodied by their Indigeneity. The idea is to gather, eat, learn in which ever method each guest feels is appropriate but that concepts of facilitation, holding space, instruction through Indigenous frameworks are the learnings for the apprentices.

In addition, to the professional development training that the cohort will receive, we also hope to provide them with an opportunity to learn about some key areas so that their work is informed by these perspectives. These areas are Stewardship: relationship to land & water, Indigeneity, Trauma/Violence (structural, interpersonal, communal) & Conflict Resolution, Gender Justice among a few others. 

On Sunday, March 8, 2020 we gathered with Damien Montaño (Yaqui/Yoeme) an Artist, Instructor, Organizer, Guerrilla Jeweler, Tribal Advocate, and Co-editor at Two Spirit Times to learn about their journey as a Cultural Practitioner. The gathering took place in the form of a beading workshop that held space too talk about the ethics of creating work that honored our traditions, provided sustainability and self-determination for artists who create for specific communities, sourcing materials in alignment with Indigenous values and kinship.