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- By Tamara Ikenberg
This weekend and next week, Indian Country presents a bounty of healthy and delicious food, humorous hip hop, and fine art.
Highlights include a fresh farmer’s market, a concert from a hip-hop duo who also happen to be stars of the hit show Reservation Dogs, and the return of L.A.’s premier Indigenous art market.
Native News Online’s event guide is here to help you curate your cultural itinerary.
American Indian Arts Marketplace
WHEN: Saturday, June 11 and Sunday, June 12
WHERE: Autry Museum of the American West, 4700 Western Heritage Way, Los Angeles, CA; Event page
Since it happens to be based in Tinseltown, The American Indian Arts Marketplace at the Autry Museum of the American West is the major Native art event where you're most likely to find yourself shopping with the stars.
“You never know who you're gonna see there,” marketplace veteran and Comanche and Chippewa fine art flute and jewelry maker Tim Blueflint Ramel told Native News Online.
Among the stars he has seen browsing and buying through the years are Lakota actor Zahn McClarnon from Reservation Dogs and the new Dark Winds crime drama, Alaska Native actor Martin Sensmeier from 1833, Jonathan Rhys Myers from The Tudors and rock-star Dave Grohl from Nirvana and the Foo Fighters.
This weekend, the stars and discerning Indigenous art collectors will experience the first in-person Marketplace since 2019. More than 50 of the country’s top Native artists and thousands of art fans will come together for a two-day blast of art, film, theater and dancing.
From Ramel’s elegant wood flutes detailed with lavish materials like gold and Japanese coral, to Navajo photographer Eugene Tapahe’s striking Jingle Dress Project images drawing attention to the MMIW issue, there will be pieces of meaningful and beautiful art to suit all tastes.
In addition to an array of art from the creme de la creme of Indigenous creatives, the Marketplace is also a showcase for Indigenous film, theater and dancing.
Adam Piron, the new director of the Sundance Institute’s Indigenous program, will be on hand to host a screening of Native-produced short films, and the Autry’s resident theater company Native Voices will present two play readings. There will also be plenty of Native dancing and singing, courtesy of Terry Goedel & Family and the Wild Horse Singers & Dancers.
Four Sisters Farmers Market
WHEN: Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. though October 28
WHERE: 1414 E. Franklin Ave., Minneapolois, MN; Event page
The Four Sisters Farmers Market is an Indigenous-centered food market focused on both Indigenous and hyper-local foods from Minneapolis’ Phillips neighborhood and surrounding neighborhoods.
The market is back to fill your cravings for Native sustenance, fresh produce, crafts, art and camaraderie.
Products include jams and baked goods from Edible Arts, health and beauty products from Botanicalatelier, NDN Tacos from Pow Wow Grounds, wild rice, jam and produce from Dream of Wild Health, honey and beeswax from Wiishkoban, and soaps and aromatherapy items from Growing Blue Flowers.
The market is a program of the Native American Community Development Institute (NACDI), which works with native-run farms and food producers.
"The Four Sisters Farmers Market believes in a market that simultaneously builds community health and wealth for community consumers and farmer vendors," said Elizabeth Day, NACDI’s Community Engagement Projects Manager.
Li'l Mike & Funny Bone
WHEN: Saturday, June 11, 2 p.m.
WHERE: Choctaw Cultural Center, 1919 Hina Hanta Way, Calera, OK; Event page
On the hit FX on Hulu show Reservation Dogs, whenever life gets too heavy and hard to deal with, the inseparable duo of Mose and Mekko roll up on their bikes to deliver perfectly timed comic relief or to show off their hip hop chops.
The fictional duo is portrayed by real-life Muscogee rappers Li’l Mike and Funnybone, known collectively as MikeBone.This week, they will bring their brand of motivational and humorous hip hop to the Choctaw Cultural Center during the Center’s art market.
Fans will also have an opportunity to get to know the duo during a meet and greet.
Woodland Sky Native American Dance Company
WHEN: Saturday, June 11, 2 p.m.
WHERE: River Hill Park, Kewaskum, WI; Event page
The Ojibwe, Menominee, Potawatomi, Lakota and Apache dancers of the Crystal Falls, Mich.-based Woodland Sky Native American Dance Troupe will whoosh into Wisconsin this weekend.
The troupe, founded by Ojibwe dancer and artist Michelle Reed, presents theatrical and authentic shows that share historic stories set to traditional Native American songs.
For more about Woodland Sky, click here.
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