- 3 hours ago
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00I just think it's really ironic that we're here in the epicenter of Seattle right in the place
00:21where all the tourists come. Pikes, public market, the fish market here and this is really a sacred
00:27quarter for native people. The Coast Salish tribes, this is where they did all of their
00:32commerce. They were trading with people from literally all over the Pacific Northwest
00:38and doing their bartering and trading and now we only have one store with native representation.
00:45I don't know if they were throwing fish. I know it sounds like they got a little bit of a native
00:51chant going there, but the fish throwing, who knows.
01:21Pikes Market has always been a
01:51bustling hub for vendors and farmers, a lively open air market where you can find an array of
01:57handmade goods. This is a place with roots that go back for centuries, originally used as a trading
02:04space by the indigenous communities of the region. Only recently have we seen the emergence of a
02:10native owned business like eighth generation, dedicated to showcasing the authentic creations
02:17of native American artists. Eighth generation is a store where you can find an incredible assortment
02:23of native American treasures. Every piece tells a story and it's all curated by none other than
02:31Colleen Echo Hawk, the brilliant CEO of eighth generation.
02:35I want to hear about you. Sure. Because I know you're a bit of a rock star in this city. I did a
02:44little research. Now your background, you're originally from Alaska. So yeah, so I am an enrolled member of the
02:49Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma, but I grew up in rural Alaska. I then moved here to Seattle when I was 19 and
02:55just have never left. I love, love, love Seattle. Very honored to live in the Coast Salish territories.
03:01Probably over like 12-ish years ago now, I joined the board of an organization here called Chief Seattle
03:08Club, a small organization at the time, and began to understand a little bit about what's going on.
03:14It's not just here in Seattle. It's all over the country. New York, LA, Phoenix, huge numbers of our
03:21people experiencing homelessness. That is a moral outrage. I think everyone, native or non-native,
03:27should be very upset and disturbed that native people have the highest rates of homelessness. So
03:32when we think about the causes of homelessness for native people in urban centers, we have to remember
03:38that cities were set up to keep native people out. You know, when the Urban Relocation Act happened
03:45and thousands and thousands of people of native people were moved from reservations into urban centers,
03:50a lot of them became homeless. And the stark reality is that native people have the highest rates of
03:57homelessness around the country. I see this work at Eighth Generation as an extension of the work that
04:02I did serving our homeless community and building housing, as creating amazing opportunities for our
04:08native folks to thrive and also to tell the larger world that we as native people are here,
04:15we belong in the business place, we belong in Fortune 500 companies as CEOs, we belong in this space.
04:24And the large community is missing out when they don't have our voice and our expertise and our brilliance.
04:32I agree with that. The other thing is that I think that this art and design that you see
04:38all around here should be in every single person's home around the country. And the reason I believe that is
04:44this whole country is Indian country. This whole country is Indian country. And when you look into
04:50people's homes, you do not see Indian country represented. And I think that is wrong. I think
04:55it's part of the reason that we have so many injustices that has hurt and harmed our community.
05:02When a non-native person brings that into their home, they're seeing an authentic representation
05:08of art that is native art. And it's changing the hearts and minds of the kids that are going to sit
05:14on that couch and hug that pillow while they're watching a movie, right? I think that what we
05:18have in our homes reflects who we are as people, reflects who we are as Americans. The number one
05:25question we get on social media, and we have a big social media presence, is, hey, I'm non-native,
05:29can I wear that? And so we're trying to educate people as much as we can, hey, you can buy this if you're a
05:36non-native person.
05:41This is a very deco, you know, style, when really this harkens back to the beginning of this land.
05:50Just like, you know, we have it in a tote bag. We have it on a mug. People love this design.
05:54Black and white is completely classic. I mean, you just can't go wrong with it.
05:57I bought this tote bag. It's great for the airport. It's nice. I can throw my computer in there.
06:01I can throw all kinds of stuff in there. And I get people stop you all the time.
06:05Where did you get it? Where did you get it? Well, I happen to know a place.
06:13And then we have a new blanket in this, in the gold label series called
06:20The Good Life. The Good Life. And it's all about subsistence rights. It'll come out in July.
06:24You guys are hot. We're constantly in a place.
06:28Making products. Making things that we know people want to buy. And hopefully bringing,
06:34you know, a lot of prosperity to our artists and to our company.
06:43Seattle. A city of contrast. Where sleek modern high-rises brush up against nature's landscape.
06:50Where the old merges seamlessly with the new. Here you'll find corporate giants like Starbucks,
06:56Microsoft and Amazon. But Seattle has so much more to offer. The city breathes art,
07:02diversity and culture. I had the pleasure of meeting Bethany Fracknell. A young native woman who
07:09served our country in the Navy. And has shifted paths to embark on a journey of self-expression
07:15through art. We sat down at the park near Pikes Market. Surrounded by the hustle and bustle of the city.
07:22To talk about her experiences. And how she found solace in creativity. So our ancestors had decided to stay
07:31at our lands. And not go to the two reservations surrounding us. So yeah, we were forced to grow up
07:41apart from the tribe. But we used to actually be 4,000 members strong. Okay. And when the U.S. government
07:48had had signed treaties, we were supposed to either go to the Tulalip Reservation and the Muckleshoot Reservation that
07:56surrounded Snoqualmie. Well, my ancestors did not. They chose to stay right at Snoqualmie. And eventually
08:03we lost our recognition because the numbers of people were gone. And we had our elders and ancestors
08:08fought for our recognition that we came back in 99. So you guys were rebels. You stood your ground.
08:14Stood our ground. All right. Yes. Yes. The Snoqualmie Falls is where our sacred site was. We weren't
08:21leaving home. That was our place. What did you do as a young adult before you had a family? Oh gosh.
08:29I first started out just in fast food. As soon as I could work, I was working. So I did a lot of elder
08:37care. And you know, it's just like at home. We take care of our elders. Right. Yeah, I was ready to live
08:42on my own. I was ready to do things on my own. So eventually I did move on and I joined the service,
08:48which is something I've always wanted to do, you know. And what branch? I joined the Navy. Yeah.
08:53And what was that like? It was amazing at first. You know, like it was really great just to serve our
08:59country and be a part of something, you know, that offered my hands. It was selfless work. It was work
09:06that, you know, you had to do constantly, you know, something to not only, you know, help my family out,
09:13but, you know, to make them proud. I'm so proud to be able to say as a sister, you've served this
09:18country. There's more native people serving in our armed forces than any other ethnic community.
09:25As you know, I didn't learn that until after the Navy, you know, when I started getting back
09:29involved with the community. And then I'm hearing these stories and stuff and getting to see all
09:34these vets because I joined the color guard with my tribe. And I finally got to meet all these people
09:39and hear these statistics. But where I was, there wasn't very many, not at all. You know, it makes you
09:45very honored, you know, that we show up for our land, we show up for our waters, you know,
09:53regardless of what has happened in the past, you know, we're still here to protect what's ours.
09:59That's so, you've just put that so beautifully. I mean, and that's the thing that people have said
10:04to me, well, how could native people protect this government? And we've always had a bigger picture
10:11than that. It's not about protecting the government. It's about protecting our land because this has been
10:16our land, even though it's been occupied. It's still our land and we still take care of it,
10:21no matter what. It's our mother. How did you end up deciding to pursue a career in the arts?
10:27I would paint, you know, things that meant a lot to me. And at that point, I drew, I decided to draw
10:32a moon because we're people of the moon and, you know, and then I just started from there. It was my
10:37next job, my next job. And I just started gifting them to people for certain various reasons of, you
10:43know, their impact on me in life, you know, and what they brought for me. And it was very good energy
10:50to give back that way. So this piece kind of is like, you know, a journey from canoe journey and all
10:57the things you see along the way. But also it's spring coming to life, you know, spring means we're
11:04waking up our canoes. We use our cedar branches in a way, you know, we, um, it's like rebirth too. You
11:12know, it's everything here is actually facing the east direction to recognize that it's going into
11:18spring as well. But I love the modern take because even though you've got traditional imagery here,
11:24you're, you're a modern day native woman and you're bringing your own color sensibility into this piece
11:32and your own design. Absolutely. Yeah. A lot of this is also driven from, you know, being a Snoqualmie
11:41tribal member, our elk in our valley and stuff like that. And just, it's really just taking, you know,
11:48like you said, being modern, a modern day native woman and, you know, applying our culture to it
11:55and what it means to me and just wanting people to feel that rebirth from it.
12:05I love Seattle. I loved coming across the water. It's just such a beautiful place. And now we're going
12:11to go meet Tlingit artist, Fred Fulmer, who's known for his carvings primarily of
12:18masks and totems. And we're going to learn about the culture of the totem
12:22and why it's so spiritually important to his people.
12:41So what I said was, thank you all for coming here, respectful people.
12:45Thank the ancestors. Forgive me if I don't speak our language correctly. That's what I was saying
12:51there. My English name you already heard was Fred Fulmer.
12:57That's my Shlingit name is Saka. And so out of Alaska. So when I talk about this,
13:05most people understand Tlingit. You heard the word Tlingit? Yes.
13:08I like the older dialect, Shlingit. I love the way that sounds. You got to get that
13:14how do you get that tongue to do that? I don't know.
13:19Yeah. You know, I know it's storytelling. We saw another totem that the story was from the top to
13:27the bottom, if I remember correctly, like the story told different sections of different people.
13:35That's right. And tonopos, I see the way I look at it is, um, since we don't have books and stuff,
13:42and it was a written language, that's how history is recorded. Same thing with this. It evolved.
13:47Right. And so with part of that involvement is being guided or being inspired. And a lot of times
13:55I'm waking up from dreams, I'm, I see things, and I'm going, oh, okay, I'm going to include that. And so
14:00that's how- You have the ancestors talking to you. Yeah.
14:05So within that first week, I had this dream. And this mask here is what developed from that dream.
14:12I was dreaming back. I was up in my mom's home homeland two, three hundred years ago. And if you
14:19go back two, three hundred years anywhere in the world and take a snapshot in time,
14:24you're going to see three or four generations of people. And what I saw was the old timers. I saw the
14:30elders passing on that knowledge to the younger generations. And when they started, when I saw that,
14:37when they're passing on that knowledge, that's a wealth of knowledge.
14:40Just what you're seeing here with the eyes and the mouth. I mean, this is all about how we really,
14:47I think as, as native people, this is how we've always taken care of the land. What you're talking
14:54about here is the wisdom to care, not only for us, but for all of creation, which is so needed right
15:02now because we see what's happening with the world. That's right. It's sending a message. It's sending a
15:07message to Washington, D.C. It's sending a message to the park service. It's like, this is the ancient
15:13ones. This is our ancestors and our ancestors. We're still here. Right. Right. So we have that,
15:22the past, the present and the future, and we're still here. And so that's a message that we're letting
15:28them know that we haven't gone nowhere. We're still here. And so that's, that's how this became.
15:34Powerful.
15:35Powerful.
15:38In the fiery heat and delicate fragility of glass, Lamy artist Dan Friday has discovered strength and
15:45purpose. He's found his tribe amongst the molten glass and vibrant flames working in unison to create
15:52breathtaking art. From the revered Pilchuck Studio to his collaborations with glass master Dale Chihuly,
16:00Dan has become a highly respected and collected glass artist. As he immerses himself into the art
16:06of glassblowing, he also holds on to his native culture, traditions, and beliefs, passing on the
16:12beauty and artistry of his craft to the next generation. We grew up pretty poor, but we were in the
16:18city, you know, you know, and so the food bank that like, yeah, goodwill, you know, like, yeah, you have
16:24some options or something, you know, you can get odd jobs. Art has really allowed us to kind of
16:31transcend of those, a lot of those wild party years. Not that, you know, we survived it. Yeah,
16:37that's the main thing. So how did you get into glassblowing? It's kind of an interesting story.
16:42I was a mechanic. I'd gone to trade school. I've always been an artist. It's a big tradition in my
16:46family, but, uh, it just didn't really seem pragmatic or like, I need shoes and I'm hungry
16:53and I've got to find a place to live. I was on the street pretty early, but when I walked into a glass
16:58shop, uh, to meet somebody, I was dropping off a bag, you know, I'm like, Hey, what are you guys
17:02doing in here? And, uh, I just knew right away. I'm like, I could with that. What's cool about glass
17:07is really similar to a lot of our traditional, uh, traditional workings is it's like an apprenticeship
17:15sort of thing. You've got to learn from someone. You have a mentor, um, 10,000 hours, that sort of
17:21thing too. Yeah. And it's one of those things that it's kind of the last question of apprenticeship,
17:28because even if you go to art school, like Pilchuck, right, you're still going to have to
17:33start at the bottom. It doesn't matter. So the, the paper, a degree is thinking, right?
17:39Glass blowing is more like a fire drill. Like you show up, everything's got to be on time. Uh,
17:50you've got to hit these like benchmarks along the way. Uh, if something doesn't go right,
17:55there's no taking it back. You can't erase it. Um, it's like permanently recorded in the glass piece.
18:02And, uh, you can work for hours on a piece and still lose it. I mean, it's, it's glass, it breaks,
18:07uh, but in that there's such a great, I think that's another thing that people don't see
18:14about a glass piece is that behind the scenes choreography that, that took place. And a lot
18:20of times when we're working as a team, it's like you're dancing with a dance partner. You don't want
18:24to step on their feet or being in a band. You don't want to be out of tune. Um, and the satisfaction
18:31that comes when you, when a piece comes out well, it means you've kind of gone through this series of
18:36steps where everything went well. And a lot of times you're not talking about the piece. You're
18:41just kind of like on this level with each other, like, and it's either a nod yes or a nod no. It's
18:46like, I'm ready or I'm not, or, and, and, and being connected like that is what draws a lot of people
18:52into glass making.
18:59So let's talk about this piece because what I, you know, I've, I've represented glass artists,
19:04but I don't think I've ever seen patterns like this. And how do you actually do this then?
19:11Yeah. So this is called a lightning bear and this is done with canes. And so cane, uh, cane work is,
19:18is historically, it's like a Venetian glass technique. Um, these are opaque canes. So you
19:23don't really see through the bear. It's not as, as transparent as some of these other pieces,
19:29but you know, that's another thing that I really like is, is telling, uh, my family's stories in
19:35glass is a medium that is not new, but new to us, you know? And so this, this sort of intersection
19:42or this crossroads of Venetian glass blowing and telling these, uh, Coast Salish stories or telling
19:48my great grandfather's stories, uh, really brings me a lot of joy. In Coast Salish, we don't have clans,
19:55like in the Northern side, but we do have like a spirit or a family we're from. It's like the swan
19:59family or, uh, we're the bear family. Uh, my great, great grandfather, Hey Tala, OCM, uh, is the bear
20:08and the Hilaire bear, uh, that's kind of our family. Do you identify with the bear?
20:15I'm not the bear. I kind of got that. Yeah, I got that bear vibe. You do, a little bit.
20:22As we bring our journey to a close in the vibrant city of Seattle, I find myself overwhelmed by the
20:29sheer magnitude of the stories and talents that have unfolded before us. The indigenous tribes who
20:35have inhabited this land for countless generations have left a mark on the cultural tapestry of Seattle.
20:42Despite being pushed out of their ancestral region, the spirit of their heritage never waned.
20:48And today we witness their extraordinary ability to reclaim their rightful place through the medium
20:54of art and culture. Seattle, a city bearing the name of a chief, is a constant reminder that the
21:01indigenous people never truly left. Instead, they have withstood the tides of history, preserving their
21:08traditions and holding steadfast in their commitment to pass them down to future generations.
21:26Can we take that?
21:30Part 2
21:31learn more advice
21:39But we meget
21:42a lot of
21:44learn more
21:45So
21:46nearly
Be the first to comment