White Pelican Pod: Indigenous Artists Retreat

Signal Fire is guiding the second Indigenous Artist Retreat to the rugged and ancient terrain of Southern Oregon’s Great Basin communities. We will delve into the ecological diversity of the area, the ancient human life from the Pleistocene to the present, and navigate together the sacred lands and waters of the Klamath Modoc and Yahuskin peoples. This trip will focus on ancient migrations of hunter-gatherer communities who came together over generations and carved large abstract petroglyphs into the rock surfaces predating the 7,600-year-old Mount Mazama eruption that created Crater Lake, to contemporary forced migrations caused by climate change, militarism, and capitalism.

The last two years have seen unprecedented wildfires across the Pacific Northwest, this trip will engage dialogue about healthy forest management, ancient Indigenous techniques of fighting fire with controlled burns. We will focus on the Indigenous teachings of balance between sacred fire and clean water that are key to harvesting sacred first foods, all of which are dependent on healthy ecosystems. This ancient Indigenous knowledge and way of life continue to be threatened by systems of thought linked to the origins of settler-colonialism, western expansionism, and capitalism.

We will keep an eye out in the skies for the large pods of White Pelicans flying high or gliding along the still surfaces of shallow lakes. The Klamath Basin, a biodiverse region home to a variety of other bird species, provides the ideal place to see migrating birds over open water, marshes, meadows, forests and woodlands, grasslands and rocky cliffs. We’ll take inspiration from bird clans and think of strategies being used in communities around the world to resist this disastrous path global Western society has taken. This trip will end with a first foods workshop with Klamath tribal members at Playa Residency on Summer Lake.

Partnerships: Native Arts and Culture Foundation, Playa, High Desert Museum, Klamath Tribes

Participants: David Naranjo, Ka’ila Farrell-Smith, Asa Wright, Izzy De La Meme, Aaron Erdrich, Terri Horn, Seajay Johnson.