Latest news with #NikaBartoo-SmithUnderscoreNativeNews+ICT
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘I want to change the film industry'
Nika Bartoo-SmithUnderscore Native News + ICT Editor's note: This story is the latest installment in our Youth Profiles series. You can read past stories in the series here, and stay tuned for more in the future. Trekking through the woods by her apartment in late March, Kazsia Connelly reminisced about making a zombie short film a few years prior, using this very forest as a backdrop for the movie, which a classmate wrote and directed and Connelly starred in for a media production class in high school. Connelly, 18, grew up in Willamina, Oregon, a small town of under 2,500, just minutes down the road from Grand Ronde. In January, she started at Southern Oregon University in Ashland and plans to pursue a degree in digital cinema. Passionate about film and Indigenous representation, Connelly hopes that the characters she plans to play on screen and the short films she dreams of writing will be able to help break down stereotypes and inspire other young Indigenous kids. Crawling over fallen branches and avoiding the stinging nettle plants littering the ground of the mossy forest, Connelly, a citizen of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, reflected on her dreams of becoming an actress. 'Especially as an Indigenous person, I was scared at first,' Connelly said, describing the toxicity she hears of in Hollywood. 'I want to change the film industry.' Her dream role would be to play Korra, the main character in the animated series 'The Legend of Korra,' a spinoff from the popular show 'Avatar: The Last Airbender.' In 2024, Netflix released a live-action version of 'Avatar: The Last Airbender.' Connelly loved the series and felt particularly inspired by the Indigenous woman who played the character Katara, a young Mohawk actress named Kiawentiio. 'One of the main reasons why I'm an actor is because I'm an Indigenous woman, and there's not lots of Indigenous people in films or TV shows or media in general,' Connelly said. 'I remember when I was a kid, whenever I saw a person of color [on screen], I was like, 'That's so cool. That's me.'' Connelly remembers many summers spent at the annual powwow in Grand Ronde. But, although she lived close, she describes herself as growing up a bit disconnected from culture, and is seeking to rekindle that connection now. 'I wasn't raised in my culture,' Connelly said. 'Now that I am a young adult, I don't want my kids to be raised separated from culture. Reconnecting with my culture has just been a relief and made me at peace.' Connelly graduated from Willamina High School last year and moved to Grand Ronde in December. She now splits her time between her apartment in Grand Ronde and the dorms at Southern Oregon University in Ashland. Connelly describes a mixed experience in the Willamina School District, including seeing a lot of racism and sexism in school. By high school, she began to develop her voice as an advocate for women and Indigenous people. Now, that means tapping into her creative voice through poetry and the characters she hopes to both portray and write. '[Indigneous people], we're powerful. We have gone through so much throughout decades and hundreds of thousands of years,' Connelly said. 'And we are still here. And that is saying so much.' Connelly first developed an interest in acting in middle school. 'In eighth grade, I took drama class and I just fell in love with acting,' Connelly said, remembering being in her first play that year called 'The Wedding.' The next year she attended Willamina High School, which has an enrollment of about 300. As a freshman, Connelly took a media production class with Ryan Lewis, the school's performing arts director. She continued to take his classes all throughout high school, acting in a few short films. In her junior year media production class, the students were assigned basic script writing, but Connelly went above and beyond. She wrote, produced and starred in a 25-minute film titled 'Maryona Spirit of Wildwood.' In the film, Connelly plays the spirit of a young woman named Maryona who has come back to haunt the Wildwood hotel, where she died. 'She took on a leadership role in that she wrote out a script and she proposed the idea of shooting a film that she wrote,' Lewis said. 'I respect her work ethic and her follow through because she does not fail to deliver. And that's fairly uncommon with a kid that age.' That year, the entire class ended up working on the film together. Connelly helped organize a bake sale at the local Wildwood hotel and the class raised $800 in one day to go toward production costs, according to Lewis. The class spent many weeks working on the film, shooting at multiple locations, including the Grand Ronde Tribal Police Station, the Wildwood Hotel and a local pond. 'Going into it, we didn't really know what to expect,' said Taylor Brooks, who starred in the film and is now Connelly's boyfriend. 'It turned from this mini project into something special that really brought the whole class together.' As Connelly pursues her dreams of being both behind the camera and on screen, she also hopes to continue to dedicate attention to other creative outlets. Connelly is a drummer and Brooks is also a musician, primarily playing electric bass. They hope to one day play in a band together. Connelly is also a writer, using poetry as a space to help process her emotions. In her first term at Southern Oregon University, Connelly has already begun to dive into theater classes with an introduction to acting class, a script analysis class and a carpentry class. As she thinks about her future career, both behind the scenes and on screen, she is determined to create films that portray strong, Indigenous women characters. This story is co-published by and , a news partnership that covers Indigenous communities in the Pacific Northwest. Funding is provided in part by Meyer Memorial Trust. Our stories are worth telling. Our stories are worth sharing. Our stories are worth your support. Contribute $5 or $10 today to help ICT carry out its critical mission. Sign up for ICT's free newsletter.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
New center providing comprehensive youth services in Spokane
Nika Bartoo-SmithUnderscore Native News + ICT Toni Lodge, CEO of The NATIVE Project, beamed as she introduced a new four-story children's health center in Spokane, a crowning achievement for an organization that started with $100 nearly 40 years ago and was now unveiling a $12 million centerpiece of community pride. Speaking at the March 21 grand opening of The NATIVE Project's Children and Youth Services Center, Lodge expressed her appreciation for both the moment and the future. 'Thank you all for being here to witness the blessing of this building, this new home for our youth and our children,' Lodge, citizen of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Tribe, told the crowd. 'We hope that when they come into this building, that their hearts are full of joy and love.' Walking into the new building that morning, community members were greeted by a staff member using an eagle fan to help spread smoke from the smudge burning in an abalone shell. Lodge welcomed them to the new space, reminiscing on how far The NATIVE Project has come in the past few decades. One of the original founding members of The NATIVE Project, and current CEO, Lodge remembers when the organization launched in 1987 with just $100 to its name. As the story goes, that $100 turned into $200 after a board member donated an old Ford Pinto that was raffled off at the Kalispel Powwow. That money allowed the organization to apply for 501(c)(3) status. The NATIVE Project officially opened its doors on May 15, 1989. The original $100 has now turned into millions of dollars — and the Children and Youth Services Center. Through community support, the $12 million project was completed without any debt. 'We left our children no debt,' Lodge told the gathered crowd on March 21. 'We left our children a four-story building, a place and a space for them to do the work that they need to do, for healing, for fun, for culture, for therapy, for treatment.' Beginning in 1989, The NATIVE Project set out to serve urban Indigenous youth through services such as leadership camp. It was founded based on efforts led by Indigenous matriarchs from the community. 'A lot of the actual work was done with all the heavy lifting by a bunch of Native women from different tribes,' Dylan Dressler, citizen of the Aaniiih Nation from Fort Belknap and health services director at The NATIVE Project, told Underscore Native News + ICT. 'I would say a handful of five to seven Native women built the clinic, and so on top of the clinic, we still ran our children, youth services, prevention health program that did AA groups and intensive outpatient treatment.' What started as a small nonprofit serving Native youth and families quickly grew into a full-blown health center, as the organization opened a medical facility in 1999. The NATIVE Project is a Federally Qualified Health Center and Urban Indian Health Clinic. Since 2011, it has opened its doors to the broader community. Now, about 53% of its patients identify as Native and about 47% identify as non-Native, according to Dressler. As a primary health care facility, it provides comprehensive care to the wider Spokane community, with an emphasis on Native health and serving Indigenous community members. 'We really started out as a nonprofit for children and youth and families to have kind of like a safe haven to do extracurricular activities like culture leadership development and just building community,' Dressler said. 'And then it turned into a small health center.' The NATIVE Project provides a range of services for the Indigenous community and beyond in Spokane, with a goal of promoting balance of mind, body and spirit, according to its website. Services include: primary health care; dental health care; prevention; youth behavioral health; pharmacy; care coordination; and more. All along the walls of the new Children & Youth Center, dispersed between art by Indigenous artists, the words 'Sacred Hospitality For All' is painted in gold lettering. 'We call it the matriarch monarch,' Dressler said about the new Children and Youth Services Center. 'A lot of Native women built this building. Put their time, love and energy into it.' Canoe motifs are scattered throughout the building, including a traditional Kalispel canoe that greets visitors to the center, created by Shawn Brigman, a citizen of the Spokane Tribe of Indians. On the fourth floor resides a canoe that has actually been on canoe journey, also built by Brigman. 'When kids come in the door, the first thing they see is the canoe, and it symbolizes the journey,' Lodge said. 'No matter where you go in this building, there is a reminder that we are just on the journey, and we're honoring all the people who come through our door.' The new center will allow staff at The NATIVE Project to expand services for community youth. This includes wraparound services, grounded in Native traditions, to connect youth and families to resources. Youth-focused substance use treatment programs and efforts to reach at-risk youth will be offered. The new campus offers a variety of different rooms for counseling and behavioral health support; an area for music therapy; art therapy space; and space for the Native Youth Council to meet regularly, encouraging youth leadership. 'As we teach kids about their journey, we teach kids about their healing and their wellness,' Lodge said. 'We have reminders of all the ancestors that came before us. We're here as a result of their prayers.'
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Finding Strength in Vulnerability
Nika Bartoo-SmithUnderscore Native News + ICT Dressed in a baby blue jumpsuit with a beaded necklace and big, beaded orca earrings, Kitana Connelly stood at the front of a room filled with her artwork on February 1. The 29-year-old citizen of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde and descendant of the Umpqua, Klickitat and Molalla tribes greeted family, friends and community members at her art show and book launch at munk-yeʔlan sax̣ali on N.E. 42nd Avenue in Portland with a smile on her face and joy sparkling in her eyes. 'Thank you everyone for being here,' Connelly said during her artist talk, tears running down her cheeks. 'I am so excited that we are here.' Following a year-and-a-half 'Emerging Indigenous Artist and Educator' program through Confluence, Connelly organized the Portland event to showcase her project, 'Sacred Flow: Creativity as Medicine,' a workbook and coloring book emphasizing the healing power of creativity. 'My book is meant to be a healing and wellness space for the Indigenous community, and for everyone who wants to learn from us as well,' Connelly said. 'The real point of the book is to offer space for you finding how to use your creativity as medicine.' At the book launch and art show, Connelly sought to engage the audience of nearly 50 by providing stations for art and healing throughout the room. Tables in one corner were covered with art sheets from the book along with colored pencils, oil pastels, markers and crayons. From elders to young children and ages in between, community members gathered to color. In another corner, Connelly had created an activity called 'choose what you grow' in which people were invited to write down unhelpful habits or thoughts they wanted to release and place them in a wooden box. Connelly plans to hold a ceremony at a later date to honor that release, using the notes in the ceremony. On the walls and panels throughout munk-yeʔlan sax̣ali, Connelly told a story of creating the book with examples of inspiration, early book renditions and her art. In her artist talk, Connelly told community members about her year in the emerging artist program and her dreams with the art book. 'Seeing her up there is very inspirational,' said Kitana's sister, Kazsia Connelly, an 18-year-old citizen of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. By opening up about her artistic journey and the book's personal meaning at the event, Connelly created space for others to tap into their own creativity and vulnerability. 'Her energy is so warm and healing and caring,' said Leah Altman, Oglala Lakota, executive director at Confluence, following Connelly's art talk. 'I would say she's courageous, she's fearless. She is a Native leader in her own right.' An artist's journey Connelly grew up in Willamina, Oregon and spent much of her young adult life outdoors by the water. 'I spent time at the river a lot and I would go on walks as a kid,' Connelly said. 'I was always drawn to the water, especially the rain.' When not on a walk, Connelly spent many hours drawing. She remembers really taking an interest in drawing starting at around 10 or 11 years old. At the time, she spent hours perfecting sketches of video game characters. Most of her early characters were female superheroes and villains from the Marvel or DC franchises, such as Harley Quinn. One character showed up quite often in Connelly's early work: her namesake, the character Kitana from Mortal Kombat. Connelly carried her love of video games into college, where she studied video game art with a focus on environmental storytelling. In 2021, she left art school to take care of her younger brother. 'I graduated from sister to mom, and that's why I left school,' Connelly said. Taking in her younger sibling, Connelly began her own journey of self-reflection, learning how to tap into and release her emotions. 'Taking in my brother launched me to look at the parts of me that I didn't want to look at before,' Connelly said. 'That's when I went back to using art for coping.' Connelly began to experiment with abstract art, using it as a form of emotional release. Her abstract art became the background for portraits of strong, beautiful, Indigenous women, launching her 'Integrated Collection.' Connelly's first portrait in the series, Third, is a self portrait. 'It was me helping me see the powerful parts within,' Connelly said. 'I have to think that that is me tapping into the magical power of creating and bringing life into things. Bringing meaning into artwork or into painting. And that is just something so attached to feminine energy.' In November 2021, Connelly launched into a full-time career selling her artwork and started Twahna Creation. The word Twahna is a combination of her name, Kitana, and the Chinuk Wawa word 'T'wax,' which means light. 'It connects with my brand and my mission, which is being a light for the Native community,' Connelly said. Creativity as healing In 2023, Confluence selected Connelly as its second Emerging Indigenous Artist and Educator. 'The growth that she has had within herself and alongside our ancestors has just been more than beautiful to witness,' said Heather Gurko, Central Council Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, operations director at Confluence. 'It's not just about art for her, it's about healing. And that was one of the things that really drew us to her when we were interviewing.' Through the program, Connelly not only created her art book, but also worked in schools as an art educator. As of January, Connelly has joined Confluence as a full-time staff member, working as the Artist and Educator Coordinator. In just over a year, Connelly came up with a project pitch, created a book, figured out how to market it and hosted her first major event. Her work was supported by Confluence and the greater Native community. In researching her book and how to use creativity as medicine, Connelly spent many hours out in the community working to better understand what healing and connection means. 'I have known her through the good and the bad,' said Sabrina Eisele, a childhood friend who came to the art show and book launch. 'With her book, it just goes to show that, although she might not see it, just like her readers might not see it, but we will get through.' Connelly has found that sharing her vulnerability, as she did at the event, is one of her strengths. 'Sometimes it feels like my job is just to cry in front of people,' Connelly said with a chuckle as tears streamed down her cheeks in front of the Portland crowd. 'So this is your invitation to be vulnerable today, and this is a safe space. We're all going through a lot in our community, so please, I invite you.' Flipping through the pages of 'Sacred Flow: Creativity as Medicine,' readers are encouraged to connect with themselves and the land. One coloring page contains a mantra, 'I am connected, grounded, and guided by the wisdom of nature,' surrounded by drawings of nature to color in. Another prompts the viewer to use the medicine wheel to find their own medicine, tapping into the mental, physical, emotional and spiritual. Connelly hopes this book will serve as a guide for people on their own journey of connection, healing and creativity. 'It was a highlight of my artistic career so far,' Connelly said, reflecting on the art show and book launch. 'I feel really proud of myself, and I feel really thankful to have a supportive community. I'm really happy with the turnout and everyone who came to experience all the work that I put into this event.' This story is co-published by and , a news partnership that covers Indigenous communities in the Pacific Northwest. Funding is provided in part by Meyer Memorial Trust. Our stories are worth telling. Our stories are worth sharing. Our stories are worth your support. Contribute $5 or $10 today to help ICT carry out its critical mission. Sign up for ICT's free newsletter.
