Save the Date!
Wednesday, February 25th, 5:00-7:00pm at wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ Intellectual House
The Department of American Indian Studies at the University of Washington hosts an annual literary and storytelling series. Sacred Breath features Indigenous writers and storytellers sharing their craft at the beautiful wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ Intellectual House on the UW Seattle campus. Storytelling offers a spiritual connection, a sharing of sacred breath. Literature, similarly, preserves human experience and ideals. Both forms are durable and transmit power that teaches us how to live. Both storytelling and reading aloud can impact audiences through the power of presence, allowing for the experience of the transfer of sacred breath as audiences are immersed in the experience of being inside stories and works of literature.
Free and open to the public. RSVP appreciated (coming soon).
ABOUT THE ARTIST
OSCAR HOKEAH (Cherokee Nation and Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma)
Oscar Hokeah is a citizen of Cherokee Nation and the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma from his mother (Hokeah and Stopp families), and he has Mexican heritage from his father (Chavez family) who emigrated from Aldama, Chihuahua, Mexico. He holds an M.A. in English from the University of Oklahoma, with a concentration in Native American Literature. He also holds a B.F.A. in Creative Writing from the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA), with a minor in Indigenous Liberal Studies. He is the winner of the 2023 PEN/Hemingway Award and a recipient of the Truman Capote Scholarship Award through IAIA. Hokeah has written for Poets & Writers, Literary Hub, World Literature Today, American Short Fiction, and elsewhere.
Can't wait for our Winter Event? View some of our previous events on YouTube.
Listen to an audio recording of our event at Town Hall Seattle from March 7th, 2025. This event featured multi-talented artist Arigon Starr (Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma).
Watch the full event recording of Sacred Breath from February 16th, 2024 at Kane Hall. This event featured writer and storyteller Sasha LaPointe (Upper Skagit and Nooksack) as well as artist and storyteller Roger Fernandes (Lower Elwha S'Klallam).
Watch the full event recording of Sacred Breath from November 14th, 2024. This event featured writer and storyteller Richard Van Camp (Tłı̨chǫ Dene from Fort Smith, NWT) as well as artist and storyteller Roger Fernandes (Lower Elwha S'Klallam).
Watch the full event recording of Sacred Breath from November 18th, 2021. This event featured authors Emma Elliott-Groves (Cowichan Tribes) an author and UW professor, and her mother Huyamise' Della Rice-Sylvester (Cowichan Tribes) a traditional medicine woman and storyteller.
Watch the full event recording of Sacred Breath from May 17th, 2021. This event featured children's book author Christine Day (Upper Skagit) and Jessica Dominy (Tlingit and Haida).
Watch the full event recording of Sacred Breath from November 23rd, 2020. This event featured authors Traci Sorell (Cherokee), Michelle M. Jacob (Yakama), and storyteller Fern Renville (Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate).
Do you love Sacred Breath and want to see more?
Donate to our Friends of American Indian Studies fund to help us support indigenous authors and storytellers and bring you more amazing works.
Read about Sacred Breath in the A&S Perspectives newsletter.
These events are free and open to the public, but registration is appreciated, as space is limited. wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ – Intellectual House is located at 4249 Whitman Court, Seattle, WA.
Sacred Breath is sponsored by the Department of American Indian Studies, the Mellon Foundation, the Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies, the UW Department of English, the Banks Center for Educational Justice, the Squaxin Island Tribe, the Suquamish Tribe, and the Muckleshoot Tribe.