Sacred Breath: Indigenous Writing and Storytelling Series

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 at wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ - Intellectual House on the University of Washington 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.

Watch the Recording of our most recent  Virtual Sacred Breath !

This event featured authors Traci Sorell (Cherokee), Michelle M. Jacob (Yakama), and storyteller Fern Renville (Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate).

Watch the Full Event Recording from November 23rd, 2020. (https://youtu.be/0TgD12a_aJc)

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Traci Sorell is a Cherokee Nation citizen and award-winning author who writes fiction and nonfiction books, short stories and poems for children. A former federal Indian law attorney and advocate, Traci lives with her family in northeastern Oklahoma where her tribe is located. She looks forward to sharing two nonfiction books in 2021—Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer (Millbrook, March 2) and We Are Still Here: Native American Truths Everyone Should Know (Charlesbridge, April 20). Find out more about her work online at www.tracisorell.com or @tracisorell via Twitter and Instagram. 

Michelle M. Jacob is an enrolled member of the Yakama Nation and is Professor of Indigenous Studies and Director of the Sapsik’ʷałá (Teacher) Education Program in the Department of Education Studies at the University of Oregon. Michelle also serves as Affiliated Faculty in the Department of Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies, and Affiliated Faculty in the Environmental Studies Program. Michelle engages in scholarly and activist work that seeks to understand and work toward a holistic sense of health and well-being within Indigenous communities and among allies who wish to engage decolonization.

Fern Renville is a theatre director, storyteller, teaching artist, and enrolled citizen of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, an eastern Dakota band of the Oceti Sakowin. A long-time teaching artist in out-of-school spaces and former director of Red Eagle Soaring Native Youth Theatre, Fern currently is director of SNAG Productions, a Seattle-based collective of Native artists committed to sharing traditional stories in contemporary settings.

Can't wait for more? Save the Date for our next event - Spring 2021

Read about Sacred Breath in the A&S Perspectives newsletter.

These events are free and open to the public, but registration is required, 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 Intellectual House Academic Programming Committee, the Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies, the UW Diversity Seed Grant, the Banks Center for Educational Justice, and the Squaxin Island Tribe.