Elena Terry (Ho-Chunk)

Indigenous Chef

First Nations; Ho-Chunk Nation, Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation

Wisconsin Dells, WI

“Being a Taproot artist means that the work I am doing in my community towards reclamation and continuation of traditional culinary arts is not only being recognized but celebrated and valued differently. ”

Elena Terry

Photo by Ashley Turner

Photo courtesy Wild Bearies

Elena plating her dish with culinary student at Hawaii Food and Wine Festival 2024

Wild Bearies with Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers having cooked for the State of the Tribes Address

Elena in Taos mixing chocolate for the Southwest Intertribal Food Summit

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A seed to table chef

Elena Terry is the Executive Chef/Founder of Wild Bearies, a community based nonprofit and educational outreach organization. As a seed to table chef, Elena develops relationships with tribal and community growers and producers. She works throughout the Americas advocating on behalf of sustainable cultivation practices and responsible foraging. Elena also works with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the Smithsonian and University of Wisconsin on building cultural food history and advocacy for truth and reconciliation. She developed the international Indigenous Culinary Mentorship program for the Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance and continues to advocate for equity and inclusion of Indigenous chefs. Elena is a butcher and wild game specialist and loves open fire cooking. You can see Elena on BBQ Brawl, Chopped, Family Dinner and Top Chef.

What does the Taproot Fellowship mean to you and how will it affect your practice?

Being a Taproot artist means that the work I am doing in my community towards reclamation and continuation of traditional culinary arts is not only being recognized but celebrated and valued differently. It is a transformative time for us as artists and what an honor to be among such inspiring knowledge keepers.

Meet more of our Fellows

Delores Taitano Quinata

Bilembaotuyan Maker & Player

Hagatna, Guam

Lydia “Louise” Goings (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians)

Cherokee Basket Maker

Birdtown Community on the Qualla Boundary (Cherokee, NC)

David Comingdeer (Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma)

Cherokee Ball Stick Maker

Flint District of the Cherokee Nation (Stilwell, OK)

TJ Sgwaayaans Young (Kaigani Haida)

Haida Wood Carver

Hydaburg, AK

Van-Anh Vanessa Vo

Vietnamese Traditional Musician & Composer

El Cerrito, CA

Reba Jo Teran (Eastern Shoshone)

Traditional Shoshone Saddle Maker & Bead Worker

Fort Washakie, WY

Raymond Wong

Traditional Chinese Lion Dancer & Martial Artist

Chinatown, Washington, DC

Ramón Rivera

Mariachi Musician & Educator

Mount Vernon, WA

Omar Santiago Fuentes

Puerto Rican Troubadour, Improviser of Verse & Décimas

Hatillo, Puerto Rico

Manuel A Delgado

Old-World Luthier

Nashville, TN

Lani Strong Hotch (Chilkat-Tlingit)

Chilkat/Ravenstail Weaver & Textile Artist

Klukwan, AK

Kewulay Kamara

Mandeng Finah Poet & Storyteller

Jackson Heights, NY

Karen Ann Hoffman (Oneida Nation of Wisconsin)

Haudenosaunee Raised Beadworker

Stevens Point, WI

Inna Kovtun

Ukrainian Ethno-Singer & Folklorist

Portland, OR

Hamid Al-Saadi

Iraqi Maqam Vocalist

Brooklyn, NY

Elena Terry (Ho-Chunk)

Indigenous Chef

Wisconsin Dells, WI

Dena Jennings

Affrolachian Musician & Culture Bearer

Nasons, VA

Chum Ngek

Cambodian Musician & Ritual Artist

Gaithersburg, MD

Billy Branch

Blues Musician

Chicago, IL

Chef BJ Dennis

Gullah Geechee Chef & Cultural Bearer

Charleston, SC

Brett Ratliff

Traditional Appalachian Musician

Stamping Ground, KY

Bruce Bradley

Tap Dancer

Flint, MI

Annetta Koruh (Hopi)

Hopi Weaver

Village Bacavi, Third Mesa-Hopi land, Arizona (Bacavi, AZ)

Alejandro López Portrait taken by Beverly R. Singer

Alejandro López

Chicano Muralist

Santa Cruz, NM

Wayne Henderson

Appalachian Luthier & Musician

Mouth of Wilson, VA

Willard John

Moko Jumbie Stilt Dancer

St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands

Veronica Castillo

Mexican Polychromatic Ceramicist

San Antonio, TX

Theresa Secord

Penobscot Basketmaker

Farmington, ME

Stan Rodriguez

Kumeyaay Culture Bearer

Santa Ysabel, CA

Shirley Kazuyo Muramoto

Japanese Koto Musician

Oakland, CA

Shaka Zulu

New Orleans Black Masking craftsman & stiltdancer

New Orleans, LA

Sami Abu Shumays

Arab Musician

Queens, New York, NY

Roy & PJ Hirabayashi

Japanese American Taiko Musicians

San Jose, CA

Pedro Adorno Irizarry

Puerto Rican theater artist and director

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Ofelia Esparza & Rosanna Esparza Ahrens

Chicana Altaristas

East Los Angeles, CA

Meklit Hadero

Ethio-Jazz Vocalist & Composer

San Francisco, CA

King Khazm

Hip Hop Artist

Seattle, WA

Juan Longoria, Jr.

Conjunto Accordionist & Educator

Los Fresnos, TX

Jontavious Willis

Blues Musician

Luthersville, GA

Jesus M. Cepeda Brenes

Afro-Puerto Rican Musician & Folklorist

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Iris Brown

Puerto Rican Foodways & Agriculture

Philadelphia, PA

Gertie Lopez

Tohono O'odham Waila Musician

Tucson, AZ

Eva Ybarra

Conjunto Accordionist & Bandleader

San Antonio, TX

Dr. Dwayne Tomah

Passamaquoddy Language Keeper

Edmunds, ME

Deborah Gourneau

Anishinaabe (Chippewa) Culture Bearer

Belcourt, ND

Dani Pikolakitisaata Tippmann

Miami Plant Tradition-Bearer

Myaamionki (Fort Wayne, IN)

Bill Harris

Catawba Master Potter

McConnells, SC

Carolyn Mazloomi

Quiltmaker

West Chester, OH

Portrait of Amikogaabawiikwe (Adrienne Benjamin)

Adrienne Benjamin | Amikogaabawiikwe

Jingle Dress Maker, Cultural Artist

Chiminising, Misizaagaiganing (Isle, MN)

Anwan “Big G” Glover

Go-Go Music Pioneer

Washington D.C.

Chef BJ Dennis

Gullah Geechee Chef & Cultural Bearer

Gullah Geechee

Charleston, SC

“This award brings further awareness and to a culture that has played a huge impact in the development, culture, and history of the United States. Most importantly, the work that those have gone before me to allow me and others to be in this position was not in vain.”

Chef BJ Dennis

Cooking traditionally over the coals at the Ross family Annual community gathering in Ridgeville, SC. A free community event. Photo by Jonathan Cooper.

Cooking with the next generation of chefs from our culture. Passing on the knowledge to Reggie and Gabby during my signature dinner for Charleston Wine and Food. Photo by Jonathan Cooper

Cooking 'Limpin Susan' also known as okra purloo/preloo aka okra rice over open fire. One of the traditional rice dishes of Gullah Geechee and lowcountry culture. Photo by Jonathan Cooper

Cutting Carolina gold rice that we grew in Midway, GA, a coastal geechee town. Elder Daniel Fleming wanted to do this and pass on this ancestral knowledge to me. It was the first time he seen rice grow in over 70 plus years. Photo by Parthenia Myers

I was in Casamance,Senegal with a keeper of traditons within the Diola culture. I am gifting them a rice fanner basket which was an important part of our Gullah Geechee heritage. I was explaining to the family how many of our ancestors where taken from this region and enslaved because of their knowledge of rice growing. The fanner basket was a gift to show them that we kept traditons from the motherland even after being removed from here. Photo by Brenda Peart.

Photo courtesy Chef BJ Dennis

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He infuses the flavors, culture, & techniques of his ancestors

Born and raised in Charleston, SC, personal chef and caterer Benjamin “BJ” Dennis infuses the flavors and culture of the Lowcountry into his Gullah Geechee cuisine, bringing a new taste to an ever expanding culinary palate of the south.

What differentiates Chef BJ’s food from his contemporaries in “southern” cooking is the homage he pays to the Gullah Geechee culture, brought to the Americas by West and Central Africans, disseminated along the West Indies and the American South. Dennis infuses the techniques of his ancestors, learned from four years of study in St. Thomas, as well as the lessons of his grandparents about eating from the land, to create fresh interpretations of local dishes focusing on in-season, locally sourced vegetables and seafood.

Recent trips to Trinidad and Tobago, Haiti, Barbados, Dominica, U.S. Virgin Islands, Angola, Bahamas, Benin, Togo, Senegal, Gambia, Mexico, and Cameroon has brought his work full circle. Connecting the people and cultures of the African diaspora through food. Bringing back a true taste of Gullah Geechee culture.

What does the Taproot Fellowship mean to you and how will it affect your practice?

This honor means so much to me on many levels. First just the recognition of my hard work and passion over the year to make sure my culture is recognized and not forgotten. This award brings further awareness and to a culture that has played a huge impact in the development, culture, and history of the United States. Most importantly, the work that those have gone before me to allow me and others to be in this position was not in vain.

Meet more of our Fellows

Delores Taitano Quinata

Bilembaotuyan Maker & Player

Hagatna, Guam

Lydia “Louise” Goings (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians)

Cherokee Basket Maker

Birdtown Community on the Qualla Boundary (Cherokee, NC)

David Comingdeer (Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma)

Cherokee Ball Stick Maker

Flint District of the Cherokee Nation (Stilwell, OK)

TJ Sgwaayaans Young (Kaigani Haida)

Haida Wood Carver

Hydaburg, AK

Van-Anh Vanessa Vo

Vietnamese Traditional Musician & Composer

El Cerrito, CA

Reba Jo Teran (Eastern Shoshone)

Traditional Shoshone Saddle Maker & Bead Worker

Fort Washakie, WY

Raymond Wong

Traditional Chinese Lion Dancer & Martial Artist

Chinatown, Washington, DC

Ramón Rivera

Mariachi Musician & Educator

Mount Vernon, WA

Omar Santiago Fuentes

Puerto Rican Troubadour, Improviser of Verse & Décimas

Hatillo, Puerto Rico

Manuel A Delgado

Old-World Luthier

Nashville, TN

Lani Strong Hotch (Chilkat-Tlingit)

Chilkat/Ravenstail Weaver & Textile Artist

Klukwan, AK

Kewulay Kamara

Mandeng Finah Poet & Storyteller

Jackson Heights, NY

Karen Ann Hoffman (Oneida Nation of Wisconsin)

Haudenosaunee Raised Beadworker

Stevens Point, WI

Inna Kovtun

Ukrainian Ethno-Singer & Folklorist

Portland, OR

Hamid Al-Saadi

Iraqi Maqam Vocalist

Brooklyn, NY

Elena Terry (Ho-Chunk)

Indigenous Chef

Wisconsin Dells, WI

Dena Jennings

Affrolachian Musician & Culture Bearer

Nasons, VA

Chum Ngek

Cambodian Musician & Ritual Artist

Gaithersburg, MD

Billy Branch

Blues Musician

Chicago, IL

Chef BJ Dennis

Gullah Geechee Chef & Cultural Bearer

Charleston, SC

Brett Ratliff

Traditional Appalachian Musician

Stamping Ground, KY

Bruce Bradley

Tap Dancer

Flint, MI

Annetta Koruh (Hopi)

Hopi Weaver

Village Bacavi, Third Mesa-Hopi land, Arizona (Bacavi, AZ)

Alejandro López Portrait taken by Beverly R. Singer

Alejandro López

Chicano Muralist

Santa Cruz, NM

Wayne Henderson

Appalachian Luthier & Musician

Mouth of Wilson, VA

Willard John

Moko Jumbie Stilt Dancer

St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands

Veronica Castillo

Mexican Polychromatic Ceramicist

San Antonio, TX

Theresa Secord

Penobscot Basketmaker

Farmington, ME

Stan Rodriguez

Kumeyaay Culture Bearer

Santa Ysabel, CA

Shirley Kazuyo Muramoto

Japanese Koto Musician

Oakland, CA

Shaka Zulu

New Orleans Black Masking craftsman & stiltdancer

New Orleans, LA

Sami Abu Shumays

Arab Musician

Queens, New York, NY

Roy & PJ Hirabayashi

Japanese American Taiko Musicians

San Jose, CA

Pedro Adorno Irizarry

Puerto Rican theater artist and director

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Ofelia Esparza & Rosanna Esparza Ahrens

Chicana Altaristas

East Los Angeles, CA

Meklit Hadero

Ethio-Jazz Vocalist & Composer

San Francisco, CA

King Khazm

Hip Hop Artist

Seattle, WA

Juan Longoria, Jr.

Conjunto Accordionist & Educator

Los Fresnos, TX

Jontavious Willis

Blues Musician

Luthersville, GA

Jesus M. Cepeda Brenes

Afro-Puerto Rican Musician & Folklorist

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Iris Brown

Puerto Rican Foodways & Agriculture

Philadelphia, PA

Gertie Lopez

Tohono O'odham Waila Musician

Tucson, AZ

Eva Ybarra

Conjunto Accordionist & Bandleader

San Antonio, TX

Dr. Dwayne Tomah

Passamaquoddy Language Keeper

Edmunds, ME

Deborah Gourneau

Anishinaabe (Chippewa) Culture Bearer

Belcourt, ND

Dani Pikolakitisaata Tippmann

Miami Plant Tradition-Bearer

Myaamionki (Fort Wayne, IN)

Bill Harris

Catawba Master Potter

McConnells, SC

Carolyn Mazloomi

Quiltmaker

West Chester, OH

Portrait of Amikogaabawiikwe (Adrienne Benjamin)

Adrienne Benjamin | Amikogaabawiikwe

Jingle Dress Maker, Cultural Artist

Chiminising, Misizaagaiganing (Isle, MN)

Anwan “Big G” Glover

Go-Go Music Pioneer

Washington D.C.

Iris Brown

Puerto Rican Foodways & Agriculture

Afro-Boricua / Loiceña

Philadelphia, PA

“Being a Taproot artist means having the ability to make my dreams happen that I thought would stay in my notebooks.”

Iris Brown

Photo by Anh Thai.

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Transforming abandoned lots into award-winning gardens

Iris Brown is dedicated to the rich exchange of culture, agriculture, and food, amplifying this diasporic connection between her Kensington neighborhood in Philadelphia and her hometown of Loíza, in Puerto Rico. In the early 1980s, Iris Brown co-founded Grupo Motivos, bringing together Puerto Rican women from different parts of Puerto Rico, united by the desire to use their surroundings to create beautiful spaces for their children and neighbors, ultimately converting abandoned lots into award-winning gardens and ancestral education sites. She is the visionary force behind the Norris Square Neighborhood Project gardens, including El Batey, Las Parcelas, the Butterfly Garden, Raíces, and Villa Africana Colobó.

Iris’s contributions extend beyond urban gardening, collaborating with artists, farmers, and cultural producers. Her culinary creations, deeply rooted in Puerto Rican traditions and the wisdom of her mother and grandmother, serve as an additional dimension of her work, shaping her into a cultural and culinary steward. Iris’s practice embodies the relationship between culture, agriculture, and food, ensuring the preservation of traditions for generations to come.

Meet more of our Fellows

Delores Taitano Quinata

Bilembaotuyan Maker & Player

Hagatna, Guam

Lydia “Louise” Goings (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians)

Cherokee Basket Maker

Birdtown Community on the Qualla Boundary (Cherokee, NC)

David Comingdeer (Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma)

Cherokee Ball Stick Maker

Flint District of the Cherokee Nation (Stilwell, OK)

TJ Sgwaayaans Young (Kaigani Haida)

Haida Wood Carver

Hydaburg, AK

Van-Anh Vanessa Vo

Vietnamese Traditional Musician & Composer

El Cerrito, CA

Reba Jo Teran (Eastern Shoshone)

Traditional Shoshone Saddle Maker & Bead Worker

Fort Washakie, WY

Raymond Wong

Traditional Chinese Lion Dancer & Martial Artist

Chinatown, Washington, DC

Ramón Rivera

Mariachi Musician & Educator

Mount Vernon, WA

Omar Santiago Fuentes

Puerto Rican Troubadour, Improviser of Verse & Décimas

Hatillo, Puerto Rico

Manuel A Delgado

Old-World Luthier

Nashville, TN

Lani Strong Hotch (Chilkat-Tlingit)

Chilkat/Ravenstail Weaver & Textile Artist

Klukwan, AK

Kewulay Kamara

Mandeng Finah Poet & Storyteller

Jackson Heights, NY

Karen Ann Hoffman (Oneida Nation of Wisconsin)

Haudenosaunee Raised Beadworker

Stevens Point, WI

Inna Kovtun

Ukrainian Ethno-Singer & Folklorist

Portland, OR

Hamid Al-Saadi

Iraqi Maqam Vocalist

Brooklyn, NY

Elena Terry (Ho-Chunk)

Indigenous Chef

Wisconsin Dells, WI

Dena Jennings

Affrolachian Musician & Culture Bearer

Nasons, VA

Chum Ngek

Cambodian Musician & Ritual Artist

Gaithersburg, MD

Billy Branch

Blues Musician

Chicago, IL

Chef BJ Dennis

Gullah Geechee Chef & Cultural Bearer

Charleston, SC

Brett Ratliff

Traditional Appalachian Musician

Stamping Ground, KY

Bruce Bradley

Tap Dancer

Flint, MI

Annetta Koruh (Hopi)

Hopi Weaver

Village Bacavi, Third Mesa-Hopi land, Arizona (Bacavi, AZ)

Alejandro López Portrait taken by Beverly R. Singer

Alejandro López

Chicano Muralist

Santa Cruz, NM

Wayne Henderson

Appalachian Luthier & Musician

Mouth of Wilson, VA

Willard John

Moko Jumbie Stilt Dancer

St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands

Veronica Castillo

Mexican Polychromatic Ceramicist

San Antonio, TX

Theresa Secord

Penobscot Basketmaker

Farmington, ME

Stan Rodriguez

Kumeyaay Culture Bearer

Santa Ysabel, CA

Shirley Kazuyo Muramoto

Japanese Koto Musician

Oakland, CA

Shaka Zulu

New Orleans Black Masking craftsman & stiltdancer

New Orleans, LA

Sami Abu Shumays

Arab Musician

Queens, New York, NY

Roy & PJ Hirabayashi

Japanese American Taiko Musicians

San Jose, CA

Pedro Adorno Irizarry

Puerto Rican theater artist and director

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Ofelia Esparza & Rosanna Esparza Ahrens

Chicana Altaristas

East Los Angeles, CA

Meklit Hadero

Ethio-Jazz Vocalist & Composer

San Francisco, CA

King Khazm

Hip Hop Artist

Seattle, WA

Juan Longoria, Jr.

Conjunto Accordionist & Educator

Los Fresnos, TX

Jontavious Willis

Blues Musician

Luthersville, GA

Jesus M. Cepeda Brenes

Afro-Puerto Rican Musician & Folklorist

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Iris Brown

Puerto Rican Foodways & Agriculture

Philadelphia, PA

Gertie Lopez

Tohono O'odham Waila Musician

Tucson, AZ

Eva Ybarra

Conjunto Accordionist & Bandleader

San Antonio, TX

Dr. Dwayne Tomah

Passamaquoddy Language Keeper

Edmunds, ME

Deborah Gourneau

Anishinaabe (Chippewa) Culture Bearer

Belcourt, ND

Dani Pikolakitisaata Tippmann

Miami Plant Tradition-Bearer

Myaamionki (Fort Wayne, IN)

Bill Harris

Catawba Master Potter

McConnells, SC

Carolyn Mazloomi

Quiltmaker

West Chester, OH

Portrait of Amikogaabawiikwe (Adrienne Benjamin)

Adrienne Benjamin | Amikogaabawiikwe

Jingle Dress Maker, Cultural Artist

Chiminising, Misizaagaiganing (Isle, MN)

Anwan “Big G” Glover

Go-Go Music Pioneer

Washington D.C.

Dani Pikolakitisaata Tippmann

Miami Plant Tradition-Bearer

Myaamiaki / Miami Tribe of Oklahoma

Myaamionki (Fort Wayne, IN)

“Receiving a Taproot Fellowship will create big positive ripples for me and the Myaamia people into the future.”

Dani Pikolakitisaata Tippmann

Dani Tippman harvesting elm bark. Photo by Jon Kay.

Preparing corn for corn soup. Photo by Dani Tippmann.

Wild rice harvest. Photo by Larry Hedeen.

Ingrid Nicholson Dani Tippmann demonstrating Miami traditional plant use at Taste of the Arts in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Photo by Ingrid Nicholson.

Wild Rice being processed by Myaamia people. Photo by Mary Harter.

Dani Tippmann stitching together a bark basket from invasive buckthorn. Photo by Jon Kay.

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Storytelling, medicine, food & tech through plant wisdom

Dani Tippmann is a Miami Native American, descended from Takumwah, and Chief Richardville and is a citizen of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma.

Her knowledge of plants has been collected over the years from tribal members and elders, including her mother, aunts and elder tradition bearers. She speaks about traditional Native plants used in storytelling, food, medicine and technology and about traditional Myaamia lifeways, culture and history. Dani completed a Bachelor of General Studies at Indiana University in 2002 as an adult returning student.

Dani has been recognized by Arts United of Greater Fort Wayne and Traditional Arts Indiana as an Allen County Folklife Scholar for cultural leadership in 2022. She was honored as an Eiteljorg Museum of Native and Western Art – Artist in Residence in 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2023. She was honored with the Indiana Heritage Fellowship Award from Traditional Arts Indiana.

She serves the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma as the Kiihkayonki Community Food Program Director in the Fort Wayne, Indiana area.

What does being a Taproot Fellow mean to you in your practice and community?

Modern Americans think of time as a river passing by. Myaamia people tend to think of time as a pond with rocks dropping in as events. Small pebbles create small ripples and effects, while large events create large ripples which affect us greatly throughout time. Forced removal from our homelands was a huge boulder, creating horrible ripples in our lives that are felt even today. Receiving a Taproot Fellowship will create big positive ripples for me and the Myaamia people into the future.

Being a Taproot Fellow is a prestigious honor for me because it honors the people who came before me, who honored our shared heritage of plant knowledge. It gives an opportunity to future Myaamiaki/Miami people to learn our shared culture for a bright future.

Meet more of our Fellows

Delores Taitano Quinata

Bilembaotuyan Maker & Player

Hagatna, Guam

Lydia “Louise” Goings (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians)

Cherokee Basket Maker

Birdtown Community on the Qualla Boundary (Cherokee, NC)

David Comingdeer (Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma)

Cherokee Ball Stick Maker

Flint District of the Cherokee Nation (Stilwell, OK)

TJ Sgwaayaans Young (Kaigani Haida)

Haida Wood Carver

Hydaburg, AK

Van-Anh Vanessa Vo

Vietnamese Traditional Musician & Composer

El Cerrito, CA

Reba Jo Teran (Eastern Shoshone)

Traditional Shoshone Saddle Maker & Bead Worker

Fort Washakie, WY

Raymond Wong

Traditional Chinese Lion Dancer & Martial Artist

Chinatown, Washington, DC

Ramón Rivera

Mariachi Musician & Educator

Mount Vernon, WA

Omar Santiago Fuentes

Puerto Rican Troubadour, Improviser of Verse & Décimas

Hatillo, Puerto Rico

Manuel A Delgado

Old-World Luthier

Nashville, TN

Lani Strong Hotch (Chilkat-Tlingit)

Chilkat/Ravenstail Weaver & Textile Artist

Klukwan, AK

Kewulay Kamara

Mandeng Finah Poet & Storyteller

Jackson Heights, NY

Karen Ann Hoffman (Oneida Nation of Wisconsin)

Haudenosaunee Raised Beadworker

Stevens Point, WI

Inna Kovtun

Ukrainian Ethno-Singer & Folklorist

Portland, OR

Hamid Al-Saadi

Iraqi Maqam Vocalist

Brooklyn, NY

Elena Terry (Ho-Chunk)

Indigenous Chef

Wisconsin Dells, WI

Dena Jennings

Affrolachian Musician & Culture Bearer

Nasons, VA

Chum Ngek

Cambodian Musician & Ritual Artist

Gaithersburg, MD

Billy Branch

Blues Musician

Chicago, IL

Chef BJ Dennis

Gullah Geechee Chef & Cultural Bearer

Charleston, SC

Brett Ratliff

Traditional Appalachian Musician

Stamping Ground, KY

Bruce Bradley

Tap Dancer

Flint, MI

Annetta Koruh (Hopi)

Hopi Weaver

Village Bacavi, Third Mesa-Hopi land, Arizona (Bacavi, AZ)

Alejandro López Portrait taken by Beverly R. Singer

Alejandro López

Chicano Muralist

Santa Cruz, NM

Wayne Henderson

Appalachian Luthier & Musician

Mouth of Wilson, VA

Willard John

Moko Jumbie Stilt Dancer

St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands

Veronica Castillo

Mexican Polychromatic Ceramicist

San Antonio, TX

Theresa Secord

Penobscot Basketmaker

Farmington, ME

Stan Rodriguez

Kumeyaay Culture Bearer

Santa Ysabel, CA

Shirley Kazuyo Muramoto

Japanese Koto Musician

Oakland, CA

Shaka Zulu

New Orleans Black Masking craftsman & stiltdancer

New Orleans, LA

Sami Abu Shumays

Arab Musician

Queens, New York, NY

Roy & PJ Hirabayashi

Japanese American Taiko Musicians

San Jose, CA

Pedro Adorno Irizarry

Puerto Rican theater artist and director

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Ofelia Esparza & Rosanna Esparza Ahrens

Chicana Altaristas

East Los Angeles, CA

Meklit Hadero

Ethio-Jazz Vocalist & Composer

San Francisco, CA

King Khazm

Hip Hop Artist

Seattle, WA

Juan Longoria, Jr.

Conjunto Accordionist & Educator

Los Fresnos, TX

Jontavious Willis

Blues Musician

Luthersville, GA

Jesus M. Cepeda Brenes

Afro-Puerto Rican Musician & Folklorist

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Iris Brown

Puerto Rican Foodways & Agriculture

Philadelphia, PA

Gertie Lopez

Tohono O'odham Waila Musician

Tucson, AZ

Eva Ybarra

Conjunto Accordionist & Bandleader

San Antonio, TX

Dr. Dwayne Tomah

Passamaquoddy Language Keeper

Edmunds, ME

Deborah Gourneau

Anishinaabe (Chippewa) Culture Bearer

Belcourt, ND

Dani Pikolakitisaata Tippmann

Miami Plant Tradition-Bearer

Myaamionki (Fort Wayne, IN)

Bill Harris

Catawba Master Potter

McConnells, SC

Carolyn Mazloomi

Quiltmaker

West Chester, OH

Portrait of Amikogaabawiikwe (Adrienne Benjamin)

Adrienne Benjamin | Amikogaabawiikwe

Jingle Dress Maker, Cultural Artist

Chiminising, Misizaagaiganing (Isle, MN)

Anwan “Big G” Glover

Go-Go Music Pioneer

Washington D.C.