Akalei Brown is the Deputy Director and founder of the Colorado Native Organization based out of RedLine Contemporary Art Center in the Historic Five Points neighborhood of Denver. She also works as an independent non-profit development consultant, working with Native led nonprofits across the United States. Her passion is serving as an advocate for foster youth, providing life skills trainings to youth who are about to age out of the foster care system. Akalei is Taos Pueblo and Kanaka Maoli and an empowered emancipated foster youth from Los Angeles County. She graduated UC Davis with a bachelors in Native American Studies and Community & Regional Development. She is an accomplished fashion show coordinator and designer, creating vibrant pieces of wearable art and infusing performance art into every show including at The Denver Art Museum (2023), Bavaria Germany (2023) and at RedLine (2023). Akalei serves on the board of ayACon, Colorado’s only Indigenous Comicon. She is one of the founders of the Colorado Inter-Tribal Dancers; a philanthropic dance troupe committed to raising awareness about the Colorado Native Organization. In February, they performed at the NFL's Super Bowl Experience opening. Along with 26 champion dancers, Akalei performed and danced in collaboration with Jeffrey Gibson at the Venice Biennale Arte 2024.

Carol Melting Tallow (Blood Tribe) danced with the Oklahoma Fancy Dancers as a Fancy Shawl Dancer to inaugurate Jeffrey Gibson’s U.S. Pavilion at the 2024 Venice Biennale. She resides in Albuquerque, NM.

Elias Her Many Horses is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma and a descendant of the Oglala Lakota, Taos Pueblo, Meskwaki, and Leech Lake Ojibwa Tribes. Born and raised in Denver, Colorado, Elias has maintained a strong connection to his traditional Native roots through powwow culture.

From an early age, Elias has been dancing and singing at powwows, traveling across the United States and Canada. Through these travels, he formed lasting relationships with families and mentors who deepened his knowledge of singing and dancing traditions. These teachings have shaped his identity as a singer and cultural bearer.

Elias was taught by his uncles the importance of caring for the drum: “If you take care of the drum, the drum will take care of you. The drum will teach you about life—you just have to talk to him.” This guidance has carried him far, even leading to performances overseas.

He is deeply grateful for the opportunities this way of life has provided and the communities that have supported him. In 2024, Elias participated in Jeffrey Gibson's U.S. Pavilion presentation, the space in which to place me, at the Venice Biennale, honoring the invitation to contribute to this historic moment in celebration of Indigenous presence and expression.

Faith Good Striker is an enrolled member of the Blood Tribe in treaty 7 and Saddle Lake Cree nation in treaty 6 Alberta, Canada. She is Blackfoot and Plains Cree, a mother of two, a quillwork and beadwork artist, as well as a seamstress of traditional regalia. She has travelled throughout Canada and the United States dancing and showcasing her style of dance at powwows and performances. She has had numerous opportunities to share her love for her culture.

Haleakala Brown is 12 years old in the 7th grade. She is in Student Government serving as a Senator, she is in a choir called VOCO, she is on the Volleyball Team and is a member of a weekly running club. Haleakala has been dancing at powwows since she could walk. She is an accomplished jingle dress dancer, winning titles across the United States. Halekala is a member of the Colorado Inter-Tribal Dancers. She is Mni Coujou Lakota, Taos Pueblo and Kanaka Maoli. Halekala is an entrepreneur and founded her first business Lakota Body Care (LBC) Colorado's only Native American soap company in 2021. All of her products are organic handmade in small batches with traditional Native plants. Her products have been shipped to all 50 states, all provinces in Canada and various countries around the world. Haleakala has traveled to pitch contests and has won competitions against adults many times over. Her dream is to have her business in major retail stores, so Natives can see themselves represented on the shelves. Haleakala performed with the Colorado Inter-Tribal Dancers in collaboration with Jeffrey Gibson at the Venice Biennale Arte 2024.

Jaida Whitecloud (Choctaw Nation and Ojibwe descent) danced with the Oklahoma Fancy Dancers as a Jingle Dancer to inaugurate Jeffrey Gibson's U.S. Pavilion at the 2024 Venice Biennale. She resides in Tahlequah, OK.

Joseph Hunter Blassingame (Northern Cheyenne) sang with the Oklahoma Fancy Dancers to inaugurate Jeffrey Gibson's U.S. Pavilion at the 2024 Venice Biennale. He resides in Lame Deer, MT.

Kevin Connywerdy is a Native American artist, traditional craftsman and dance performer of the Comanche and Kiowa Nations. He studied Fine Arts at Bacone College in Muscogee, OK, and the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma. He is renowned for his traditional Indian feather-work and beadwork, and has been commissioned by museums and private collectors. His knowledge is acquired through observations and teaching from tribal elders. Kevin serves as an artist-in-residence with the State Arts Council of Oklahoma and the Oklahoma Fancy Dancers. Kevin ranks among the World Class Champions as a Fancy War Dancer, competing in pow wows at the national and world levels, and specializes in the eagle, shield and hoop dances. He has had cultural exchanges with the Indigenous people of Siberia and received a letter of appreciation from the US Ambassador to Azerbaijan for representing the United States and Oklahoma as a cultural ambassador. He has also appeared in television and in the movies. Kevin provides personal training in American Indian cultural arts, life ways and dance in Oklahoma, nationally and internationally, and served as director of Four Winds Intertribal Program. He enjoys educating and entertaining audiences in all aspects of Indian culture–past, present and future. He is currently employed at the University of Oklahoma.

Kiara Love Flores is from the Pala Indian Reservation in Southern California. She is Kuupangaxwichem/Cupeno and Northern Ute. At 23 years old, she has been dancing since she learned to walk. These styles include the Jingle Dress, Fancy Shawl, and Bird Dancing, all taught to her by her Mother. Dancing has always had the biggest impact on her life and has led her to the path she is on now. Currently she attends California State University San Marcos, soon to receive her Bachelors in Native Studies with a concentration in Arts & Humanities. Working closely with Native communities has always been a part of her, especially with bringing light to Native issues like Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women, Native Education, and Native Erasure within education.

Leah McGurk (Navajo Nation) danced with the Colorado Inter-Tribal Dancers as a Traditional Dancer to inaugurate artist Jeffrey Gibson's U.S. Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2024. She resides in Sacremento, CA.

Lori Martin-Kingbird (Anishinaabe, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe) lives in Cass Lake, Minnesota. Her passion for dance and commitment to service has propelled her on a journey of self-discovery and gratitude since adolescence. As a Jingle Dress dancer and marketing student, she has had the honor and privilege of dancing across Turtle Island while currently completing her Marketing Degree at Augsburg University in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her decade of service to the Miss Minnesota and Miss America Organization has culminated in her distinguished appointment to the Young Women's Cabinet of Minnesota by Governor Tim Walz and Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan in 2023.

Michelle Reed is an enrolled member of the Lac du Flambeau Band of Ojibwe. She lives in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan with her husband and their two children. She dances jingle, hoop, traditional and fancy shawl. She is the manager and co-founder of the Woodland Sky Native American Dance Company as well as lead female dancer for the #1 selling Native American recording artists Brulé. She has developed N8V Dance Fitness, a workout designed to combine culture, health and wellness, and has had the opportunity to personally share this with native communities and Universities. She is a clothing and accessories designer, doing custom sewing and beadwork for many champion dancers as well as a full purse line, MReed Designs Purse Co. Her latest project is the Indigenous Girl Doll Collection. From 2017 to 2021 she managed the cultural events at the newly renovated Waaswaaganing Living Arts and Culture Center in Lac du Flambeau, WI.

Mikah Sky Whitecloud (Ojibwe, Choctaw Nation) danced with the Oklahoma Fancy Dancers as a Jingle Dancer to inaugurate Jeffrey Gibson's U.S. Pavilion at the 2024 Venice Biennale. She resides in Tahlequah, OK.

Nanabah Kadenehii (Navajo Nation) danced with the Colorado Inter-Tribal Dancers as a Jingle Dress Dancer to inaugurate Jeffrey Gibson's U.S. Pavilion at the 2024 Venice Biennale. She resides in Garden Grove, CA.

Nick Ohitika Najin Souksavath is the Executive Director of the Rocky Mountain Indian Chamber of Commerce. He is dedicated to supporting and empowering Native American students, entrepreneurs and businesses. Nick is of mixed heritage, his mother is Mni Coujou Lakota from the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and his father hailing from Laos. Nick served in the United States Army from 2003 to 2010, completing three deployments—one in Nicaragua and two in Iraq. These experiences have profoundly shaped his perspective on life and service. His diverse professional background spans various fields, including banking, Native culture consulting, finance, nonprofit development, ranching, business management and ownership. In 2021 he helped his daughter found Lakota Body Care, Colorado’s only Native American soap company. Nick is an accomplished tailor and Lakota Artist, specializing in Quillwork and Beadwork. He not only makes traditional regalia, but contemporary Native fashion. In October 2023, Nick headlined the Festival of Color Fashion Show in Denver. He is also a member of the Colorado Inter-Tribal Dancers. Driven by a deep love for his family and community, Nick is passionate about helping others and fostering meaningful connections. His commitment to service and advocacy is at the heart of his work with the Rocky Mountain Indian Chamber of Commerce, where he strives to uplift and support Native American voices. Nick performed with the Colorado Inter-Tribal Dancers in collaboration with Jeffrey Gibson at the Venice Biennale, in April of 2024 as well as October of 2024.

Noella Lee Red Hawk (Rosebud Sioux Tribe (Sicangu Lakota)) danced with the Oklahoma Fancy Dancers as a Traditional Dancer to inaugurate Jeffrey Gibson's U.S. Pavilion at the 2024 Venice Biennale. She resides in Lincoln, NE.

Sarah Ortegon HighWalking (Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho) is a visual and performing artist born in Denver, CO, and one of 12 siblings. She earned her BFA from the Metropolitan State University of Denver in 2013 and studied art history in Italy in 2012. Her work centers on Indigenous heritage and a deep relationship to land. Crowned Miss Native American, USA in 2013, Ortegon HighWalking promoted healthy living and later toured Moldova, Guatemala, and the U.S. performing the jingle dress dance with Native Pride Dance Troupe. She has exhibited widely, including a solo show at the MALCS conference at the University of Wyoming. Her performance work is featured in PBS's The Art of Home: A Wind River Story, nominated for an Emmy in 2020. She also appeared in NBC’s Jamestown and Paramount’s 1923. In 2020, she collaborated with Choctaw artist Jeffrey Gibson on She Never Dances Alone, a jingle dress performance in Times Square featured nightly from March to July. In 2024, Ortegon HighWalking was selected for the National Museum of Women in the Arts’ “Women to Watch” exhibition in Washington, D.C. She also performed at the Venice Biennale in Gibson's the space in which to place me, joining 26 other dancers in April and October.

Raelene Whiteshield (Tsa-geah-hodle-mah) is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma and is also half Kiowa. With over 21 years of experience in the finance industry, including extensive work in commercial and corporate lending, she now works in the nonprofit sector, supporting Indigenous communities across the U.S. and Canada.

Raised in a suburb of Denver, Colorado, where she still resides with her children and grandmother, Raelene is a dedicated caregiver, mother, jingle dress dancer, artist, and Indigenous designer. She serves as a Board Director at People of the Sacred Land, a Native American Advisory Council member for the Golden History Museum, and a community advisor for the Denver Art Museum's “Sustained!” exhibition on 100 years of Native American art. She is also co-curator of the Golden History Museum's exhibition We Are Still Here: The Endurance of Native Jewels, where her seamstress work has been featured, as well as at the Gregory Allicar Museum of Art.

Raelene also serves on the advisory council for the City of Broomfield’s Sister City program with the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes and co-authored board literature for Patagonia Denver. In 2024, she performed as a jingle dress dancer with the Colorado Inter-Tribal Dancers at the opening ceremony of Jeffrey Gibson's U.S. Pavilion, the space in which to place me, at the Venice Biennale.

Rebecca Roberts (Tiwa of Taos Pueblo, NM) is a Women’s Jingle Dress Dancer. She has been dancing for over 30 years and within those years, she has travelled extensively across the US, Canada, and internationally sharing stories through song and dance. Rebecca is a mother, grandmother, wife, and entrepreneur. She is the owner of Mother Earth Eco Enterprises, LLC, a native owned and operated company specializing in Organic Cleaning Products and Service; an Operating Member of Anoli Dance Troupe, and also a seamstress for Tiwa Threads.

Samantha Brianne Bointy (Kiowa Tribe, Comanche, Arapaho, Choctaw, Cherokee) danced with the Oklahoma Fancy Dancers as a Fancy Shawl Dancer to inaugurate Jeffrey Gibson's U.S. Pavilion at the 2024 Venice Biennale. She resides in Oklahoma City, OK.

Sonya Flores is of Northern Ute and Cupeno/Kuupangaxwichem descent. She has been dancing for 38 years mostly as a Fancy Shawl Dancer, but also dances Jingle and Northern Traditional. She is a mother of five and a Grandmother of three. She says dancing with Colorado Inter-Tribal Dancers has truly been a great honor and experience for her, and thanks Jeffrey Gibson for allowing her to share her prayers through dance.

Tara Deer-Gover is Oklahoma Kickapoo and Otoe-Missouria; her Kickapoo name means eagle plumes. She currently lives in Colorado with her family and their pets. She has worked in information technology since graduating from college. She has danced southern cloth style since she learned to walk, and takes pride in wearing tribal clothes in the Otoe-Missouria tradition. Tara volunteers with several native advisory boards within Colorado. She loves to travel, sew, bead and powwow with her family. Tara was so thankful to dance as part of the 2024 Venice Biennale Arte for Jeffrey Gibson's the space in which to place me, and hopes to dance abroad in the future.

Tashina Red Hawk is from Ring Thunder, South Dakota. Her Lakota name is Anpetu Yuonihan Win which means “Honors the Day Woman”. She represents the Sicangu Lakota Oyate, who are also known as the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. I live in the Old Ring Thunder Community which is located on the Rosebud Reservation in South Central South Dakota. I have been privileged with the many teachings the tribal elders have taught me which have molded me into the person that I am today. As a Lakota, I was taught that our animals are sacred.

I have been raised with the understanding, respect, compassion and theory that we are all related and equal. Tashina is a 3x National Barrel Horse Association Youth World Qualifier, 1st South Dakotan to be awarded the National 4H Youth in Action Award for Agriculture, current Owner of “Tashina’s Coffee”, Mission SD and held the covenant title of the 2022-2023 Miss Indian World. The Miss Indian World is a Cultural Goodwill Ambassador, representing Native Americans and Indigenous tribal cultures.

Tashina is an eloquent speaker who can directly connect with her audience. Tashina inspires other girls to follow their dreams and never give up on what they want their lives to be.

Tashina's motto is, “DON'T tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon. The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams.”

Unpo Wicahpi Win Goodwill (Oglala Lakota Nation) danced with the Oklahoma Fancy Dancers as a Traditional Dancer to inaugurate Jeffrey Gibson's U.S. Pavilion at the 2024 Venice Biennale. She resides in Wahpeton, ND.

Wonzie KlineKole Tiger (“Rays of the Sun”) is an enrolled member of the Mescalero Apache Tribe (maternal), with additional lineage from the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma and the Comanche Tribe (paternal). She graduated Magna Cum Laude from the College of Santa Fe with a B.S. in Mathematics and minors in Biology and Chemistry. She has worked for Raytheon Technologies in Dallas, TX for over 40 years, currently serving as a Senior Analyst with Honors.

Wonzie has represented her heritage across the U.S. and internationally through dance, modeling, and media. She was selected by the Army and Air Force Exchange to model for a global poster celebrating American Indian Heritage Week and served as princess for the Texas American Indian Sesquicentennial Association. She also posed for an 8-foot glass etching of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, now housed in Holy Childhood Catholic Church in Harbor Springs, MI.

Her performing credits include a role in Theatre 3's Crazy from the Heart, appearances in seven episodes of CBS’s Walker, Texas Ranger, and a bit part on PBS's Wishbone. A passionate dancer, she has traveled nationally and internationally with groups including the Mountain Creek Dancers, Great American Indian Dancers, and Oklahoma Fancy Dancers. Wonzie enjoys traveling, sewing, beadwork, both traditional and contemporary styles of dancing, making new friends, and living her life to the fullest.

Xavier Littlehead (Northern Cheyenne Tribe, Navajo) sang with the Oklahoma Fancy Dancers to inaugurate Jeffrey Gibson's U.S. Pavilion at the 2024 Venice Biennale. He resides in Lawrence, KS.

Anthony Hudson is a Grand Ronde / Siletz artist and writer. Anthony's theatrical work, from Looking for Tiger Lily to Queer Horror—and performances as Portland's premier drag clown Carla Rossi—have earned him national fellowships, international engagements, and sainthood from the Portland Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. In 2024, Anthony and Carla served as drag clown in residence for Jeffrey Gibson’s the space in which to place me at the Venice Biennale. Anthony’s writing has appeared in American Theatre, BOMB Magazine, Buckman Journal, Oregon ArtsWatch, and Arts and International Affairs. His first book, Lamp Back: Plays and Other Grievances, is forthcoming from Northwestern University Press in 2026.

A soloist musician, composer and vibrant collaborator, Laura Ortman (White Mountain Apache) creates across multiple platforms, including recorded albums, live performances, and filmic and artistic soundtracks. An inquisitive and exquisite violinist, Ortman is versed in Apache violin, piano, electric guitar, keyboards, and amplified violin, and often sings through a megaphone. She is a producer of capacious field recordings. Ortman has performed at museums and venues all over the world. In 2008, She founded the Coast Orchestra, an all-Native American orchestral ensemble that performed a live soundtrack to Edward Curtis’s film In the Land of the Head Hunters (1914), the first silent feature film to star an all-Native American cast.

Ortman is the recipient of 2025 Pioneer Works Music Residency, 2023 Institute of American Indian Arts Fellowship, 2022 Forge Project Fellowship, 2022 United States Artists Fellowship, 2022 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists, 2020 Jerome@Camargo Residency in Cassis, France, 2017 Jerome Foundation Composer and Sound Artist Fellowship, 2016 Art Matters Grant, 2016 Native Arts and Culture Foundation Fellowship, 2015 IAIA’s Museum of Contemporary Native Arts Social Engagement Residency, 2014-15 Rauschenberg Residency, and 2010 Artist-in-Residence at Issue Project Room. Ortman was also a participating artist in the 2019 Whitney Biennial. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Layli Long Soldier (Oglala Lakota) holds a B.F.A. from the Institute of American Indian Arts and an M.F.A. from Bard College. Her poems have appeared in POETRY Magazine, The New York Times, The American Poet, The American Reader, The Kenyon Review, BOMB and elsewhere. She is the recipient of an NACF National Artist Fellowship, a Lannan Literary Fellowship, a Whiting Award, and was a finalist for the 2017 National Book Award. She has also received the 2018 PEN/Jean Stein Award, the 2018 National Book Critics Circle Award, a 2021 Academy of Arts and Letters Award for Literature, and the 2021 Michael Murphy Memorial Poetry Prize in the UK. She is the author of Chromosomory (Q Avenue Press, 2010) and WHEREAS (Graywolf Press, 2017). She is a mentor in the MFA Creative Writing Program at the Institute of American Indian Arts and resides in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

G. Peter Jemison G. Peter Jemison, of the Heron Clan from the Cattaraugus Territory, Seneca Nation, is a multi-media artist and retired founding site manager of Ganondagan, a New York State Historic Site in Victor, New York. His artwork has been shown internationally and his writings have been widely published. Ansley's Fish (1983) represents the traditional, sustainable Native American approach to agriculture. A fish, wedge of watermelon, and strawberries represent the elements of harvest to be enjoyed; while the handmade Kraft paper bag resembling a mass-produced grocery bag serves as a reminder that our crops originate from the earth, which should be respected. Peacemaker's Journey (2020) might be interpreted as a symbolic reflection on his life.

Mr. Jemison is active politically as an advocate for Native American rights. He was chairman of the Haudenosaunee standing committee on burial rules and regulations, fighting for the return of sacred objects to native peoples mandated by the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. Jemison was one of the founders of the Museum of the American Indian in New York City. His book, The Treaty of Canandaigua 1794 has been favorably received as an important contribution to history. In 2001, he was guest curator for The Pan-American Exposition Centennial: Images of the American Indian held at the Burchfield-Penney Art Center that featured contemporary artists whose work explored identity, as opposed to how indigenous people were misrepresented 100 years earlier. In 2021, K Art in Buffalo presented a survey of his work in the solo exhibition, Orenda: Works by G. Peter Jemison with an accompanying illustrated catalogue.

Chief Cyrus Ben is the fifth elected Tribal Chief of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, a federally-recognized tribe of over 11,100 members living on or near 35,000 acres of tribal lands in east central Mississippi. Chief Ben has a 15-year record of public service to the Choctaw Tribal government and Tribal business leadership, including as Pearl River community’s representative on the Tribal Council, the Tribe’s Secretary-Treasurer and the President of Choctaw-Ikhana, a Tribally-chartered corporation. Appointed by Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves, Chief Ben served on the Mississippi Flag Commission, which oversaw the selection of the new state flag which now includes a symbol of native territory before statehood. He is a board member of the Mississippi Commission for Volunteer Service.

He has received numerous awards including the 2022 Order of the Golden Arrow award from his alma mater, Mississippi College, Alumnus of the Year by East Central Community College, Citizen of the Year by the Philadelphia-Neshoba County Community Development Partnership, and “Native American 40 Under 40” by the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development.

An enrolled member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and a fluent speaker of his native Choctaw language, Chief Ben is a life-long resident of the Pearl River community, where he resides with his wife TaRita and their children, Brodie, Eden and Selah.