Heartwork: Indigenous Perspectives on Social Justice

Tanaya Winder is an author, singer / songwriter, poet, motivational speaker and educator who comes from an intertribal lineage of Southern Ute, Pyramid Lake Paiute, Diné and Duckwater Shoshone Nations where she is an enrolled citizen. She is also African American. Through her presentations, Winder blends storytelling, singing and spoken word to teach about different expressions of love, emphasizing the importance of “heartwork” or the life path one is meant to follow by using gifts and passions. She is the director of CU Boulder’s Upward Bound program, where she has served hundreds of Indigenous youth. She also co-founded Sing Our Rivers Red’s MMIW earring exhibit. Her specialties include: youth & women empowerment, healing trauma through art, creative writing workshops and mental wellness advocacy.

Natani Notah is an interdisciplinary artist and educator. She is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation (Diné) and part Lakota and Cherokee. . Her work has been exhibited at the Tucson Desert Art Museum, the Gas Gallery in Los Angeles, the Holland Project in Reno, the Mana Contemporary in Chicago and SOMArts Cultural Center in San Francisco. Her current art practice explores contemporary Native American identity through the lens of Diné (Navajo) womanhood. Inspired by acts of decolonization, environmental justice, Indigenous feminism and futurism, Notah’s work dares to imagine a world where Native sensibilities are magnified.