Tonight from 7 – 8:30 p.m., the 2022 Champinefu Webinar Series on Kalapuya Placekeeping will be hosting its third and final talk of the year. Titled “Indigenous Placekeeping in Corvallis and at the Confluence”, the webinar will be a discussion – led by David Harrelson, Cultural Resources Department manager for the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde – with Indigenous artists about their recent artistic placekeeping work in Corvallis and throughout Oregon.
Artists who will engage in this discussion include Travis Stewart, (Chinook, Kalapuya, Rogue River), a contemporary artist, curator at the Confederated Tribe of Grand Ronde’s Chachalu Museum and Cultural Center, and founding member of the Shawash Ili?i Kanim Tilixam, a Grand Ronde cultural preservation group and canoe family committed to imparting traditional teachings to at-risk Tribal youth through song, dance, art, and language; Shirod Younker (Miluk, Umpqua, Filipino), a sculptor, carver, art instructor and natural resource educator; and Steph Littlebird Fogel (Chinook, Kalapuyan), a Two-Spirit illustrator, painter, curator and writer.
These artists participated in the “This IS Kalapuyan Land” exhibit discussion panels that were hosted at Oregon State University in late April. The exhibit was originally led and curated by Fogel, whose creative work revolves around causes that are close to the hearts of contemporary Indigenous communities, such as responsible land stewardship, cultural resilience, and the preservation and reclamation of traditional ways of life in the face of ongoing colonization.
“I wanted everyone to see the errors for themselves, to juxtapose facts vs. fiction in real time so anyone could see the clear obfuscation of colonial violence against Natives,” wrote Fogel about the exhibit in an Oregon Artswatch op-ed. “History is deeply important to Indigenous culture. History informs our way of life. I believe history and tradition are the grounding forces of resiliency. It is literally how we survived colonization, by hanging on to whatever traditions could be salvaged through the often violent settlement of this land. This history-centered mindset also comes with great responsibility to get things right, to honor those who came before me and those doing the work now.”
Other artists include Matthew Earl Williams, an artist, educator, and multimedia specialist for the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde; and Anthony Hudson (Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, Siletz), a queer multidisciplinary artist and writer whose performance as the drag clown Carla Rossi aims to confront “white supremacy, complacency, and the confusion of ‘mixed’ identities – of living in-between, particularly sexually and racially.”
Along with Fogel, both Williams and Hudson will have artwork featured at the Corvallis Arts Center’s upcoming exhibition, “Always Here”, which seeks to interrupt the popular social narratives of what constitutes Native American art and “change how viewers define Indigenous art created by Native artists with direct ancestral connections to local lands”. An in-person artist talk will take place at the center on Friday, Dec. 9, at 5:30 p.m.
To register for the webinar, click here. The Champinefu Webinar Series is co-sponsored by the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, Marys Peak Group of the Sierra Club, Spring Creek Project, Corvallis Sustainability Coalition, and Corvallis-Benton County Public Library.
Bitter Half Show and the Great Quinn Gatsby: Tomorrow, Dec. 8, Bitter Half Booking, a radical queer and punk duo of Corvallis DIY show organizers committed to building safer, accessible show spaces for folks who have been historically marginalized and excluded from mainstream music scenes, is putting on another all-ages, substance-free Indie banger at Interzone.
The lineup includes shimmering art-pop band Bridal Party from Victoria, British Columbia; folky, shoegaze-y, alt-rock band Goon from Los Angeles, California; and trans folk/lo-fi emo solo artist Quinn Gatsby, who is currently based in Corvallis.
“Being a trans musician in the Corvallis DIY scene has been nothing short of amazing,” said Gatsby. “While there may be the obvious jerks, there’s about a million others who outweigh them. The very first show I ever went to in Corvallis, two out of the three bands had an all-trans girl lineup. I had never seen that many trans people in one space before. I had just come out and seeing these hardcore trans fronted bands scream about all the things they’ve been to was surreal. It was everything I had ever wanted.”
When Gatsby started playing at shows, he was able to cultivate that same sense of safety, affirmation, and community for other trans and gender-nonconforming folks in attendance.
“While trans rage may be aggressive and needs so desperately to be heard, I feel like we as trans individuals forget about our joy,” he said. “When trans people take up space in the scene like that, we have beautiful moments where everyone can just be themselves… And when I would get kids come up to me after shows to tell me they related to a song or said they ‘wished they could be like me’, it only made that feeling stronger. I wanted so desperately to see a trans musician on stage doing the things that I do now as a kid. Knowing that I’m that musician for a group of Corvallis kids means everything to me. Every kid deserves to see themselves on stage, on TV, in books, etc. And if that person just so happens to be me, well, I’m honored.”
In an Instagram post earlier this year that was a venting of both trans rage and joy, Gatsby wrote, “more than 240 anti-trans laws were proposed just this year and the numbers are only going up. “lift up trans voices instead of this negativity. and if you’re trans – go to shows! make your presence known! we have safety in numbers and i’m tired of going to shows and not seeing any of your faces, not feeling the safety of being around people like myself.”
In the post, Gatsby also noted how important he realized community is as time went on, and that his DMs are open to other trans folks who need that community.
“trans people are beautiful and lovely and powerful – even if you don’t feel like you are,” he wrote. “keep the attitude most of us get during pride month and carry it over into the rest of this year and the next.”
For Gatsby, these sentiments persist as he continues creating music and performing at or attending local shows.
“Being one of few trans people on the bill can be scary at times but I know why I do it,” he said. “I do it to take up space, to let kids know that they can do what I do, to empower and relate to those like me in the crowd. There may be a stage between us but I never not for a moment want to separate the relationship I have with trans fans of my music. Corvallis really values community and I could tell from the moment I walked into a Bitter Half show and nearly everyone there had trans flags on their person. It truly is wonderful just how many trans people go to shows and I always encourage trans kids that may be scared to go to any – just ask for Quinn, the guy with the dark hair and snakebites. Shows are safer with more of us present and I’ll always be there whenever I can.”
The music will start at 7 p.m. A $7 – 10 donation is encouraged for the touring bands, though as with all Bitter Half shows, it is free and NOTAFLOF (No One Turned Away For Lack Of Funds).
December Sweeps: For the month of December, the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) is rolling out mass sweeps of houseless encampments throughout Corvallis. According to Stop the Sweeps Corvallis, a mutual aid network of housed and unhoused community members committed to providing care, support, and advocacy for folks who are impacted and displaced by camp sweeps, unhoused folks are already in desperate need of new tents after the damage caused by last week’s windstorm, and in current frigid temperatures, protection from the wind and rain is crucial for survival.
On Dec. 14 and 15, ODOT plans on carrying out sweeps at the following locations:
- Under the bypass at the Eric Scott McKinley Skate Park, basketball courts, and surrounding structures;
- Upper Pioneer Park and surrounding structures;
- Wood lot near the BMX Track and surrounding structures;
- Railroad track near the Home Depot and the bike path near the Benton County Public Works shops;
- Orleans Natural Area Park;
- Any other camps that have yet to be identified and posted by ODOT.
Unhoused community members who are staying in these areas are at risk of losing their personal belongings and important resources while sweeps are underway. Organizers with Stop the Sweeps Corvallis and the Corvallis Really Really Free Market (RRFM), another mutual aid group committed to distributing free resources, have asked folks what supplies they need. Currently, the biggest requests are tents, AA batteries, light sources (flashlights, headlamps), and warm clothes (sweatpants, gloves, jackets, and coats in particular).
Supplies can be dropped off at the RRFM’s Free Store, located in room M252 of the Benton Hall Plaza on 408 SW Monroe Ave., between 2 – 6 p.m. on Mondays through Fridays for distribution. You can also make a financial donation to the Stop the Sweeps Venmo – @StopTheSweepsCV – to help organizers purchase more resources.
Stop the Sweeps Corvallis is always looking for more people to assist with supporting unhoused folks during and outside of sweeps, and with sweeps set to be carried out over a two-day period in multiple locations next week, greater numbers are especially needed. Send a direct message (DM) to the Instagram pages for Stop the Sweeps or the RRFM if you would like to get involved. And if you’re new to sweep support in Corvallis, check out this zine created by a Stop the Sweeps organizer about more ways to help and what you can expect.
“Sweeps are always traumatic for the people experiencing them regardless of how ‘smoothly’ they go; no amount of support can stop that,” reads the zine. “However, having people show up for them and assist them in whatever ways they need helps to at least show unhoused people that there are people on their side who want to give more than empty words or donations to charities that aren’t accessible. Solidarity doesn’t always solve the problem but it does help to spread it out and make it more bearable short term, and in the long term lays a foundation for solving these problems.”
Local Artist, Activist Featured in “Rural Queerness” Zine: Jayden Dukes, a Corvallis-based queer artist, photographer, and activist whose work revolves around body liberation – in particular, the prioritization of fat, queer, disabled, BIPOC, and other marginalized bodies – is one of 48 photographers across the U.S. to have their work featured in the latest zine volume curated by Soft Lightning Studio, an inclusive, independent publisher of contemporary photography founded and run by queer, nonbinary photographer Julie Rae Powers.
Launched as a passion project in 2019, the studio seeks to uplift and hold space for marginalized photographers to share their own work and visual storytelling that push against “a dominant white supremacist narrative of photography.” Black, Indigenous, trans, nonbinary, queer, women, disabled, mentally ill, rural/non-coastal photographers and photographers of color are among those who are amplified.
In an Instagram post on their inaugural issue, the studio is described as aiming to “challenge the photographic cannon by injecting it with more diverse narratives and imagery from people’s respective communities. Queer folks telling their own stories. BIPOC representing themselves. Rural folks sharing their own perspectives of their worlds.” The latest issue that Dukes’ work is featured in, titled “Rural Queerness”, celebrates and reinforces the reality that queer folks “make art and thrive in rural spaces”. Now available for pre-order, part of the zine’s proceeds will go directly to Eastern Kentucky Mutual Aid, currently on the ground helping folks meet their basic needs as they continue to recover from the floods that impacted Eastern Kentucky in July.
Dukes is also the co-creator of the locally published AThought Zine, a feminist, collaborative zine series that, in similar fashion, is intended to serve as a platform for historically marginalized and excluded creators. In tandem with fellow Corvallis artist and co-creator Serena Swanson, the latest issue of the zine, “Full Square”, was recently completed and is currently available for pre-sale with a discounted price of $5 until Monday, Dec. 19.
A limited amount of zines are available for this sale, so you can secure a copy by sending $5 to AThought Zine’s Venmo – @athoughtzine – and writing “pre-sale” in the memo. Then, send a DM to their Instagram page with your name and address. The zines will be mailed out the week of Dec. 19.
By Emilie Ratcliff
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