Arvel Bird is an award-winning classically trained violinist of Paiute and Scottish heritage. He was born in Idaho, and raised in Utah and Arizona. In addition to studying music at Arizona State University, he studied violin under Paul Roland at the University of Illinois Champagne/Urbana, a renowned Hungarian violinist. Bird performs and records in a number of diverse music genres, including Native American, Celtic, classical, world fusion, blues, jazz, bluegrass, New Age, folk, Cajun, Western swing, Appalachian, and American roots and toured the world with Glen Campbell, Loretta Lynn, and Ray Price before starting his own solo career focusing on Native American and Celtic music. Bird has released 16 albums, two DVDs, and has scored several film projects.
Below is a 2007 interview by Bill Merickel, a photojournalist in Oklahoma City, OK:
Besides spending a lot of money on both the silent and live auction at the recent Duwamish Tribe Dinner & Gala myself, I was able to help out a little along the way as well. Find a short article and slideshow about the event on the West Seattle Herald website here.
Today I had the great pleasure off viewing a new exhibit at the Tacoma Art Museum, a retrospective of Joe Fedderson's work. I was at the Museum with Patty, a fellow member of the Carver Camp Canoe Family from the past two years of Tribal Journey. Patty was a student of Joe's at Evergreen so she thought it would be fun to view the exhibit before we headed to the Chehalis Tribe where we would help Phil Red Eagle with a Copper Ring Ceremony at their Tribal Journey potlatch. The exhibit was absolutely amazing, one could very quickly pick up on the 'Urban Indian' vibe of Joe's work along with his sense of humor. Below is the Culture Icon entry I posted on my other blog, The Smart Set:"Joe Feddersen's internationally renowned artistry comes in many forms...prints, collage, glass, and weaving. But across these media, several themes stand out: Urban Indian, a sense of place, a keen eye for pattern, and a bit of humor. His works are quintessentially Native yet thoroughly modern as they chronicle human relationships with place. His geometric prints echo the landscape of the Plateau area where he grew up and his glass and weaving pieces capture both the traditional Plateau culture and key features of the changing urban landscape such as tire treads, parking lots, and power lines.Born in 1953 in Omak, Washington of Okanogan and Lakes ancestry, Feddersen spent his early days on the Colville Indian Reservation. Later, he received a BFA from the University of Washington in Seattle and received his Master of Fine Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1989. In 2009, Feddersen retired from Evergreen State College after twenty years. A retrospective of Feddersen's work, Vital Signs, is on exhibit at the Tacoma Art Museum through January 10, 2009."
Originally posted on: Brothers After All...A much anticipated book by Mark Dowie explores the tenuous relationship between global conservation efforts and indigenous peoples. Conservation Refugees shows that even though conservation and indigenous movements share many objectives, they also come into conflict, particularly when Western ideas, opinions, and worldviews don't match up with Indigenous ways of thinking, being, and doing. The field of integrated conservation and development (ICD), also referred to as community-based conservation and/or participatory conservation, has been around for several decades but the challenge of protecting diversity without impacting the indigenous peoples that often inhabit the same critical areas is still just that...a challenge. Heated discussions on ICD have played out in both the academic and mainstream press but in the end, Indigenous Peoples are still becoming refugees in the name of conservation. Perhaps Dowie's book will bring a new perspective to the diversity dilemma.
Ariel Tweto, from the Native Village of Unalakleet in Alaska, kicked butt on the first season of ABC's show Wipeout. Although I'm a bit embarrassed to admit I'm a HUGE fan of Wipeout, I really was out of my seat cheering on Ariel throughout the show. Not only did she kick butt throughout the first rounds, she was awesome in the finals!!! I think her attitude and personality were the best part though, you just want to give her a big hug. She not only represented Alaskans, she represented her fellow Eskimo people and Indigenous people around the world...and she had a blast doing it! From what I've found Googling Ms. Ariel, she's a cross country star and has her sights on a journalism and /or fitness-nutrition career. She was fantastic on the show so I bet we'll see more of her. 
Wow, I had a busy day today...but I wouldn't trade it for the world. I started out by sitting down with KUOW's Weekday host, Steve Scher, to discuss sustainable style...can you be stylish and sustainable at the same time. It was my first time on radio so I was pretty nervous leading up to the show. Once I was in the booth though, it went great. I've been a fan of Weekday and Steve Scher for a long time so was pretty familiar with the format, a quick back and forth with Steve and then listener questions. Steve was right on it as far a touch questions. And the listeners were right on as well with great examples or suggestions themselves. Afterward, I got lots of text messages, emails, and voicemails from all sorts of folks, friends, family, and I guess I'd have to say brand new friends. In the end, I just hope I did well by SSFand everyone out there trying to live a bit more on the sustainable side.
