watch Perry tell a story, the origin of medicinal plants, or read it here!
“I believe that storytelling is one of the most essential art forms practiced around the world today. I tell stories in a physical, engaging, exciting way because I think that people today need a visual prompt to become engaged in the story experience. It is also a fun way to teach/entertain audiences with the stories! It is very common for me to include the audience to make the listener part of the story. But just as important as the telling of the story is the traditions, beliefs and values that come from my community and that are embedded in the stories. Sharing part of my cultural heritage is the reason the Creator put me here and I'm honored to carry on this tradition.”
Perry Ground
‘Bear clan learns medicine’ by Ernie Smith Tonawanda Seneca, Heron Clan, Perry’s Great Uncle
Three pieces of poetry and two of prose. Art found throughout the journal.
Gold wolf by Crystal Worl’s Kaagwaantaan
Gold Wolf is a tribute to artist Crystal Worl’s Kaagwaantaan (Wolf) clan relatives. The formline wolf is surrounded by the Athabascan beadwork designs that represent the artist’s family from Holy Cross, Alaska.
Raven's Eclipse represents the popular Tlingit tale, Raven and the Box of Daylight.
The formline design used in Northwest Coast art evolved over 4,000 years and has been acclaimed throughout the world as a uniquely distinctive form of design and aesthetics.
Systems based on Slavery aren’t Meant to Last
"The system of mass incarceration as we know it today was born out of slavery. After the Emancipation Proclamation, land owners turned to convict leasing camps to secure labor. This unsurprisingly led to higher and higher rates of incarceration among black and brown people, and a new racialized form of social control was created.
Today, Alaska Natives and Native Americans face disproportionate incarceration rates. Historical trauma, generational poverty and increased police presence in impoverished neighborhoods are some of the contributing factors. In 2015 in Alaska, the recidivism rate for Alaska Natives was 74%. Meaning that 74% of those released from prison would eventually return to the prison system. In 2022 in Washington State more than 45% of Native American prisoners return to prison within three years of their release.
As author Michelle Alexander so eloquently put it, those marked with a felony are “subjected to legalized discrimination in employment, housing, education, public benefits and jury service... We have not ended racial caste in America. We have merely redesigned it.”
by Alison Bremner
Tlingit
One piece of art, five poems and five prose
Artwork by Mariza Ryce Aparicio-Tovar
as part of Mariza’s Gentle tarot deck, “this is the ‘Flower of Wands.’ Also known as the Queen of Wands, she is a master of creative confidence and inward focus. She lives outside of the box, makes her own way and thrives.”
Artist Mariza Ryce Aparicio-Tovar
In the village in Mexico where my family is from, there used to run a stream. I grew up listening to my mothers memories of this water, it was the life source of the village. Words don’t suffice to share the beauty of this place, with its mesquite trees, fields of corn, and oxen in the fields. Although I didn’t grow up near this same stream, I did have a river where my family settled upon immigrating.
Throughout my life, water has been a powerful source of connection to the land and to my ancestors. Even though my lifestyle and circumstances are drastically different from the generations before me, water embraces us all the same and tells stories that reach beyond lifetimes. This connection has allowed me to feel at home even when thousands of miles away in Alaska, where I live now. Fresh water has been a source of healing, reflection, and connection when needed most. As a displaced person, connection is essential and I am ever grateful for this relationship.
two pieces of art, four poems and five prose
a homage to nōpalli
To my family and I, and for many others who have had to immigrate from their homelands in Mexico, the nopal and its fruit are a delicious direct connection to our roots. This highly nutritious, medicinal food is a staple: the young green pads are harvested by hand, their sharp spines easily cut away with a knife, and often cooked whole on a cast-iron griddle or directly on open fire. My youth is filled with memories of harvesting nopales fresh for my grandmother from cuttings my grandfather had propagated wherever they fit in the yard.
Come prickly pear season, this colorful fruit is thirst quenching and perfectly sweet. They provide antioxidants, vitamin C, potassium, magnesium, and anti-inflammatory and heart health benefits.
Growing and harvesting nopales and tunas makes one feel not far from home.”
By Mariza Ryce Aparicio-Tovar
“Upon reading the call for native plants of indigenous North America, I immediately knew that I’d be dedicating time to illustrating a nopal, nōpalli in Nahuatl, also known as opuntia or paddle cactus, and its majestic fruit the nōchtli, tuna in Spanish, or prickly pear.
My name is Mariza Ryce Aparicio-Tovar and I am a displaced, detribalized person of indigenous descent of Central México. My family immigrated to California from Zacatecas, Mexico and luckily, growing paddle cactus among other fruits, vegetables, flowers, and herbs in the home are traditions that survived.
Looking for more from Mariza?
Follow her work and get excited for her Gentle Tarot Companion oracle deck (these two pieces are part of it) releasing this March!
thank you
for all those who made this journal a reality and all those willing to explore it.
Thank you to some incredible artists
& for tying together all three themes!
Perry Ground
Perry Ground is a Turtle Clan member of the Onondaga Nation of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy. He has been telling stories for over 25 years as a means of educating people about the culture, beliefs, and history of the Haudenosaunee. Perry learned many of the stories he shares from elders of Native American communities and feels that practicing and perpetuating the oral traditions of Native people is an important responsibility. Professionally, Perry has worked in several museums including The Children’s Museum of Houston, Sainte Marie among the Iroquois and Ganondagan State Historic Site; also, he worked for the Rochester City School District for many years. He has shared his stories in countless museums, libraries, classrooms, and festivals throughout the northeast and has guest lectured at numerous colleges. Perry served as the Frederick H. Minett Professor at Rochester Institute of Technology for the 2021-22 academic year.
More information and additional stories from Perry can be found on his Facebook page, Talking Turtle Stories. Look to find out if he will be telling stories or running programs near you!
Mariza Ryce Aparicio-Tovar.
Mariza grew up around artists and makers who nurtured her creativity. Her family, who are Mexican (Wixárika and Chichimeca) and North American (Mohawk) lineages, raised her with practices of honoring the land and relationships with the natural world. Her art explores issues of mental health and self-awareness, advocating care for our planet and ourselves so that collectively we may experience our full potential.
Crystal Kaakeeyáa Rose Demientieff Worl
“Crystal Kaakeeyáa Rose Demientieff Worl is Athabascan, Filipino, and Tlingit from Raven moiety, Sockeye Clan, from the Raven House. She is Deg Hit’an Athabascan from Fairbanks Alaska.
Crystal is a talented multidisciplinary artist based in Juneau, Alaska. She draws inspiration from her cultural roots and the natural world around her. Worl's artwork is diverse, ranging from Tlingit Northwest Coast design to contemporary multimedia pieces. Her work often explores themes of identity, connection to land, and the interplay between traditional and modern ways of life. In addition to creating art, Worl is also an advocate for Indigenous rights and works to promote cultural awareness and understanding through her art. Her work has been exhibited in galleries and museums around the world and she continues to be a prominent voice in the Indigenous art community.”
read more about Crystal on her website, and check out the trickster company for some incredible collections!
Alison Bremner
Alison O. Bremner is a Tlingit artist born and raised in Southeast Alaska. Bremner is believed to be the first Tlingit woman to carve and raise a totem pole. She has studied under master artists David R. Boxley and David A. Boxley in Kingston, Washington. Painting, woodcarving, regalia and digital collage are a few of the mediums the artist employs. In addition to her contemporary art practice, Bremner is committed to the revitalization of the Tlingit language and creating works for traditional and ceremonial use.
Thank you to our wonderful contributors
on sentience…
Vian Borchert
John Shoptaw
Steph Gemmell
Bee Scherer
Jonathan Birch and Beatrice Marchegiani
Jan Gresil S. Kahambing
Nayef Al-Rodhan
Jeff Sebo
Oscar Horta
on environment…
Vian Borchert
Kas Bernays
Eva Meijer
coco picard and Caitlin Berrigan
Briana Muñoz
Huda Chowdhery
Shay Welch
Nadia Miller
Clare Plamer, Peter Sandøe, and Christian Gamborg
on the philosophies of the native peoples of North America…
Steph Gemmell
Briana Muñoz
Esther Xosei and Romy Opperman
Nadia Miller
and finally, our amazing journal team!
Virginie Simoneau-Gilbert
journal coordinator & prose co-lead
Ellen Potter
art lead & journal designer
Beatrice Marchegiani
prose co-lead
Bri Jurries
poetry lead and editor
John Camacho
Silvia Paciaroni
Eliza Browning
Leia Devadason
Madeleine Parkinson
Emmanuel Cuisinier
Prakriti Sharan
our prose editors:
Franca Haug
Shruthi Matthews
our audio recorders:
if you want to support opp
consider sharing, donating, or joining our team!
run and managed by university students across the world, with a shared goal to break down boundaries and foster an open space for public philosophy; engaging all lines of thought, encouraging intersectionality and exploring the world through new lenses, in all shapes and forms.
offering a completely free and online educational platform: reading lists; podcasts; online courses; a review forum; a blog space; in-person and online events; and finally, a new journal each turn!