Author: WomenandMyth

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Conference Keynote by Navajo Poet Laureate Luci Tapahonso

Luci Tapahonso is Professor Emerita of English Literature (University of New Mexico 2016) and served as the inaugural Poet Laureate of the Navajo Nation (2013-2015). She is also the recipient of a 2018 Native Arts and Culture Foundation Artist Fellowship.

Tapahonso is the author of three children’s books and six books of poetry including A Radiant Curve. She recently served as a judge for Poetry Out Loud, the New Mexico High School Poetry Competition and was selected as “2016 Best of the City- Our City and State’s Prolific Authors,” by Albuquerque the Magazine. Professor Tapahonso has delivered keynote addresses at several conferences and institutions including Harvard, Gallup Central High School, Kenyon College, Institute of American Indian Arts, the Tbisili International Literature Festival in the Republic of Georgia and “Creativity Week” at the University of New Zealand at Auckland and Wellington.

She recently completed a script for an exhibition called “Creating Tradition: Innovation and Change in American Indian Art” for the American Heritage Gallery at Walt Disney World’s Epcot. Her work is included in the exhibition currently touring the country: “Hearts of our People: Native Women Artists at the Minneapolis Institute of Art,” as well as the podcasts “The Slowdown with Tracy K. Smith” and forthcoming on “In Sickness and Health” with Dr. Celine Grounder.

Luci Tapahonso lives in Santa Fe with her husband, Dr. Robert Martin, who is president of the Institute of American Indian Arts.

Featured Photo by Juliana Lightle

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2020 Conference: Inspiring Film about Visionary Artist Lydia Ruyle

“Herstory: The Visionary Life of Lydia Ruyle and the Banners of the Divine Feminine,” is a new 1-hour documentary film by Dr. Isadora Leidenfrost that shows the colorful and heartwarming story of Lydia Ruyle, a scholar, author, professor, political activist, matriarch, and iconic artist. 

At age 60, Lydia  began creating her Goddess Banners, which are visionary images of the Sacred Feminine drawn from all cultures. The collection grew from 18 banners to  over 300, which she used to inspire, empower, teach, and share their herstories all over the world. 

The film also documents the incredible story of how her worldwide community came together when she was terminally ill, with less than 2 weeks notice, to celebrate her, say goodbye, and then to honor the passing of a matriarch.

Jean Shinoda Bolen, MD, says: “The documentary, “Herstory” is a powerful movie that is beautifully filmed! I am delighted to show it to my circles of women worldwide.”

See the film trailer here.

The much anticipated “Herstory” movie, featuring many ASWM scholars and leaders of women’s spirituality,  was released worldwide in August 2019. It is  a poignant tribute to Lydia’s life and work. Since its premiere, the film has screened in 59 countries. For more information: https://www.theherstorymovie.com/

The film will be shown Saturday evening at to close our conference on an inspiring note. Lydia was an important member of the ASWM advisory board, guiding us through hard times after the loss of co-founder Patricia Monaghan. With Sid Reger, she also established the Modern Matriarchal Studies Day which is held following our conference.

Here is Dr. Isadora presenting the film, wearing Lydia’s wreath and her smile.

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Join Us for a Goddess Banquet during the 2020 Conference

 

Join four Hebrew Priestesses–Amanda Nube, Judith Maeryam Wouk, Sheva Melmed, and Sarah Chandler–for a vegetarian dinner & ritual to celebrate the opening of the Jewish sabbath with poetry, prayer, and song. This special event takes place on Friday, March 13, over the dinner hour at ASWM’s 2020 conference. The language of the ritual plays with gender of God/Goddess both in Hebrew and English. It also includes some earth-based imagery. Participants will have the option to interact with natural objects on a small altar at the center of our table/altar, as well as the option for contemplative time. For more information and to RSVP, contact Sarah Chandler.  All are welcome.

The cost is $75 per person. A limited number of subsidized scholarships are available. Please contact Sarah to inquire.  It is required that all participants register and pay in advance, as the meal will be catered. To register, send $75 via PayPal from the ASWM Donation page, with “FRIDIN” in the “use my donation for” section.  Reservations are required and will be accepted until March 9th, which is the hotel’s catering deadline.

Remember to use the Donation page and write FRIDIN in the memo!

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Scholar Salon 4

ASWM Scholar Salon 4 “La Frontierra Chingada:Mythic Motherhood on the Borderlands” with Emily Packer, Filmmaker and moderated by Natasha Redina. Recorded live online Wednesday, February 22, 2020. Feature Film screening and presentation by the filmmaker.

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Email us if you need assistance anytime at membership@womenandmyth.org - The ASWM Membership Team

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Scholar Salon: Filmmaker Emily Packer’s Vision of Mythic Motherhood on the Border

February 22, 2020
2pm Eastern Standard Time

ASWM Online Scholar Salon with Filmmaker Emily Packer

La Frontierra Chingada is a 2015 poetic non-fiction film about motherhood on the US-Mexico border. Mythic figures like Tonāntzin, the Virgin Guadalupe, la Llorona and la Chingada, manifest themselves at Friendship Park–a space where families on either side of la frontera can come together, but meet there under extreme conditions of surveillance. Guided in part by conversations with the filmmaker’s matrilineal family, the film concerns itself with relationships betweenwomen’s bodies, space, and the shared land and history in the San Diego-Tijuana region.

 

Scholar Salons with Emily Packer, Filmmaker

Emily Packer is an experimental non-fiction filmmaker with an interest in border culture and border theory.  She says, “A huge part of my trepidation in making this film was about not wanting to presume to be able to make a relevant film about the border as an Anglo American filmmaker.  But I think it’s incredibly important for white artists to make reflexive work about the border, given that we are implicated in its existence, and that our understanding and perspective shift is necessary to improve the situation (which includes death, dehumanization, and forced separation of family). At some point I gave myself permission to trust that I could make meaningful art about the border, and that the story I had to tell was important.”

See the one-hour film, available now in ASWM’s member-only resource library, and join us for a conversation with Emily about crossing and transforming borders that separate us. The Salon discussion will be moderated by Natasha Redina, a filmmaker and ecotherapist who is a member of ASWM’s advisory board.