ON THE COVER: Ella Mahoney
In creating the cover of Motif’s Indigenous Peoples Month issue, artist and visual arts teacher Ella Mahoney took her inspiration from her birthplace, Aquinnah, in Martha’s Vineyard, MA. “Every year, […]
Events:
A Shared Journey
September 13, 2025 - March 5, 2026This Is a Thing, Recent Gifts to Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, 2020–2025
September 14, 2025 - March 1, 2026The Court: Art in Play
September 24, 2025 - April 26, 2026The Flower, The Labor, and The Sea
September 27, 2025 - June 28, 2026
Sovereign Identity
“The Indian nations have always been considered as distinct, independent, political communities retaining their original natural rights as the undisputed possessors of the soil from time immemorial.” – Worcester v. […]
Sovereignty and Me
I believe that sovereignty within tribal context is a double-edged sword. As Indigenous people, we have lived on this continent for thousands upon thousands of years, always subsisting within a […]
Local Indigenous Artists and Crafters
My great, great grandmother was a Ramapough Lenape Indian and one of the only ancestors we have a picture of from that long ago, around the late 1800s. While we […]
Children’s Books Written by Indigenous Authors
Coyote Christmas: A Lakota Story, by S.D. Nelson. The story is told of a Native American tradition and a sneaky coyote who jumps on the chance to impersonate Santa Claus. […]
Local Indigenous Author Spotlight: Vanessa Lillie
“What’s that saying, ‘We are our ancestors’ wildest dreams’?” (Quote from Blood Sisters by: Vanessa Lillie.) Vanessa Lillie is a best selling author, citizen of the Cherokee Nation, and lives […]
STRANDED WHALES: RITUAL AND RECKONING
When a whale dies, sometimes the ocean delivers it back to us. Whether it drifts ashore in a quiet cove or crashes onto a crowded beach, its body becomes a […]
The Gift of Thanksgiving
As foliage falls and the weather cools, a call to celebration and remembrance beckons to the Narragansett Nation. The whistling wind says this is the season for tradition and celebrations […]
DREAMING
As the Museum Coordinator for the Wampanoag History Museum at the Aquinnah Cultural Center, I have the responsibility of making sure that the belongings in our collection are properly cared […]
Between Land and Law: An Exploration of Tribal Identity and Sovereignty
When I set out to curate this collection of writing on “sovereignty,” I knew it was a mammoth to explore. Among original peoples of the Northeast, the word – the […]