Skip to content

Northwest Indian College Foundation Presents: tl’aneq’ (Gathering for a Celebration) 2022

About Us

The Northwest Indian College Foundation (NWICF) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization solely dedicated to supporting the mission of Northwest Indian College and its students with financial support through fundraising activities and events. 

We encourage you to visit with us and learn more about the college and its mission. Thank you for supporting our efforts by being here tonight. If you would like to support our efforts in other ways, please consider making an annual tax deductible contribution, planned giving, or attending more events in the future. 

 

The Foundation Board members thank you and are honored for your interest in the College. In the Lummi language we say Hy’shqe, “thank you” for your support and in the Coast Salish tradition, we raise our hands up to you in respect.

College:

With its main campus located on the Lummi Indian Reservation in Washington State, 20 miles south of the Canadian border, Northwest Indian College is the only accredited Tribal college serving the states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.

NWIC grew from the Lummi Indian School of Aquaculture, founded in 1973, a single-purpose training program developed to prepare technicians for employment in Indian-owned and operated fish and shellfish hatcheries throughout the United States and Canada.

In 1983, the Lummi Indian Business Council recognized the need for a more comprehensive post-secondary institution for tribal members, and the college was chartered as Lummi Community College, an Indian-controlled, comprehensive two-year college, designed to serve the post-secondary educational needs of Indian people living in the Pacific Northwest. In June of 1988, Lummi Community College was approved as a candidate for accreditation by the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges (NWASC) and, on January 20, 1989, in acknowledgement of its wider mandate to serve Native people through the Northwest, Lummi Community College changed its name to the Northwest Indian College.

Northwest Indian College was granted accreditation at the associate level by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU), effective September 1993. In 2010, NWIC became accredited at the baccalaureate level and now offers four bachelor’s degrees. The College’s educational programs have been approved by the US Department of Education, Veteran’s Administration, and the Washington State Higher Education Coordinating Board for the administration of financial assistance for eligible student. Northwest Indian College is a member of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC), the American Association of Community Colleges, and the American Council on Education.

Foundation Staff:

Barbara J. Lewis

Executive Director
360-594-1501
bjlewis@nwic.edu

Joal Galindo

Donor Cultivation Manager
360-815-8148
jlgalindo@nwic.edu

foundation-circle-logo

Silent Auction & Raffle

Silent Auction

The silent auction will start when guests arrive, and will remain open until 5:55pm. Winners, please check out with registration and take your prizes before you leave.

Heads or Tails

Only 85 spots available!!! $25 per coin. Raffle sellers are walking around with balloons. Prize: House of Learning Blanket.

“The Honorable House of Learning” tells the journey of Indigenous education at the Northwest Indian College. In this house, traditional knowledge is our our canoe – it leads us towards cultural sovereignty.”

 

NWICF_Tlaneq_2022_auction-6

Raffle

  • $20 Raffle tickets or 3 for $50 


  • Raffle Sellers are walking around with balloons 


  • Prizes Include:


  • Clearwater Casino (Suquamish Tribe) two-night stay & $200 dining credit. 

  •  

  • Seattle Mariners Score Board Package for the 2022 season.  

  •  

  • Swinomish Casino & Lodge, Stay&Play, 1 night stay & $100 dining credit 


  • Nooksack’s Northwood CasinoBuffet for 2 (4 available). A short 40 minute drive North from here.  


Thank you to tonight’s Sponsors

tulalip-cares
lummilogo
Silver Reef

Live Auction

Purse & Shawl

dorothy grant shawl
dorothy grant purse

Internationally renowned fashion designer and traditional Haida artist Dorothy Grant’s strong connection to her culture and Haida identity has been the driving creative force and her foundation as a contemporary fashion designer for over the past thirty-two years. In 1988, Grant became the first to merge Haida art and fashion utilizing her formal training at the Helen Lefeaux School of Fashion Design. 

Dorothy believes that her clothing embodies the Haida philosophy Yaangudang meaning “self respect.” The driving force behind her clothing designs is “empowerment, pride and feeling good about oneself.”

Estimated Value: $500

Dance the Night Away

NWICF_Tlaneq_2022_auction-3
  • Peter’s specialty is hand-pulled serigraphs. He says, “Every now and then an artist needs to do something unexpected and new. This design is one of those times. I love movement and music. I am also a big fan of different forms of art from around the world. This design represents these loves. It is great to get out with friends and loved ones and every now and then just Dance the Night Away! 

Estimated Value: $800

Haida Hand Carved Canoe

NWICF_Tlaneq_2022_auction-30
  • Artist: John R. Bennett, Haida

  • Donor: Steinbrueck Native Gallery 


This piece is hand-carved from a single piece of wood. 

  • The gallery is dedicated to enhancing and cultivating the appreciation and awareness of the cultural art and traditions of the region. Elizabeth Steinbrueck wishes she could be here tonight, and hopes to join us next year, and we promised we’d have the gala closer to her down south.  

Estimated Value: $1,000

Bentwood Box Set

NWICF_Tlaneq_2022_auction-17
NWICF_Tlaneq_2022_auction-18

  • Artist: Andy Peterson, Skokomish

  • Donor: Steinbrueck Native Gallery

  • Kingfisher box (Small Size – 5.5”x 4.4”x 4.5”)

  • Mouse & Hawk (Medium Size – 7.5”x 5.5”x 5.5”) 

  •  

  • Andy began carving after being inspired by a tour of a museum exhibiting Pacific Northwest Coast Art at a very young age. Immediately, he began to explore his artistic side and delve into various art forms. By the age of 18, he had taught himself how to both carve and paint. Andy and his Uncle Peter Peterson made a joint effort to revive the traditional steam-bent box at Skokomish.  

  • Estimated Value: $1,100

Riptide

riptide

  • Artist: Michael Dupille

  • Donor: Michael Dupille and Debora Juarez

  •  

    • 23×7” kilnformed glass 


    • Michael’s primary medium is kiln-formed glass.  Large scale pieces are created as murals or individual elements using fused crushed glass. This is a technique he developed in the 1980’s as one of the pioneers of the kiln formed glass movement.


    • Michael was part of the glass blowing program at Central Washington  University in the early 70’s.  Since the late 1980’s he has worked extensively with glass, having developed and refined a technique for “painting with glass” that uses  crushed glass (frit) in combination kiln fired methods. He refers to this  process as fritography.  Michael pioneered many kiln forming  processes, especially in the area of mold making and kiln casting.


    • He has done design work for Bullseye Glass, was a guest artist and instructor at Camp Colton, and his creative input is well featured in Boyce Lundstrom’s books on art glass techniques. His work is highly collectible and his numerous public and private commissions include  projects for the Washington and Oregon State Arts Commissions, The Everett Cultural Commission, The Seattle Times, The Pierce County Arts Commission, Amazon.com and the Seattle Mariners.

  • Estimated Value: $1,500

Eagle, Salmon, and Orca

NWICF_Tlaneq_2022_auction-29

Artist & Donor: Kevin Paul, Swinomish

Kevin “Wa lee hub” Paul, (born in 1960),  tribal elder, Swinomish Indian Tribal Community; resident of Swinomish and LaConner, Washington.  Kevin is a master carver of contemporary and traditional Native American carvings.  Teaching Northwest Wood Carving in the La Conner School District since 1994. Keeper of the drum and lead singer of Skagit Valley Singers

Estimated Value: $2,400

Student Inspired Star Quilt

NWICF_Tlaneq_2022_auction-31


Artist & Donor: Josephine Perronteau

“This quilt donation took roughly 8 years to complete, not because of the complexity of it, but because each strip, was leftover strips from former students. If you will notice, the binding I made is also from pieces of former students. The struggles that they endured, many not ever have used a sewing machine before they enrolled in my class. It did not matter, male or female, I have had students that once they have completed a quilt, the sense of pride they felt was pure joy. I have had many students enroll several times to make more quilts. Students make quilts for memorials and naming ceremonies, for giveaways. I tell students that to gift a quilt is to honor and comfort the recipient. In my 15 years of teaching, I have only had 3 students tell me they are never going to sew again. I still have former students occasionally call, to tell me that they are working on a quilt and cannot remember what to do next, so I remind them. I oftentimes get a photo of finished projects from former students. It is a joy to be able to teach this class, and I hope it can continue until I am no longer able to sew, see, or remember what to do next.”

-Jo Perronteau, NWIC Quilt Instructor

Estimated Value: Priceless

Cuomo Kulshan (Mt. Baker)

NWICF_Tlaneq_2022_auction-14

 

Artist & Donor: Dan Friday, Lummi

In this piece, Dan Friday utilized the medium of hand sculpted an blown hot glass. Drawing from cultural themes and using modern processes. Friday’s work is contemporary while maintaining basic Native American qualities. His work can be found in collections around the world.

Estimated Value: $4,500

1880 Paddle Replica

New vs Old


Artist & Donor: Justin Ketah (Káa Sháyee Kéet’aakw)​

Justin was selected as a 2022 recipient of the Connection to Culture Visiting Researcher Grant from the Bill Holm Center for the Study of Northwest Native Art at the Burke Museum. His project was to research a selection of paddles in their collection. He took photos of paddles, traced, and measured them, then created templates to share with other artists who don’t have access to the museum. It is an ongoing project he is still working on.​

The 1880 paddle is one he paid special attention to because of its significance. At the time of its creation, it was still made as a functional paddle for travel by water in a canoe. Its form is accurate to how they likely had been making them for hundreds of years. In the 1880s, tourism began in Alaska. To meet the demand for curio items, objects were created to be sold as art. Quickly objects were changed to meet the desires of tourists. The paddle Justin selected to replicate was at the beginning of that trend, so it had not been as affected by those pressures.​

Justin exclusively created two replicas. As a thank you for working with him, Justin donated one of them to the Burke Museum. The other was donated to Northwest Indian College Foundation to help raise funds for continued student success.​ 

Estimated Value: Priceless


Bentwood Box Print

DSCF5867

  • Artist: Preston Singletary, Tlingit

  • Donor: Phillip Hillaire, Lummi and Paul Lumley, Yakama


  • Size: 20″h30″w with a custom frame from Fourth Corner Frames here in Bellingham.


  • This is a limited edition serigraph, we hope you got to get a close look, because the details on this piece deserve to be seen in person. 

  • Estimated Value: $600

Redemption Vision

Capture
  • Artist: Jeffrey Veregge, Port Gamble S’Klallam

  • Donor: Phillip Hillaire, Lummi and Paul Lumley, Yakama


  • Inspired by Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron.  

  • Limited edition of 40 

  • Size: 11×40” 


  • Jeffrey Veregge is an award-winning Native American Artist & Writer from the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe near Kingston, Washington. He is best known for his use of form-line design with pop culture inspiration which his fans dub “Salish Geek”. He has over 100 comic book covers working for Marvel, IDW, Valiant, Dynamite, Boom! & Darkhorse Comics.   


  • His story and works have been featured in The Huffington Post,  Fast Company Magazine, Wired Magazine (Germany), Entertainment weekly, Seattle Times and Magazine, Evening Magazine and many others. Along with his comic work, gallery shows, and public art works, Jeffrey had a 15 month solo exhibit in 2018 that featured his favorite Marvel characters at the Smithsonian in New York City called; “Of Gods & Heroes: The art of Jeffrey Veregge“. The end result being 2 50ft murals that was purchased for the Smithsonian’s permanent collection.  


  • Most recently he has agreed to create a large exit mural for Climate Pledge Arena, the future home of Seattle’s NHL team: The Kraken.

  • Estimated Value: $250 

Black Sheep

NWICF_Tlaneq_2022_auction-1

Artist: Louie Gong, Nooksack

Donor: Eighth Generation

Louie Gong is a self-taught artist who was raised by his grandparents in the Nooksack tribal community in northwest Washington.  This work from Louie, Black Sheep is about drawing power from past experiences— even traumas. “It’s about self-care,” says Louie.

Estimated Value: $500

Student Speakers

NWICF_Tlaneq_2022_auction-11

  • Monica Little (Lummi), Tribal Governance and Business Management Student 


  • Monica graduated high school in York, Alabama, and moved to Bellingham in 2009. She is a single mother of three children, and has overcome many hardships in life and has become a leader at NWIC. She is an officer of four different student clubs and organizations, and recently represented NWIC’s American Indian Business Leaders chapter in Palm Springs, California. 

Justin-Associates-Graduation-732x1024

  • Káa Sháyee (Justin Ketah), Tlingit, NWIC NSL Student


  • Justinis a Tlingit Alaska Native originating from Ketchikan, Alaska. He learned formline art and carving from several prominent Alaska Native Artists, is a certified Tribal Artist by the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida. He was selected as a 2022 recipient of the Connection to Culture Visiting Researcher Grant from the Bill Holm Center for the Study of Northwest Native Art at the Burke Museum. Justin recently graduated with his associate’s transfer degree with the highest honors, and is now pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Native Studies Leadership at NWIC.  

Skip to content