A changing, traveling show curated by the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians near Placerville had a soft opening at the Grace Hudson Museum last week, with the public reception scheduled for February 28, which will include some of the artists and curators.
Momím Wené: Medicine Water tells a story of tribal relationships between the people and their waterways through the paintings, basketry, beadwork, and regalia of over 30 Native artists. Their work reflects the various tribal histories of California Indian Country, changing times, and lifeways. Arranged by the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, this exhibit was born in central California and is now flowing to the home of the Ukiah Valley Pomo, where their regional voices are being included in the story.
“Just as a river changes, curving and carving its way through different landscapes, the art for this exhibit changes from venue to venue, making it possible to feature art by local Native artists,” says Alyssum Weir, the museum’s curator of education and exhibits. “In our case, we will feature a number of pieces by Pomo artists.”
The exhibition’s birth, or “headwaters,” began when the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians (SSBMI) Vice Chair initiated conversations about using imagery to support water activism regionally. Their Exhibits and Collections Center (ECC) set about creating opportunities for local Tribal artists to create artwork around this topic. Funds they received from a 2024 California Arts Council (CAC) California Creative Corps grant were used to provide meaningful support to the artists and create the Momím Wadaahá exhibition series.
As Curator Meyokeeskow Marrufo (Eastern Pomo) explains, “Some Tribes have continuous, strong connections with their waterways, while others are flowing back to their rivers and the ocean, regaining the genetic memory of who we are as Water People. As we explore these relationships in our art, we tell the story of regaining, reidentifying, and remaking our water traditions.” Marrufo was curator for the museum’s 2022 exhibition, Gathering Time: Pomo Art During the Pandemic.
Marrufo is Eastern Pomo from the Clearlake Basin and a member of Robinson Rancheria. She has lived and learned from other California Tribes, including Yurok, Hupa, Maidu, and Miwok territories. She is an artist, curator, and teacher, focusing on cultural arts, regalia making, and foodways. Marrufo is also working as part of an Indigenous team at the de Young Museum’s current exhibit, Arts of Indigenous America.
Regarding the exhibit at the de Young prior to its revitalization, Marrufo described it as “Beautiful objects made by a lot of dead people. We are bringing life back into the gallery.” That exhibit, which was also co-curated by Sherrie Smith-Ferri, former curator of the Grace Hudson Museum in Ukiah, runs until August 2028. Marrufo concluded her thoughts on the de Young exhibit by saying, “I hope that people understand that we’re still here, in a very vibrant, living community.”
For this exhibit, the ECC curatorial team began by reaching out to regional Native artists, asking them to create art reflecting on their ancestral waterways and their own unique relationships to water. The show was staged in the Bank of America Gallery at the Harris Center for the Arts at Folsom Lake College. It then morphed into an installation entitled Rivers and Relations at the Lolmĕn Gallery on the Shingle Springs Rancheria. The CAC grant allowed for the ECC to commission nine artists to tell their stories on large-scale canvases. That project coalesced into an exhibit entitled Scattered Water Droplets: Yatapk’oyihím Mom, which was displayed at the Switchboard Gallery in Placerville in conjunction with Arts and Culture El Dorado. When this show moved to the Maidu Museum and Historic Site in Roseville, it merged with Momím Wenéand Rivers and Relations. The words Momím Wené mean “Medicine Water” in the Nisenan language, which has been spoken in the Sacramento Valley and the Western Sierra Nevada Foothills.
Last fall, the ever-changing exhibition was mounted at the Mendocino Art Center. In winding its way across California Indian country, coastal Pomo stories and art began to flow into the mix.
Now that the exhibition is residing within the Grace Hudson Museum, it has morphed again, notes Boge. “Some of the art will have been returned to their makers, while others will have gone to the homes of people who purchased them. In the spirit of the exhibition series, new art has been added- both from artists already featured and from additional Pomo artists.” Over 30 Native artists will be featured in the exhibit.
Liwanwalli, by Michelle Napoli, Coast Miwok/Liwanwalli is a tribute to the artist’s coastal home and relatives. (Contributed)As the viewer will see, the exhibit demonstrates the complex relationships between tribal people and the waterways that surround them. Some have maintained ancestral relationships with water, while others are accessing waterways for the first time. “Momím Wené is about telling the stories and regaining who we are as Water People,” says Marrufo. In addition to the artist’s work, the exhibit features information about the Coastal, River, and Lake Waters residing within California Indian Country. A map of Northern California waterways offers viewers the opportunity to match artists with the waterway connected to their lives. Other portions of the exhibit discuss water policy in Indian Country, discussing the tribal beneficial uses of water- many of which continue to be essential to tribal identity, culture, and sovereignty.
The exhibit features a multitude of media, artistic styles, and references- a blend of traditional works that include basketry, clothing, jewelry, and crafts, and art that incorporates everything from cartoons to statements on contemporary culture. One knife has a manzanita handle, and the pine/pitch obsidian knife has a cholla handle. Obsidian Knives, created by Steven Saffold, Coastal Chumas honor the prized mineral. Obsidian was traded for shell bead money and abalone shells, with trading spanning a huge span of land from the Channel Islands to the Southwest.
Eric Wilder is a Stewarts Point Rancheria Kashia Pomo. His drawing, “The Spirit of the Ocean and the Whale Ceremony was created with pen and ink and colored pencils, with the ocean spirit depicted as an old man, his spirit residing in the ocean amongst whales, decorated with geometric markings. “When a Pomo girl reaches womanhood, she is brought to the ocean, where a special ceremony takes place. This ritual marks her transition into womanhood and introduces her to the creation,” Wilder explains. This ceremony is known as the Whale Ceremony.
“Blue Heron Over Big Water” is a mixed media piece created by Marrufo, using glass seed beads atop acrylic over canvas. “My people come from Xabatin, which means Big Water. Sometimes I think about the writings on how the lake used to be many years ago. It was said that you could throw a net and catch a thousand birds. Today, the waters are not the same,” she continues. “The birds are no longer as plentiful because the fish are leaving. The waters are channeled and overused for vineyards. But still, our lake is beautiful. Its waters still teem with life. Although there are not as many birds, the blue heron still reigns over the waters. He flies over Xabatin and makes me wonder if his daydreams are filled with flowing waters and jumping fish.”
Liwa Lawwa- a cotton and satin dance dress was created by Robin Meely, Coastal Miwok/Kashia Pomo. “The dress represents water as a living, powerful being. As an indigenous artist of Coast Miwok, Kashaya Pomo, and Diné heritage, I have always felt the strength, beauty, and healing power of water. The design reflects different types of waterways, with the central focus on the ocean- the big water that holds life, movement, and spirit. When someone wears Liwa Lawwa, it moves with them, carrying the flow of water itself. It embodies energy, change, and resilience. Each curve, fold, and ripple honors water’s life-giving force and reminds us of our connection to it. This dress is not just clothing- it is living art, ceremony, and a way to carry the power and medicine of water forward.”
The exhibit runs through May 10th. The Opening Reception takes place on Saturday, February 28th, from 1:00-4:00 PM. “Come celebrate our exhibition, meet some of the featured artists and hear from the Shingle Springs Bank of Miwok Indians Exhibits and Collections Center curatorial team,” says Boge.
On Sunday, March 29th, put on gloves and explore a combination of brush and finger painting with Shanti Parks, whose work is included in the exhibit. The program is open to painters aged 8 and up. Call to reserve your spots.
A Closing Reception will take place on Saturday, April 25, from 5:00-8:00 PM. Artists Malissa Tayaba, Sage LaPena, Rovin Meely, and Meyokeeskow Marrufo will talk about their artwork and tribal waters in a panel presentation.
In early September,the museum will be opening an original exhibition by the Grace Hudson Museum, entitled People and Place. It is our way of celebrating the 150th anniversary of the City of Ukiah. Following that, in early 2027, another original show will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the museum’s Wild Gardens by displaying art and objects of material culture that tie to various indigenous plants in the gardens,” Boge concludes.
The Grace Hudson Museum is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10:00-4:30 PM and Sundays from 12:00-4:40 PM, and on First Friday evenings from 5:00-8:00 PM. Admission is free on all First Fridays, and free for Native Americans and standing military personnel with ID. For information, visit www.gracehudsonmuseum.org or phone (707) 467-2836.
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