June 27, 2021: CALIFORNIA NATIVE WAYS ONLINE!
California I CAN’s 2nd Annual California Indian
Arts & Culture Festival
A Virtual Live Stream Program Featuring 10 California Indian Culture Bearers of Native Traditional Arts
Sunday, 27 June 2021 from 10:00 AM–6:00 PM • live online at https://www.facebook.com/CaliforniaICan/
Curated by Northern Sierra Mewuk Basketweaver Jennifer Bates our virtual event will feature 10 California Indian Traditional artisans demonstrating their artistry in 30 minute segments broadcast live from traditional land of the Ohlone over the course of the day. Our ten featured California Indian culture bearers have been engaged in maintaining and expanding the artistic heritage of Native California. for decades. Presenters at this online, livestream event will include basketweavers Lucy Parker (Yosemite & Coast Miwok/Mono Lake Paiute/Kashaya Pomo) and her renowned mother Julia Parker (Coast Miwok/Kashaya Pomo), Linda Yamane (Rumsien Ohlone) Dixie Rogers (Karuk/Modoc) and Kimberly Stevenot (Northern Sierra Mewuk), hemp string maker Carson Bates (Northern Sierra Mewuk), storyteller Eric Wilder (Kashaya Pomo), clapperstick maker Austin Stevenot (Northern Sierra Mewuk), and illustrator Meyo Maruffo (Eastern Pomo). A live demonstration of traditional acorn cooking in handmade baskets by Jennifer Bates (Northern Sierra Mewuk) will be featured mid-day. These well-known and respected artists continue to innovate while working within a traditional framework. They are bringing cherished cultural values into modern times. (See below for complete schedule)
“With all that is going on around us today, what a nice moment it is for Berkeley to again support the native first peoples of California to share their cultures from the many parts of the state. It can remind all that we once lived off the land that surrounds us and that we thrived on making and doing with the foods and tools that Earth Mother has given us. Today more than ever people need to see and learn and teach their children how important the old ways are.”
Jennifer Bates
Three Generations of Ohlone. Lisa Parker, Ursula Jones, and Julia Parker (Clockwise from the upper left), June 1, 2019. Photo by Pete Rosas for Berkeleyside. 
Carson Bates demonstrates how to make string and rope the Mewuk way at the 50th anniversary of Ohlone Park, June 1, 2019. Photo by Pete Rosas for Berkeleyside.
California Native Ways will run from 10:00 am – 6:00 pm, broadcast live from Ohlone Land, and will be available to the public via the California Institute of Community, Art and Nature’s Facebook page.
We offer our deepest gratitude to the City of Berkeley Civic Arts Program and the California Arts Council for their support of this event.
California Native Ways Program Schedule
This event offers a rare opportunity to see these ten remarkable California Indian traditional artisans demonstrate their skill, their creativity and their techniques. We hope you can join us!
Presentations will be approximately 30 minutes in length with a 15 minute break in between.
- 10:00 AM Organizers Welcome – Jennifer Bates / Malcolm Margolin / Claire Greensfelder Opening Prayer & Welcome to Ohlone Land – Vince Medina and Louis Trevino
- 10:15 AM Austin Stevenot, Northern Mewuk: Clapperstick
- 11:00 AM Carson Bates: String Making with a cameo by basketweaver Julia Parker
- 11:45 AM Jennifer Bates: Acorn Cooking
- 12:30 PM lunch break
- 1:30 PM Dixie Rogers: Karuk Baskets
- 2:15 PM Kimberly Stevenot: Northern Sierra Mewuk Baskets
- 3:00 PM Linda Yamane: Ohlone Basketry
- 3:45 PM Lucy Parker: Twine Baskets
- 4:30 PM Meyo Maruffo: Illustration of Traditional Subjects
- 5:15 PM Eric Wilder: Storytelling (30 minutes)
- 5:45 PM Thank Yous and Closing Prayer
