Projects and Programs

Ongoing Projects and Programs

Food for Indigenous Futures: 

The Food for Indigenous Futures Program is an intervention derived from community-informed, culturally-based strategies and will implement health and wellness curriculum through youth camps (online and in-person), high school course modules, and youth-led research and evaluation practices. The project will assess how “Food for Indigenous Futures” can increase mental health and wellness while also serving as a drug, alcohol, and substance abuse intervention by bringing youth back into good relations with the land, their traditions, and community. The long-term objective of this study is to develop tribally informed, place-based, and culturally informed programming for mental health and substance abuse interventions amongst Native American youth and to provide publicly available curriculum and digital resources. The project is funded by a 1-million dollar Elevate Youth California: Youth Substance Use Disorder Prevention Program Grant. In the words of the Co-Director of the Lab and Assistant Professor in the Native American Studies Department, Dr. Kaitlin Reed, “The Food for Indigenous Futures Program demonstrates the transformative power of Indigenous food sovereignty for youth in our community and the impact of centering Indigenous knowledges, perspectives and experiences in place-based learning. I am so incredibly proud of the contributions of the Rou Dalagurr Food Sovereignty Lab to both our campus and broader community.”

In addition to the building programs that increase strength and resilience, reduce health disparities, and build health and wellness through place-based programming for Indigenous youth, this grant will support  the creation of an Indigenous youth council that will serve in an advisory capacity to the FSL, and enable the Lab to host the annual Indigenous Foods Festival through 2025. 

Project director and new Food Sovereignty Lab Coordinator Marlene’ Dusek, who will lead the project, says that, “we have always lived in a world that centers the next generation as we know they will be the ones who lead us and continue forward. Youth will lead us in futures that our ancestors have always known, that our cultures have always known, that our places have always felt, on land that has always been taken care of and prayed upon. The Food for Indigenous Futures grant just carries forward those teachings and honors our ways to care for our children and communities by centering our collective mental health and connection to our traditional foods, and our responsibility as land caretakers, as providers for our families, as language carriers, and as traditional ecological knowledge practioners. This work continues to support and center our youth and communities and is working in the continued fight for food justice and collective healing for Indigenous communities.” Dusek is an ethnobotanist and Indigenous scientist with extensive experience working with Indigenous youth. She has coordinated and implemented dozens of youth workshops. As project coordinator she will manage project activities alongside the youth council and steering committee.

 

Wiyot Food Boxes: 

The 'Food Boxes for the Wiyot Community’ project supports local Indigenous Youth to gather, process and prepare traditional Native American foods into meal boxes to give to the Wiyot community. Boxes will also contain fresh produce from community producers. The project collaborates with the Wiyot community and the Rou Dalagurr Food Sovereignty Lab partners including the Daluviwi’ Community Garden at Blue Lake Rancheria, and Potawot Community Garden at United Indian Health Services to source fresh produce and strengthen networks of community members for food box dissemination. 

The FSL is partnering with the Native Women’s Collective to support this project. The project is funded by the Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance in the amount of $5,000, and the Native Cultures Fund in the amount of $10,000.

 

Wiyot Plaza- The FSL Experiential Learning Space: 

 

In July 2022, Rou Dalagurr Food Sovereignty Lab and Traditional Ecological Knowledges Institute received an exterior space allocation at Cal Poly Humboldt, which has since been officially named ‘Wiyot Plaza’. The Wiyot Plaza arose thanks to the actions and resilience of the Lab’s faculty, staff, students, community, and partners. Since the envisioning and realization of the interior space of the Behavioral and Social Sciences (BSS)168 as the student-led, Indigenous community-facing Food Sovereignty Lab, a Native Plant Landscape and exterior space has been conceived as a critical element to our Institute. The exterior space surrounds the Behavioral and Social Sciences Building (BSS), and extends down to General Parking Lot 15 on Cal Poly Humboldt’s campus- this includes open areas and a redwood woodland. We are so grateful for the continuing and vocal support of the Wiyot Tribe to the Food Sovereignty Lab, including their representation on the Steering Committee and actions such as the Wiyot Tribe Natural Resources Department’s letter of support submitted to USFAC regarding the request for an external space allocation. It is the driving goal of the Lab to be a space of collaboration and mutual support between Cal Poly Humboldt and the tribal community- the exterior space allocation enables us to further realize this goal.

To define the relationships between campus stakeholding entities and the FSL, our staff, and members of the Steering Committee have worked with the Landscape and Tree Subcommittee to USFAC to develop a ‘Shared Maintenance and Co-Management Agreement’ (Read it here!). This agreement inscribes our shared commitments to caring for the space, entering into a relationship with the landscape, it’s more-than-human inhabitants, and between partners, to return tribal community access and sovereignty to landscape. Of emphasis in this agreement is collaboration and insight of tribal knowledges and cultural stewardship practices, facilitated primarily through the Steering Committee of the FSL. We also hope that this agreement serves as a forward-looking model for other higher institutions looking to collaborate with Indigenous scholars and communities on similar endeavors, increasing access of Indigenous community to their aboriginal territories and landscapes, and supporting Indigenous self-determination and sovereignty over those territories and landscapes through such co-management agreements.

Originally, the BSS building was designed to include campus and community-facing spaces for basket weaving, regalia making, cooking using traditional methods, and traditional arts. The FSL chose the location of the BSS 168 in consideration that the BSS building was originally designed to honor Native peoples and create space for Indigenous programs on campus. We envision a continuity of Indigenous space near the Native Forum, Goudi'ni Gallery and NAS Department, creating the 'Wiyot Plaza'. This space will integrate educational opportunities outside of the BSS building as part of a Native Plant Landscape that is connected to and cared for by the Food Sovereignty Lab- an extension of the classroom space focused on learning Indigenous sciences through land-based pedagogies. This includes the revitalization of the area originally designated to be a salmon cooking pit, and the design of a Native Plant Landscape that incorporates Native artwork patterns and local Native Languages, and the Indigenous Garden, which will include an ADA compliant 'Elder Garden', greenhouse, and shed constructed to mirror a traditional Wiyot Plankhouse. The Food Sovereignty Lab’s exterior space has the core objectives of supporting food sovereignty and community engagement with traditional foods and management practices. As the FSL enters into relationship with this landscape, we are building stewardship and Rou Dalagurr in a generational lens. Read more about our vision for the Outdoor Classroom in the 'Exterior Space Report'! This vision will continue to be shaped by community feedback and collaboration as we build and implement our Phased Plan.

To enter into relationship with this landscape, the Rou Dalagurr Food Sovereignty Lab and Traditional Knowledges Institute held a land reconnection ceremony as part of PHASE 1: Reconnection in October 2022. 

We are currently seeking community feedback about our Phased Plan for our outdoor classroom space. Take our community survey to help us shape this space!

 

Internship Program:

The Cal Poly Humboldt Native American Studies Food Sovereignty Lab & Traditional Ecological Knowledge Institute Internship Program is an opportunity for both graduate and undergraduate students to plan, implement and assist tribal nations with food sovereignty, TEK, Indigenous Science and interdisciplinary community based projects. 

We will select up to 5 interns per year. Students can propose a semester long, or year long project (2 semesters). The budget for each project can be up to $5000, though semester-long projects will likely be funded at a maximum of $2500. Students would be eligible to continue the project in future years with recommendation from Co-Directors. This continuation would require the submission of an updated budget and work plan. 

 

Application Process:

Proposal form submitted by deadline will include a description of the project and work plan (1-2 semesters) with the inclusion of a draft budget of up to $5000, though semester-long projects will likely be funded at a maximum of $2500. 

Students may also select to be assigned to an ongoing projects/ affiliated organizations as listed below: 

Yurok Tribe Environmental Department

Klamath Food Village

Weitchpec Food Village

School curriculum

School Gardens

United Indian Health Services, Inc.

Blue Lake Rancheria

Karuk Tribe Píkyav Field Institute

The Wiyot Tribe Da gou rou louwi’ Cultural Center

Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation’s Tr’aa-maydvn Xwee-nish (Living Plant Library and Nursery)

About the Internship:

Students would propose year-long project to work on through the proposal form, including a draft budget up to $5000. This will be money to implement the project with fealty to the draft budget. Work fall and spring semesters. Expenditures of the project will be requested through the Co-Directors. 

Interns will be provided an award of $1000 per semester, with two installments of $500. One installment at the beginning of the semester, and one upon completion of the semester. 

Each intern must enroll in 1 Credit Food Sovereignty Lab course for each semester they are an intern; each must complete the Online Training Module if they have not successfully completed an NAS course in the semester prior to acceptance

Qualifications for Internship:

Decisions for internships will ultimately be at the discretion of the FSL Co-Directors and Steering Committee and a holistic application process will be used. Applicants will need to have a complete application in order to be considered. Other priorities for consideration include: 

  • Native American Studies majors,

  • Native American Studies minors, 

  • Student members of ITEPP, INRSEP+

  • Students who have completed NAS 331: Indigenous Natural Resource Management Practices AND/OR NAS 325: Native Tribes of California. 

  • People who have taken multiple (at least two) NAS courses AND/OR submit (2) letters of support from tribal community members

 

Lab course:

1 Cr. NAS 333: Food Sovereignty Lab (Lab Course).

1 unit lab course for working in the Lab; this also applies to research and projects occurring with and within the lab. 

To Enroll (non-internship): Students must have successfully completed or be concurrently enrolled in NAS 331/NAS 325 to take the lab course. Once this prerequisite has been taken, you can do the lab course at any time or enroll more than once. 

If a student is accepted into the Internship program, they are also required and are eligible to enroll in the NAS 333: Food Sovereignty Lab course.

 

About Rou Dalagurr: 

In 2019, HSU Students in NAS 331 had a vision for a project that would re-indigenize the campus while bringing lasting benefits to the community, building partnerships across campus, and reconnecting students with place. The project envisioned was the Cal Poly Humboldt Native American Studies (NAS) Rou Dalagurr Food Sovereignty Lab and Traditional Ecological Knowledge Institute (FSL). To learn more about how this research started watch the linked video: Telling the Story of the NAS Food Sovereignty Lab & Cultural Workspace

The Food Sovereignty Lab is a student-based project which broke ground on October 8th, 2021 following a student-led effort to raise over $250,000 for the renovation. The Lab is dedicated to the learning, research, hands-on practice and preservation of food sovereignty and Traditional Ecological Knowledge. The purpose of the FSL is to provide an opportunity to work directly with the surrounding communities, tribal nations, and national and international scholars and community leaders to center, learn, and engage with Indigenous science, environmental management, and preservation practices. The lab will build national and international connections that foreground Indigenous voices in rigorous academic research, publications and community-centered programming, connecting youth to higher education, policy development, economic development, and climate resiliency. To be very clear, the Food Sovereignty Lab is a space to facilitate research, but we are not doing this without Indigenous input and autonomy regarding what that looks like. This lab is about ensuring that Indigenous sovereignty is upheld, and that Indigenous communities maintain self-determination over their own knowledge.

The Internship Program centers and selects community-facing micro-programs and projects which seek or have pre-existing partnerships with a local tribal organization, tribal nation, or Native farmer or gardener. Such programs and projects provide space and funding for students to plan, implement and assist tribal nations with food sovereignty, TEK, Indigenous Science and interdisciplinary community based projects. The intention of this program is to aid youth with aligned interests to aid them in their future careers, and to further develop, transition, and transform Native food businesses for the next generation. 

Info: 

Our most recent Food Sovereignty Lab Report

Find us online at https://nasp.humboldt.edu/
On Facebook: @hsunasp, https://www.facebook.com/hsunasp
On Instagram: @hsu_nas

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NAS 333: Food Sovereignty Lab Course (1 unit, *ongoing*)

 

Supplementary interdisciplinary lab course. Offers an opportunity for engaged hands-on learning and research in the NAS Food Sovereignty Lab and Traditional Ecological Knowledges Institute. Students will be asked to engage in collaborative research projects to support workshops and community activities in the lab and participate in ongoing research projects for faculty, graduate students, and community members. Supports the development of students as researchers, community organizers, and community-facing professionals. 


1 unit lab course for working in the Lab; this also applies to research and projects occurring with and within the lab. 

To Enroll (non-internship): Students must have successfully completed or be concurrently enrolled in NAS 331/NAS 325 to take the lab course. Once this prerequisite has been taken, you can do the lab course at any time or enroll more than once. 

If a student is accepted into the Internship program, they are also required and are eligible to enroll in the NAS 333: Food Sovereignty Lab course. 

 

 

 

 

Upcoming Projects and Programs

Native Plant Landscape

Originally, the BSS building was designed to include spaces for basket weaving, regalia cleaning, salmon cooking, and traditional arts. The Food Sovereignty Lab chose the location of the BSS 168 in consideration of the history of the BSS building as being originally designed to honor Native peoples and create space for Indigenous programs on campus. We envision a continuity of Indigenous space near the Native Forum, Goudi'ni Gallery and NAS Department, and have been allocated an exterior space stretching approximately ¼ of a campus block. Now named Wiyot PLaza, this space is now under the stewardship of the FSL, and this is the outdoor classroom and laboratory space; this space is subject to the ‘Shared Maintenance and Co-Management Agreement’ developed in partnership with Facilities management. We aim to integrate educational opportunities outside of the BSS building as part of a Native Plant Landscape that is connected to and cared for by the Food Sovereignty Lab- an extension of the classroom space focused on learning Indigenous sciences. This would include the revitalization of the area originally designated to be a salmon smoking pit, and the design of a Native Plant Landscape that incorporates Native artwork patterns and local Native Languages. This space will fundamentally support food sovereignty, and community engagement with traditional foods and food landscapes. Learn more about our Native Plant Landscape and Indigenous Garden in our recent report!

Indigenous Food Sovereignty Guide of Northern California

Supported by a Native American Agricultural Fund (NAAF) grant, we will develop an Indigenous Food Guide, which will support and promote Indigenous food businesses and gardens. This will encourage tourism and create new market opportunities that support Native food practitioners, and producers. This will serve in part as a form of state and national marketing that will increase public awareness of Northern California Native food producers, food sovereignty programs, gardens, and farms. The Food Guide will be designed so that tourists can travel through the Northern California region and visit and support Native food producers through “Indigenous food tours” and excursions. We are aiming for this guide to be released in Fall 2023, including a robust website and printed version.

Food Sovereignty Lab Documentary Film Project, made by the professional film company “The Range”. This will be a series of short documentaries surrounding traditional Foods and Food Sovereignty in the region, oriented around the Lab as a center for housing such practices and knowledges.

“The Range” is renowned for the film projects that uplift Indigenous Voices, particularly in our region. One their projects includes the ‘Tending Nature’ Series. 

Tribal Agricultural Native Opportunities and Knowledges (TANOAK) Project

The TANOAK project is currently under development and seeking funding. This project builds opportunities for applied, developmental research, education, and training activities that foreground Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge and food sovereignty to recruit, retain, and support students, youth, and community members to successful careers in agriculture, food, and natural sciences. The project will expand opportunities for preparing and advancing student workforce training through hands-on opportunities that integrate interdisciplinary approaches to rural and Tribal community development and encourage future employment in food, natural resources, and related disciplines. The project will also create and implement student-centered workshops, programs, and training to promote advancements in agriculture, food, and natural sciences and attract youth and other audiences to train and prepare for employment. The project will further create and implement innovative and culturally responsive curriculum and retention activities that recruit and support a diverse student population to build innovative connections between career paths in food, agriculture, natural sciences and the pressing societal challenges of our time.
Project sites include three tribal nations and one community-based organization.
Blue Lake Rancheria: The Blue Lake Rancheria Pathmakers program and the Daluviwi' Community Garden. Earthseed Laboratories: an emerging 40-acre forest farm, Black-owned land justice enterprise. Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation: Tr’aa-may-dvn Xwee-nish (Living Plant Library and Nursery) and Food Sovereignty Center. Wiyot Tribe: The Wiyot Tribal community garden and the Da gou rou louwi' Cultural Center. Students and other learners will benefit from working with tribal agencies and will learn more about connecting with federal government agencies and federal government employment.

 

Good Healing Fire Coalition: Indigenous Fire Management Resiliency Project
The Good Fire Healing Coalition project is a project under development and seeking funding, which will focus on educational, tribal community, and statewide practices for re-introducing Indigenous fire management in land restoration and building climate resilience. This coalition is led by the Rou Dalagurr Food Sovereignty Lab and Traditional Ecological Knowledges Institute (FSL) in partnership with UC Davis Native American Studies Department, Earthseed Laboratories, the Native Women’s Collective, Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe, and the Wiyot Tribe. Lead project consultants include the Karuk Women in Fire Training Exchange (KWTREX) and Dr. Frank Lake (US Forest Service Research Ecologist). Direct outcomes will include research on cultural burning practices through hands-on site restoration of partnered sites, trainings of Indigenous women, femme, and queer folx as cultural burners and leaders to provide economic opportunities for future fire management; hosting of a statewide Indigenous Fire Summit with opportunities to build further collaboration across tribal nations, state agencies, universities and community organizations; and the creation and implementation of higher education courses and training certificates for building future investment in regional fire management. Training will also address needs in communication strategies as well as advocacy tools and training by increasing the literacy in regional, state, and federal policy and opening pathways for successful advocacy and policy enactment to support the resurgence of Indigenous sovereignty in regards to landscape care.
Project research will develop and enact a fire-centered climate action plan for identified tribal and community partner sites in the region, such as at Mouralherwaqh, a 40 acre parcel with a coastal ecosystem recently returned to the Wiyot Tribe, and Earthseed Laboratories, a black and queer abolitionist land collective. This work will increase regional cultural burning practitioners and therefore expand opportunities for youth engagement and student learning, re-enact generational care for our ecosystems and residing relatives and will train a new generation of fire management advocates and policy leaders.

 

 

Past Projects and Programs

Food Soveriegnty Speaker Series

Fall 2020

Nov. 2nd Panel Discussion: Humboldt Food Sovereignty Lab. History & Vision

Panelists:

Dr. Cutcha Risling Baldy, Department Chair Native American Studies

Carrie Tully, Environment & Community Graduate Student

Cody Henrikson, Native American Studies & Marine Biology Undergraduate

Native American Studies is building a Food Sovereignty Lab and Cultural Workspace in the BSS building adjacent to the Native American Forum. In this panel discussion Dr. Baldy reviews the history of native dispossession of traditional foods in the Humboldt region. Students Cody and Carrie share their experience presenting the Food Sovereignty Lab research at the CSU Student Research Competition. The students explain the initial push back received by the University upon review of the space application for BSS building. The panel explains the space will help to strengthen the bond between our local community, Indigenous Nations, and students at Humboldt by providing space which can support cultural resurgence and food sovereignty for Native peoples.

Nov. 9th The State of Indigenous Food Sovereignty in the United States

Presenter:

Dr. Devon Mihesuah, Cora Lee Beers Price Professor in Humanities, University of Kansas.

This presentation explores the meaning and goals of food sovereignty as well as the challenges to achieving control over food systems. Dr. Mihesuah explains how the Indigenous Food Sovereignty Movement (IFS) has exploded in recent years. Examples include tribal and grassroots food initiatives, farms, community and backyard gardens, food summits and school programs. Despite these efforts, high rates of diabetes, obesity and other health issues still remain and food insecurity is a reality for many tribes. Dr. Mihesuah offers several solutions for reclaiming Indigenous Food Sovereignty through education, tribal garden initiatives and invasive species removal.

Nov. 16th Discussion Panel: The State of Indigenous Food Sovereignty in California

Panelists:

Dr. Melissa Nelson, Professor School of Sustainability, Arizona State University

Meagen Baldy, Eating Healthy in Indian Country

Vince Medina and Louis Trevino, Cafe Ohlone

Panelists share their experience as cultural practitioners advancing food sovereignty for their communities. Meagan discusses food sovereignty on the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation in Northern California. Vince and Louis share stories from the success of Cafe Ohlone in the Bay Area. Dr. Nelson discusses California sacred foods.

Nov. 22nd Discussion Panel: Fire and Food Sovereignty

Panelists:

Dr. Frank Lake, Research Ecologist, US Forest Service

Merv George, Forest Supervisor, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest

Jared Aldern, Environmental Historian

Rondo Reed, Wildland firefighter, US Forest Service

Each panelist shares their experience with cultural fire management. Dr. Frank Lake defines Traditional Ecological Knowledge, Indigenous Fire Stewardship and Tribal Agroforestry. Merv George describes his experience as a cultural practitioner and Forest Supervisor. Jared Aldern shares a settler perspective of restoring Indigenous fire and foods. Rondo Reed explains his experience as a cultural practitioner and working for the US Forest Service. The webinar concludes with a Q+A session with the audience

Nov. 30th Food Sovereignty & The Timing of Climate Change

Presenter:

Dr. Kyle Powys Whyte

Dr. Whyte presents how Indigenous Food Sovereignty is a framework for addressing climate change. He explains for many Indigenous peoples food sovereignty is about restoring kinship relationships with food. This presentation describes the different ways of telling time from an Indigenous perspective and compares the past hundred years of colonial history to thousands of years of Indigenous history. Dr. Whyte answers questions from the audience and engages in discussion with the Humboldt NAS Food Sovereignty Lab Steering Committee on why such a space would support cutting edge research on Traditional Ecological Knowledge and support tribes in the local region and beyond.

Zoom-A-Thon

PDF icon zoomathon_exciting_flyer_-_final.pdf

Register: tinyurl.com/FSLtelethon

Join us for a night of joy as we fundraise to build the Humboldt NAS Food Sovereignty Lab and Cultural Workspace. Watch LIVE & Donate!

Comedy | Poetry | Film | Music & More!

Featuring:

  1. Tanaya Winder is an authors, singer/songwriter, poet, motivational speaker and educator who comes from an intertribal lineage of Southern Ute, Pyramid Lake Paiute, and Duckwater Shoshone Nations hwere she is an enrolled citizen. She received a BA in Enlgish from Standofrd Unvisersity and a MFA in creative writing from the Unviserity of New Mexico. She co-founded As/Us: A Space form Women of the World, a literary magazine publishing works by BIPOC women. She is a 2016 National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development "40 under 40" list of emerging American Indian leaders recipeint and a 2017 First Peioples Fund Artists in Business Leadership fellow. For 11 years, Winder served as Director of the University of Colorado Boulder's Upward Bound program where she served hundreds of Indigenous youth. Today, Tanaya serves as the Communications Associate Director for the Conservation Lands Foundation. Her specialities include: youth & women empowerment, healing truama through art, creative writing workshops, and mental wellness advocacy.

    Learn more about Tanaya: https://tanayawinder.com/ 

  2. Ursula Pike has an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from the Insitute of American Indian Arts and a master's degree in Econominca from Western Illinois University. She writes about Native American issues, equity in higher eduction, and travel. Ursula is a member of the Karuk Tribe and grew up in Oregan and California. Her debut book An Indian among los Indigenas: A Native Travel Memoir about Two years in Bolivia, South American, will be published by Heyday Books in April 2021. You can find her work in Ligeia Magazine, Yellow Medicine Review, World Literature Today , O'Dark 30, and the Rio Review

    Buy Ursula’s book: https://ursulapike.com/

  3. Michelle Hernandez is a Native American filmmaker and photographer. She is a Wiyot tribal member and grew up on the Table Bluff Reservation. She is currently pursuing her Masters in Film and Electronic Media at American University in Washington, D.C. She received her B.A. at Cal Poly Humboldt in both Film and Native American Studies. Many of her work focuses on the importance of culture, traditions, and identity, as well as dealing with Native American subjects. With her work she wants to give voice to stories that help break down stereotypes.

    Learn more about the Douk Film: https://www.doukfilm.com/

  4. Fig Fishkin (also goes by Ariel, uses they/them pronouns) has lived on Wiyot land since 2010. Prior to that, they lived on Yokut and Bay Miwok land. They are obsessed with Transformative Justice, and figuring out how we can respond to conflict in ways that strengthen bonds in our communities. They are also a local musician under the project name Blood Hunny. For paid labor, they work as a Community Health Promoter with Vision y Compromiso helping folks sign up for and access Medi-Cal Benefits.

    Listen to their music: www.bloodhunny.bandcamp.com

  5. Jackie Keliiaa (Yerington Paiute and Washoe) is a stand-up comedian, writer, actor and producer based in Oakland, California. You can find her in the 2021 release, We Had a Little Real Estate Problem: The Unheralded Story of Native Americans & Comedy. She was featured on Illuminative's 25 Native American Comedians to Follow, was Comic of the Week on The Jackie And Laurie Show, took over Tig Notaro's Twitter and she was awarded a 2020 Endurance, Hope and Community Commission from the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival to write a TV pilot - and that's just during the pandemic!

    Learn more about Jackie: jackiecomedy.com

  6. Jim Ruel is a comedian, writer, director, producer and actor. He is a member of the Bay Mills Band of Ojibwe. He grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with his brother and five sisters. He first tried standup comedy at a junior high talen show. However it was not until after college that he began performing in comedy clubs around the midwest. In 2001, he was a finalist in NBC's Diversity Talen Search in New York City, which ultimately led to his first television appearance on 'The World Stands Up' which was taped in London, England. He was gone on to appear on Showtime with 'Goin Native: the American Indian Comedy Slam,' PBS on 'Crossing the Line: Multiracial Comedians,' and on FNX with "first Nations Comedy Experience".

    Follow Jim on Twitter: https://twitter.com/nativecomedian