[Native] Fire As Medicine

TISINA TA-TILL-IUM PARKER (Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation/Kudadiki Paiute/Kashia Pomo) holds a BA in Community Studies from UC Santa Cruz with an emphasis in Art Education and a BFA in Sustainable Fashion/Textile Design from California College of the Arts in San Francisco where she graduated with honors as “Emerging Talent.” She is an active member of Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation, frequently attending tribal meetings, ceremonies and gatherings. In 2018 Tiśina represented SSMN, alongside tribal leaders, in Washington D.C. to petition for Federal Recognition, an ongoing 35+ year battle with the U.S. government for tribal sovereignty. Tiśina designs, creates and collaborates with diverse communities and artists to illuminate issues of social/environmental justice and works deeply within regenerative design practices to create cultural art and textile work that is in balance with Indigenous ways of being. As a filmmaker Tiśina cultivates Native told stories, created and produced in intimate collaboration with The People. Tiśina’s life work is dedicated to community building, storytelling and Indigenous cultural regeneration through the mediums of film, regalia making, textiles, and community cultural arts activism.