INDIGENOUS WRITERS RESIDENCY

We supported two Indigenous writers as part of our new Indigenous Writers Residency. This initiative is a meaningful opportunity for Indigenous writers to continue their creative work, share their expertise, and enhance their knowledge and exposure to writing related to topics important to them and their communities. This year, the writers-in-residence are from Turtle Island (North America). We continue looking for support to expand the opportunity to other regions.

Claudio Ramirez Hernandez is Na Ñuu Savi (Person from the Region of the Rain, Mixtec) born in Santa Maria, California. He co-founded People Respecting Others United by Diversity (PROUD) at the Pacific Pride Foundation, Santa Maria’s local 2SLGBTQ+ nonprofit. PROUD is a safe space for 2SLGBTQ+ youth who experience homophobic attitudes at school or at home. More recently, Claudio served as Office Manager for Comunidades Indígenas en Liderazgo, where he participated in efforts related to their UndocumentedIndigenous Fund and in organizing data for the We Are Here mapping project.

Chenae Bullock is a Tribal citizen of the Shinnecock Nation and descendant of the Montauk Peoples in Long Island, New York, and is also African-American. Chenae is an entrepreneur, pioneer, Indigenous perspective historian, and cultural practitioner. Following her ancestors’ footsteps as whalers and business leaders, the foundation of her work has been based on the resurgence of the traditional canoe culture of the northeast coastal Algonquin communities. She has organized historically sacred paddles in the ancient waterways of the Northeastern seaboard.