Issue 106

Fort Lewis College News Magazine

What’s up with the Big Bad Wolf?

INSIGHT TO COLORADO’S WOLF INTRODUCTION INITIATIVE

editors

Coya Pair

editor-in-chief

Kim Cassels editor

Taylor Hutchison lead reporter

Shelby Martin design editor

Lea Leggitt

multimedia editor

Easton Verduzco

business director

REPORTERS William Charles Dorothy Elder Amber Labahe Alx Lee Mandy Lorenson Charlotte Williams

DESIGN Elizabeth Anglin Brooke Munden

ADVISORS Paige Blankenbuehler practicum director

Faron Scott

content editor

dear readers, Spring is in the air, folks! Which feels great for a number of reasons. One, the warmth of the sun beating down on your skin. Nothing feels better than walking out of the house without a jacket on.

Two, the longer and lighter days. If you guys are anything like me, it is so much easier to be productive with more time between sunrise and sunset. Three, and most importantly, spring break! An entire week off to go play, or work and save money, or rest and rejuvenate. Whatever it is you decide to do, I hope the shift in the season and time away from school brings you joy.

We’re very lucky to live in a place where you don’t have to leave to enjoy your break. Durango is a rad vacation spot, with something appealing to most anyone. I adore being a part of this community, and not having the desire to leave every chance I get. We hope to offer you some knowledge about where we reside, with the stories about wolf introduction to our wilderness, or the impacts snow has on some people on campus.

We can also credit FLC’s diversity for stories like BDSM and colonialism, and inclusivity offered by indigenous displays on campus. This indigenous influence is part of what makes attending FLC so valuable, and allows us as journalists to grow in cross-cultural reporting.

We here at the Indy hope you soak up plenty of information or gain some entertainment from this issue. Above all, remember to stay present, appreciate our community during these last couple months of the academic year, as summer slowly approaches. We’re thrilled to be here serving you with local news.

Coya Pair Editor in Chief

cdpair@fortlewis.edu

COVER Photo Courtesy of The National Park Service

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Issue #106 March 11, 2020

In This Issue

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Indigenous Displays at FLC Alx Lee 3

What’s up with the Big Bad Wolf?

Insight to Colorado’s Wolf Introduction Initiative Charlotte Williams 5

Snow and School:

Getting to class with mobility issues Charlotte Williams 7

Chains, Whips and Nipple Clamps: BDSM meets Colonialism Amber Labahe 9

Silverton Skijoring Photo Essay Lea Leggitt 11

Two Stars Rising in the North– a mural by Chip Thomas featured on the North side of Fort Lewis’ Mears complex.

Photo by Alx Lee

Dating App Culture in Durango Mandy Lorensen 13

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INDIGENOUS DISPLAYS ON CAMPUS ALLOW FOR INCLUSIVITY Alx Lee

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display of the Fort Lewis College boarding school history sits in the Center of Southwest Studies building. Though this display is unnoticed by most students, it is seen by Museum Collection Curator, Elizabeth MacMillan and Archives Manager, Nik Kendziorski.

MacMillan and Kendziorski agreed the Center of Southwest Studies put out collections that represent the student population at FLC. Contemporary Native art, Native textiles, basketry and jewelry are all collections CSWS have obtained and curated MacMillan said.

“I’ve had students that have gone through the collection and said “my grandmother made that pot!’’,” MacMillan said.

The goal is to build a connection with the students here at FLCthrough the Center of Southwest Studies displays, MacMillan said.

Displays on campus from mural art to statues can be overlooked much like the historical boarding school display at the Center of Southwest Studies. Much of these displays offer deeper cultural meaning to Indigenous students by offering inclusivity in a predominantly white setting.

The Clocktower

Located in the center of campus, The Clocktower features panels displaying photos and text about Fort Lewis’ Indian boarding school history.

The panels emphasize the good works of FLC as a boarding school with sentences such as “extremely good literary instruction” and the care of the Native children as “are well clothed and happy.”

Majel Boxer, Associate Professor of Native American and Indigenous Studies, said there are problematic issues with this display.

The panels portray the Indian boarding school as a natural interaction between white and indigenous people, historically, Boxer said.

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“It portrays Indian boarding school as something that was benign,” Boxer said, “Something that didn’t cause harm to Native people.”

The Center of Southwest Studies

Elizabeth MacMillan, Curator at Center of Southwest Studies, said the displays and collections here at Fort Lewis are world class, traveling from Los Angeles to New York.

Currently, CSWS has a display of the Fort Lewis Indian Boarding School in Delaney Library, located in the CSWS building.

The history of the Fort involving the tribes surrounding the area, the military presence and the Indian boarding school currently sit behind the display glass.

Nik Kendziorski, Archives Manager at Center of Southwest Studies, said the boarding school was a federal Indian boarding school therefore many of the Indigenous items left the school grounds. Kendziorski said the center is actively looking for pieces from this period of the boarding school.

ters’ jewelry collection was featured at The National Museum of the American Indian, in Washington D.C. “Another big collection we have, archive wise, is a lot of material from the Indian Rights Association” he said.

Kendziorski said the CSWS is not only a resource for college students here but for the country.

“Our mission is to educate the public,” he said.

The Greeters

Made predominantly from stone, “The Greeters” feature three Native figures with their faces halfway out of the stone.

“It’s a very condensed version,” Mac Millan said.

Jicarilla, Pueblo, Navajo, Ute and Apache tribes are all mentioned on display with no identity, she said. The CSWS has a collection of rosters of Native students that attended the school and Majel Boxer is researching them currently, Kendziorski said.With help from the National Archives in Denver and Animas Museum, CSWS was able to put up photographs from the Fort Lewis Indian Boarding School, he said.

The display features 3 dimensional materials that came from a 2008 archeological report done by Mona Charles, an archeologist from Fort Lewis College, Kendziorski said.

These materials can offer historians insight as to the day to day life at the Fort, he said.

Kendziorski said the whole Native American collection at CSWS is extensive.

CSWS is actively showcasing their immense Native collections from contemporary to prehistoric, he said. MacMillan said the cen-

An older man, young woman and child make up the three figures. The man wears a traditional headdress, the woman holds a pot and the child faces the college pointing in the college’s direction. Connecting Gulch Road and Fort Lewis Drive, “The Greeters” can be located in the center of the roundabout.

Commissioned by Sorrel Sky Gallery, “The Greeters”, is a statement about nature, the sculptor, Denny Haskew said.

“The grandfather figure is titled, Respect All That is Natural” Haskew said, “The younger women holding the pot is titled,

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Give of Yourself and the young person pointing is, Observe Nature.”

The directions in which the stones are faced in, north, south and west are not drawn from the cultural background of the indigenous figures featured, Haskew said.

Tribes represented could be drawn from Northern Plains and Ute. Boxer, who also has expertise in 19th and 20th century Native American history, said the sculptures are problematic.

“It’s kind of static” she said, “It shows native people from the past.”

Reed Library Horned Toad

Located in front of and facing Reed Library, the Horned Toad sits as a bronze figure on top of a rock within the landscaping.

connie said. Diné tradition permits the person to place the horned toad on their heart for blessings, he said.

Bitsóí said his spirituality is based in Diné and has been told that he is Navajo first before anything else. Tippeconnie wears turquoise jewelry everyday as self expression and for protection, he said. Tippeconnie wears a pair of earrings that resemble cheii.

The Rainmaker & River Potters

The Rainmaker, a bronze statue, stands in front of SkyHawk Station. The statue depicts an indigenous man holding a staff with a buffalo headdress.

“It gives me a sense of protection, knowing that cheii always sits on my ears and keeps a look out for me like another pair of eyes.” he said.

Tippeconnie said cheii in front of Reed library is a reminder to Diné students to stay strong and remember where you came from.

“Nitsaago ahéhee’ dóó hózhóogo nidaohkai dooleełz” he said, “Thank you very much and may you all walk in beauty.”

Two Stars Rising in the North Photo Mural

Chip Thomas, photographer, said through e-mail the mural was brought to the Fort in partnership with then Coordinator of Diversity Programming, Nancy Stoffer.

The mural was to celebrate life based on the reservation, Thomas said.

Desmon Tippeconnie, FLC student, said through e-mail the literal translation in Diné is Na’asho’ii Dich’izhii, meaning rough lizard.

LeManuel Bitsóí, Director for the Diversity Collaborative, said the horned toad, known as cheii in the Diné culture, is a protector because of his armour. Cheii means maternal grandfather in Diné Tippeconnie said.

Referenced in ceremony songs and stories, cheii is known in the Diné culture as a deity and not just a physical being Bitsóí said. One story, according to the Utah Navajo Health System website wearenavajo, involves the Navajo Twin Warriors, Born for Water and Monster Slayer. Monster Slayer went to battle with the Giant and succeeded by placing the horned toad on his head.

If a person comes across a horned toad it is a sign of good luck and blessings, Tippe-

The River Potters, sitting in front of Reed Library, displays two Native women sitting together holding pottery.

“As a documentary photographer focusing on the lives of people of color I look for moments of shared humanity,” he said “A girl on her swing sharing a moment of joy with her puppy represents the simple joys of life and is an image I think anyone from any culture can relate to.”

According to Thomas’ website, JC Morningstar, the girl featured in the photograph was honored with a poem titled, Two Stars Rising in the North, by Diné poet Demian Dineyazhi at the Indiengous Peoples Day event with family. The poem spoke of Morningstar’s recent family loss.

Thomas said Mears Hall was chosen to display the mural in order to face the North and ensure exposure to the student body and FLC visitors. The mural was constructed and revealed at Mears Hall. This was the first Indigenous Peoples Day celebration at Fort Lewis and Thomas said he was very honored to be involved.

According to a video produced by Fort Lewis College, the Rainmaker and River Potters were donated by members of the Ballantine family.

The Rainmaker was sculpted by Fritz White, as stated in the video.

The River Potters were presented to Fort Lewis in 1994 by Aurthur and Morley Ballantine, Judith Reynolds, Arts Journalist with the Durango Herald, said in the video.

The piece was sculpted by Doug Hyde, Reynolds said in the video.

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What’s up with the Big Bad Wolf?

INSIGHT TO COLORADO’S WOLF INTRODUCTION INITIATIVE Charlotte Williams

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olorado voters are faced with a statealtering decision this November with the Colorado Gray Wolf Reintroduction Initiative appearing on the 2020 ballot.

Since then, wolves have been reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho in 1995, and New Mexico and Arizona in 1998, he said.

To find a way to reintroduce wolves to Colorado, the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project and its political action arm the Rocky Mountain Wolf Action Fund were formed. The two organizations have been advocating for the reintroduction of wolves, Skida said.

The initiative has previously been proposed and denied by the Colorado Game Commission three times, said Andrew Gulliford, FLC history and environmental studies professor.

The Colorado Wolf Project proposed an initiative that would require Colorado Parks and Wildlife to reintroduce gray wolves to Colorado, said Gary Skida, a retired biologist for the Division of Wildlife.

Gulliford is an advocate of the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project, and also a contributing author to The Last Stand of the Pack: Critical Edition, a collection of published essays detailing the past extermination and possible future of wolves in Colorado.

Although wolves are native to Colorado, they have not been present due to a massive campaign from the federal and state government to eradicate wolves in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, said Skida.

“Large numbers of livestock were being moved into the state and at the same time, a lot of our wildlife populations were being drastically reduced for the food industry,” he said. “One of the results of that is wolves started to feed on livestock, and the livestock producers obviously were not very happy about that.”

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Although there is some debate of when the last wolf in Colorado was killed, it was around 1940 or 1945, Skida said.

“We are going right to the people now,” Gulliford said. “We’re skipping the state Game Commission, we’re skipping the state legislature.”

Wolves’ presence could bring balance to the wildlife and agricultural ecosystems, Gulliford said.

Photos Courtesy of The National Park Service

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“We have the largest elk herd in the country, and wolves like elk,” he said. “If you have too many animals on a specific landscape, they can damage it. Wolves trim the herd to fit the range.”

It’s been shown in scientific literature that wolves will select prey that is compromised, whether they’re sick, injured, young or in some way weakened, Skida said.

That’s not to say that wolves won’t kill healthy animals because they can, Skida said.

Mia Anstine who is a regional representative of Safari Club International, a non-profit that represents hunters and worldwide wildlife conservation, said that this initiative poses greater ecological problems for the wolves and Colorado residents.

Timberwolves, a subspecies of gray wolves, are currently residing in Colorado, she said.

“These wolves in northern Colorado migrated down from Yellowstone,” Anstine said. “Wolves have a really vast range in where they will migrate and where they live.”

The presence of the wolves was officially confirmed through DNA analysis of their scat a few weeks ago, but they have been known to be there since late last fall, Skida said.

“Mexican gray wolves are in Arizona, New Mexico, and Mexico, and those ones are migrating north,” Anstine said. “They’ve been seen as far north as Taos, New Mexico.”

Gulliford argues that although domestic livestock may be attacked by wolves, ranchers will be compensated for their losses, he said.

The Mexican wolf population is under federal protection, and they have many but not all of the wolves collared, Skida said.

“Ranchers say they’re damaging our potential income, and that’s why there’s a compensation clause in the legislation,” Gulliford said.

As of 2017, 114 wolves have been recorded in both Arizona and New Mexico, according to the Mexican Wolf Reintroduction Project.

With the clause in place, ranchers would have to prove that the attack on their livestock was from a wolf, Anstine said.

“As part of their policy for those wolves, is that any wolf that goes north of I-40, they will retrieve and bring them back into the central area where they released them and where they are trying to establish those wolves, so it’s less likely that wolves will come from that direction,” Skida said.

A farmer or rancher would have to prove that it was a wolf that killed their livestock through photo or DNA evidence. A lot of ranchers put their livestock up on the floor service where they don’t have cameras monitoring them, Anstine said.

Young male wolves tend to be kicked out of their packs at a certain age and end up traveling, sometimes at great distances from where they were born. By moving to new environments, it eventually creates local adaptations, such as Mexican Gray wolves being smaller or Arctic wolves generally being white, Skida said.

Northwest Colorado has seen four or five intermittent visitors between 2004 and 2019, Skida said.

“These things are true on a local basis, but every one of those animals could interbreed with any other of those animals. They’re all the same species and its absolutely vital people understand that,” Skida said. “There is no real difference when you get right down to it. They can all interbreed and produce fertile offspring. They’re all wolves.”

The first wolf to be found was killed on I-70, west of Denver. At least one was shot and another was believed to have been poisoned by unknown causes, Skida said.

Another concern about the introduction of the larger gray wolf is its potential to threaten the livelihood of Colorado farmers and ranchers, Anstine said.

“Most biologists felt like it was unlikely that wolves will establish a pack or a population in Colorado just by migration from the Yellowstone area, Idaho and northern Utah,” Skida said. “This pack that showed up in northwest Colorado called that into question, but generally speaking, most biologists still feel that it’s unlikely that wolves coming from the north would establish a pack in Colorado.”

“It would be a threat to agriculture, and the economy,” she said. “The farmers and ranchers would have a hard time, if the wolves are introduced and it starts to kill off their livestock.”

“If they are able to prove that the wolf killed one of their animals, they only are compensated for what is deemed to be fair market value,” she said. “There’s different breeds of cattle and they’re all worth different amounts of money. If somebody has a top grade Black Angus, they’re only going to get an average rate, so they’re potentially going to be losing thousands of dollars on each animal they lose.”

In January 2016, the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission released a statement opposing the intentional reintroduction of wolves.

The Wildlife Commission is a politically appointed body that broadly represents interests across the state, from hunters to wildlife conservationists to outfitters and livestock producers, Skida said.

Biologists within the agency are unable to state their personal opinions regarding the initiative because it’s a political issue, he said.

“The political body made a decision and their policy statement is that they oppose the reintroduction of wolves,” Skida said. “That doesn’t mean that every biologist in Parks and Wildlife opposes it.”

Opponents of the wolf reintroduction worry that if more wolves were to be reintroduced to Colorado, they could pose threats of interbreeding and eliminating the smaller Mexican gray wolf, said Anstine.

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SNOW & SCHOOL GETTING TO CLASS WITH MOBILITY ISSUES Charlotte Williams

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ith recent snowfall, getting to class can possibly be a hazard especially for individuals with mobility issues.

Both Disability Services and Physical Plant Services have systems in place to help students get to class as safely as possible.

Incidents of slipping on ice is not typically reported, unless it is a serious case involving an ambulance, which doesn’t occur often, Bill Donalen, FLC director of health and safety said.

“The worst winter I can remember was probably three or four years ago,” Donalen said. “We had about seven people injured.”

Between Jan. 2019 to Jan. 2020, there were two reported incidents of falling on ice in which an ambulance was called, Brett Deming campus chief of police said.

Sometimes snow can make getting to class inaccessible for some students with mobility issues, Kristen Polens, the director of Disability Services, said.

Students with mobility issues, temporary or not, can receive support and help through the Disability Services office and Physical Plant services, she said.

“They can come in regardless of what disability it is,” Polens said. “Some may

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come in with mobility, some can be specific to learning, some are sensory in nature, for some it’s vision and hearing and sometimes its mental health issues. Those students come and register with our office, and we provide support with accessibility.”

Anna Caplan, an FLC junior, uses a Segway, a motorized personal vehicle, which is difficult to operate when it’s icy and snowy outside, she said.

“I have a 9:30 a.m. class, and it’s a struggle to get to it because of the ice and the snow,” she said. “Sometimes parking can be a big issue, because I’ve noticed that, especially in the Noble lot, they plow all of the snow into the handicapped spots.”

Caplan has missed multiple classes due to the inability to get to them because of snow and ice, she said.

“My professors have been understanding and willing to work with me,” she said. “They understand that because of the ice and snow that I can’t necessarily get around. Usually there’s enough that I can make it up, although it does get tricky when we’re going over important information or working on a group project and I can’t be there.”

Caplan has stopped taking any classes earlier than 9:30 a.m. because of the difficulty of getting there on-time, she said.

“There’s a difference between plowed and usable,” Caplan said. “You can plow it but if they don’t put salt down, then it just immediately ices up, which is almost worse sometimes for a lot of people and especially for me. It becomes ice and I can’t get on it at all.”

Although slipping on the ice can be a possibility, students with various needs have the opportunity to receive support from the Disability Services Center, Polens said.

As a part of the academic accommodation process, the Disability Service office communicates with Physical Plant services about students’ schedules regarding snow removal, she said.

“We work hard with notifying the Physical Plant at the beginning of the semester for students who we know have mobility challenges or are wheelchair-bound,” Polens said. “We let them know what their class schedule is, because it’s a part of the academic accommodation process.”

FLC senior Allison Wilder works with the disability services center to help her get to class as well, she said.

“I have a genetic connective tissue disorder called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, which means that my ligaments are very loose, so I’m very prone to balance problems, dislocation, slipping and falling and a lot of subluxation,”

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Wilder said. “Because of that, I use a wheelchair, crutches or a walker.”

Snow and ice make it more difficult to get to class, she said.

“If there’s a lot of snow and ice, it definitely makes it harder to get traction,” Wilder said. “I have trouble unloading my wheelchair when it is icy, but as long as it’s later in the day and things have been removed, it’s pretty good.”

Wilder has worked with both Disability Services and the Physical Plant with situations involving weather, she said.

“I had a problem last year where there was a lot of snow and ice and I could tell from the car, I was not going to be able to get to class,” she said. “I called Disability Services and they were able to get the Physical Plant to bring one of their smaller path clearers, and they snow plowed and escorted me to my class.”

The Physical Plant services crew has a snow removal team with various routes and plans in place, to make the campus as safe as possible during and after a snowfall, Carl Gregg, Physical Plant grounds supervisor said.

The snow removal team uses various forms of equipment and divides routes on campus among its members using a colorcoordinated map, Gregg said.

“We try to open a path first and then we’ll try to get the snow as far off the sidewalk so that way it’s not freezing across the sidewalk the next day,” he said.

Crew members, including himself, are expected to arrive at any hour of the night, given the unpredictability and the hazards of snowstorms, he said.

“If we know there was snow the night before, we’re here at 5 a.m. starting on it,” Gregg said. “We’ve had snowfall, where it’s 2 a.m., and we’ll report in, and we will start handling roadways and basically maintain everything on campus.”

Every year, the supervising team gets together to discuss what parts of the snow removal team needs to be changed to make it more effective for the following year, he said.

“It’s always evolving and changing,” Gregg

“THERE’S A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PLOWED AND USABLE.” ANNA CAPLIN FLCJUNIOR

said. “When we find things that work we try to go with it, and if we have anything that we can change to improve on we always shoot to improve.”

Although the snow removal team tries to make the campus as safe as possible during snow and ice season, there are still areas on campus that are naturally more difficult to clear, director of Physical Plant services, Jeffery Miller said.

“There are some places on campus that are shaded by some of the buildings,” Miller said. “One of our best friends is sunshine.”

Some areas that are on the northern side of buildings, such as EBH and Sitter Hall, don’t see sunshine, so they are areas that are harder for us to remove the snow to make it safe, he said.

“They can have permission to leave class early, and to get out of class early to get to another, although we try not to take away from class time,” Polens said.

Even without snow and ice, Caplan struggles to get across campus due to the way campus is set up, she said.

Some main pathways that are not paved in concrete have huge cracks in them that she will not go on, Caplan said.

“We as a campus need to put more money into repairing them so they’re more accessible for our students,” Caplan said.

Last year, students living on campus were asked to move their cars to a farther lot for snow removal, Wilder said.

“They asked people to move their cars out of the residential lots and into a further lot,” she said, “I asked them, what’s your plan for people with mobility problems? Where do you want them to go, do you have a closer parking space? I never did hear back about that.”

The Americans with Disabilities Act is a federal law that means a person with disability that substantially limits any major aspect of their life cannot be discriminated against who’s otherwise qualified. If they’re academically qualified, and they meet the needs of a college or post-secondary education program, we have to mitigate what some of those barriers would be to provide access, Polens said.

“Here at Fort Lewis College, it means you need to be able to provide students with the same opportunities as you would any other student who’s non-disabled,” she said.

We have to provide access so an individual can have the same experience as a non-disabled person by removing barriers that a non-disabled person doesn’t have to manage, Polens said.

“Under ADA we provide accessibility,” she said. “There will be accommodations provided through our office. Snow removal is an accommodation to provide accessibility.”

Accessibility accommodations comes in a multitude of different ways, Polens said. Not only access on campus but also for students who have vision and hearing impairments, learning disabilities, or mental health challenges. All of those challenges we can’t discriminate against.

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Chains, Whips and Nipple Clamps: BDSM meets Colonialism Amber Labahe

Mistress Red in her full attire, preparing to do her work as a Native Female Dominatrix.

Photo Courtesy of Peter Xyst and Eli Frances

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his year, the Sundance Film Festival previewed a script about a Native dominatrix for hire finding healing by whipping white supremacists and having them apologize for racism, sexism, and most importantly for colonization.

Using her personal anger about being a Native woman who is fed up with white authority and a member of the Bondage and Discipline, Dominance and Submission, and Sadism and Masochism practice, inspired her to create this film.

Peshawn Bread, filmmaker and director, created the script and short film “The Daily Life of Mistress in Red.”

Myers said what drew people into this specific story was its unique plot and knowledge of Native American culture.

Both Bread and Jhane Myers, producer and Bread’s mother, attended the Sundance Film Festival on January 27 in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Missing Indigenous women are disappearing in different parts of Native reservations and Bread said her film was written in part to address those issues.

Bread said her script was presented under Sundance’s Talent Forum, a program that links artists with industry professionals to assemble support for post-production, to raise awareness and seek funding for her film.

“A lot of women are being taken advantage of in sexual ways,” Bread said, “They’re being harmed through sex and that’s not okay. Sex is something that is beautiful and sacred, and it’s always been that way. So, for it to be taken from us is really alarming. This is sort of a way to give it back to us.”

Bread is of the Penneducah (sugar eater) and Yappaducah (root eater) bands of the Comanche tribe. She is a Sundance Institutes Full Circle Fellow and recipient of the Sundance’s Native Filmmakers Lab Fellowship which allowed her to create her short film.

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Jennifer Rader, actress and member of the Ojibwe Nation, said there was a moment where she felt the words of Bread’s script and in that moment, she could feel how everyone else felt about the issues surrounding rape,

colonialism, and sexuality. Rader described that moment as a collective time of sadness developing into strength.

“I had to spend some time with the actress Jennifer, who played Mistress Red, and to kind of like get her to understand what kink is and how much of a community it is,” Bread said, “It’s about community communication, it’s one of the safest places I’ve ever felt.”

Jennifer said during the making of the film her character breaks in a moment and it was the first time she was allowed to experience those feelings. She said the collective team around her could empathize with those same feelings.

“What makes me feel good is the attention and approval from Native women,” Bread said, “That’s who I made this film for and it’s very validating to know that Native women want to see this.”

During filming, about 50 pounds of kinky equipment, including dildos, nipple clips, whips, handcuffs, and clothing were transported by plane. Bread said she needed to

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write a note to the Transportation Security Administration.

The entire creative team preparing to shoot a scene of the film.

Photo Courtesy of Peter Xyst and Eli Frances

“We had to take that on the flight and it was just ridiculous,” Bread said, “ I had to like write a note to TSA, in case they opened it, and I wrote like ‘I’m sorry I’m a freak, but this is literally 50 pounds of BDSM gear. We are trying to make a movie.’”

Michelle Malach, Associate Professor with an expertise in queer theory at Fort Lewis College, said this film is intersectional for its coverage about an Indigenous woman and her sexuality and several political concepts which would make an interesting tool to incorporate into several courses at FLC. “In a nutshell what it looks at is that which is not normal,” Malach said, “Obviously this kind of narrow version of queer theory would be looking at issues of gender, sex and sexuality and how those get constride as what normal and whats not normal.”

Malach said queer theory is a tough subject to define and how Bread’s film involves queer theory is that the authority is given to a Native female dominatrix, rather than a dominant white male.

“Forty percent of the student population is Indigenous, these issues need to be out there they need to be discussed,” Malach said, “So, I think it’s hugely important because you have these Indigenous communities that have, in many cases, been excluded from those conversations.”

Malach taught the General Women’s Studies course at FLC and within that class she learned that it was the first time for many Indigenous women to speak openly about sexuality in a comfortable setting.

Peshawn Bread directing a scene. To the right of her is cinematographer, Sunrise Tippieconnie.

Photo Courtesy of Peter Xyst and Eli Frances

“I thought it would be good to bring this kind of figure, this champion, this person I needed in my life which was a female dominatrix,” Bread said, “I think every Native girl needs a dominatrix in their life, like a good powerful figure, because she is someone who would stand up for us and someone who is unapologetic about her love.”

Myers said the film is different as well as empowering to Native women because people misjudge them for the current problem circulating the abduction and killing of Native women.

“I felt like it was sexually positive, but it also put Native women in a very powerful place,” Myers said.

Myers said she thinks it’s important for Native women, who hold traditional core values, to be true to themselves by owning their sexuality because those values weigh in on their everyday lives.

The sooner that Native women can own their sexuality the sooner they can do more

in their life because their sexuality is a part of them, she said. Owning that sexuality ties in with happiness and productivity, which is why Myers said it was important for women to own their sexuality.

Rader said her view of sexuality has changed through the film because women ought to feel happy, and if that happiness is through feeling sexy then they should own that.

Myers said if the short film were to reach across Native communities and colleges, that it would be important because there has never been a film that covers this topic.

“We didn’t have a lot of offers for people to fund us to make it a feature film but she’s kind of considering making it into a series,” Myers said, “So imagine if something like this was a series that was on television.”

Myers said the characters in the film have such large backgrounds which lead to endless possibilities for their future, so if this streams within Native communities it would be an important teaching tool for people on reservations and elsewhere.

“I created this character because I wanted Native girls to have someone there for them,” Bread said, “I wanted Native girls to look up to this woman and say ‘okay that’s who’s going to speak for us and that’s okay, that’s not who’s going to speak for all of us but it’s someone who’s going to make me feel comfortable.”

Bread said her future plan is to create this film into a series or full movie which should screen in January 2021.

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S ilverton S kijoring 2020

Thread the Needle Skier Andrew Carrol is pictured collecting rings. These rings are mandatory for skiers to collect. For every ring the skier misses, two seconds will be added to their time. Skiers also have to weave through gates for an added challenge. If a gate is missed they will also add five seconds to their time.

Lea Leggitt

Cowboy America To start off the afternoon of racing on Saturday February 15, Richard Weber of Ridgeway, Colorado entered the course on Blair Street carrying the red, white and blue flag on his horse, Franks and Beans.

The course is typically 600-900 feet in length from start to finish according to the Skijoring America handbook.

Air Time

No Hands After losing his skier, jockey Jon Sherer rode to the end of the course with no hands on his horse, Trigger. Many of these horses are not specific to the sport of skijoring. “They are often barrel racing horses, ex race track horses or even good ole ranch horses,� said Jordan Lindsay, spectator and former jockey.

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Skier Todd Bove is pictured going over the smaller jump on the course with all five rings and his hands full of the 50 foot rope. The smaller jump was utilized in the novice category created for less experieced horses, riders and skiers.

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Ring Bearer Down on Blair St. With the dramatic backdrop of Sultan Mountain skiers shot for the skies in the open class catagory where they utilized the larger jump on the course. Pictured here is skier Jesse Hall in the air pulled

by Alex Maloaff on his horse Diablo.

After collecting all five rings, Carrol is pictured pulling the slack in the rope he is holding while preparing to go over the larger jump on the course. “Skiers will climb the rope to get a faster time,” said skier Dale Womack.

Like a Rocket Jockey Jeff Dahl and horse Rocket stride into the finish line. Many of these horses are trained and conditioned to run in snow and icy conditions. “The metal horse shoes are equipped with spikes to ensure they get traction to prevent falling,” said JordanLindsay, former skier and spectator.

Crowd Surfing Heading straight to the finish line, jockey Maloaff and horse Diablo tugged Carrol over the large jump. The building of Natalia’s Restaurant towers in the background.

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DATING APP CULTURE IN DURANGO Mandy Lorensen

S

ocial media alone has made a big change in the lives of the people who choose to use it. It is a place for people to connect, and dating applications such as Tinder and Bumble change dating culture too.

The use of a dating application is simple.

You create an account and upload a biography about yourself and upload a few pictures of yourself to your profile. Then, if someone matches with you or likes you, you decide whether or not you want to pursue that relationship.

When you walk into a coffee shop, individuals are on their laptops with their headphones in, and that is an indication that they do not want to talk, Katherine Smith, Lecture of Sociology at Fort Lewis College, said.

But when an individual uses social media and dating apps, they are open to talk, but not face-to-face, Smith said.

“Using social media is less frightening,” Smith said.

Better than face-to-face

More or less safe?

In some cases, the use of dating applications is easier than meeting an individual face-to-face, Carolina Alonso, Assistant Professor of Borders and Languages and Affiliated Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies at Fort Lewis College, said.

“It can be safer and it can give a feeling of anonymity,” Smith said.

In the real world, if someone is in a faceto-face conversation and something offensive is said, or if they do not want to continue the conversation, then they can’t block them like they can online.

It can provide a shield for those who think they need to hide something or protect themselves from preconceived notions people may have about them, Smith said.

Being behind a screen can help those who are timid or lack the confidence they need in order to start a conversation with someone they like, Alonso said.

“You can research them and see who they are before you meet them face-to-face,” Alonso said. “You can see who they really are.”

It can allow an individual to explore people in the area who are single and have the same interests as them.

“It helps to know that the person they matched with wants the same and is interested in the same things,” Alonso said.

People are starting to create their love stories using dating applications rather than meeting face-to-face.

A reason for this could be due to the fact

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that we have started to lose the ability and confidence it takes to approach a stranger and start a conversation with them.

When people choose to partake in the use of a dating app it provides the user a screen, or a shield, to protect themselves, Smith said.

Using a dating application in a small town, such as Durango, Colorado, can make the user feel as though they know the person before even meeting them.

The person could have know about them and that can make the person feel more safe when going out and meeting them for the first time, Smith said.

“For some, it is a safer way to meet people,” Smith said.

Even though it can be a safer way to meet people, the users that choose to partake in the application go in with the understanding that the person they have met online may not be real, Smith said.

“Anyone can present themselves one way through social media,” Smith said.

But this risk can be mitigated with social

media and certain outcomes can be controlled, Alonso said.

This can help with the potential dangers of meeting someone new for the first time and not knowing who they are exactly. You can get to know them through your screen before making the initial contact.

Be sure your first meeting is in a public place and/or share your location with a friend, Alonso said.

Plenty of fish in the sea Social media has changed our culture, and it has also changed the way in which we form relationships and connections with other human beings.

“It can make people feel like they have endless choices,” Natasha Tidwell, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Fort Lewis College, said.

People who were dating around 2030 years ago did not have what seems like endless choices. They had a small pool of potential partners, because they had to go out and meet face-to-face rather than shield themselves behind a screen, Tidwell said.

When it comes to using a dating application in a small town, such as Durango, it starts to get more challenging and complicated, Tidwell said.

“The list gets shorter and you’ll often see “repeat” potential partners and people that your friends have dated,” Tidwell said.

It can start to make those who do live in a small town feel like they do not have other options to fall back on, Tidwell said.

The use of a dating application is a powerful one and can help individuals find love. It can open the search for the person an individual is looking for, Alonso said. It can help those who feel like they struggle find the right person and it gives individuals a chance to meet as many people as they want before finding that special someone.

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