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Artist and photographer Kirti Bassendine has spent the last four years exploring Native American cultural connections to the land and the impact of climate change. The result of her work is a photography exhibition, Contemporary Indigenous Voices of California’s South Coast Range, currently at the de Young Museum in San Francisco.
A special craft exhibit and discussion with South Coast Range Native American tribal members is scheduled for Nov. 4 at de Young Museum. The exhibit is currently open and will continue through Jan. 7, 2024.
Schedule for Nov. 4 special exhibit:
11:00 am – 12:30 pm, cultural crafting demonstrations, Wilsey Court
11:00 am – Noon, film screenings, Koret Auditorium
1:00 – 2:15 pm, a discussion on real-world examples of Landback, Koret Auditorium
Photography Exhibition at Kimball Education Gallery.
“This project began as a way of talking about passing on Indigenous culture from elders to youth,” said Bassendine, a BenitoLink contributor. “It evolved because you quickly learn that their culture is of the land and its stewardship. It was clear that this project needed to bring that perspective into the conversation.”
Working with a grant from California Humanities, Bassendine and her advisors compiled a wish list of 25 different cultural groups to approach. The current exhibition is a work in progress that includes photographs and information on the 10 groups she has documented so far.
“It is incredible to hear their stories,” she said. “They are so moving and powerful, and there is so much traditional wisdom there. It makes me feel like there’s so much more to learn and it’s been humbling. I just feel really blessed that they opened up and trusted me.”
Bassendine said that she hoped visitors would take away an impression of the amount of history, culture and philosophy that existed in California before the arrival of the Spanish.
“I feel like we are visitors here,” she said. “This land, for thousands of years, was part of these Indigenous groups, and I think my message is that we need to acknowledge their presence, offer the respect they deserve and acknowledge that this was their land.”
Part of that acknowledgment is recognizing the impact of climate change. Among the videotaped interviews with members of the Indigenous community, Bassendine spoke with Indian Canyon resident Kanyon Sayers-Roods, chairwoman of the Indian Canyon Mutsun Band of Costanoan Ohlone People.
“The waterways have always been filled with salmon and steelheads and so many resources,” Sayers-Roods said. “Today, our skies are filled with airplanes, the waterways are dammed, and monolithic agriculture is poisoning our waterways. There is noise pollution, air pollution, water pollution, and all of these things are problematic to our people, our minds, our bodies, and our spirits.”
As climate change is having an increasing impact on everyone, everywhere, Bassendine hopes people will see it as a theme that unites us.
“This work becomes a collective project because we all become part of these changes,” she said. “We need to work together as a collective group, regardless of our nationalities. They believe Mother Earth has been depleted of its resources, and their message is ‘work with us.’”
Bassendine worked closely with Christina Hellmich, curator for the De Young’s Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas and the Jolika Collection of New Guinea Art, to mount the exhibit at the de Young. Hellmich said that part of the importance of Bassendine’s work was her ability to bring together so many different voices to share their stories.
“We have a wide range of tribal communities or associations included in the exhibition,” she said. “It really provides an opportunity for visitors and our staff to be more educated about the Indigenous people of the South Coast range by hearing from them in their own words. I think it is a great learning experience.”
The exhibition runs through Jan. 7, 2024, and was organized with the assistance of the Association of Ramaytush Ohlone, the Confederated Villages of Lisjan, the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area, the Tamien Nation, the Indian Canyon Chualar Tribe of the Costanoan-Ohlone People, the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, the Rumsen Ohlone Tribal Community, the Esselen Tribe of Monterey County, the Salinan Tribe of San Luis Obispo and Monterey Counties and the Salinan T’rowt’raahl tribal community.
The de Young Museum is located in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park at 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive and is open Tuesday through Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. The exhibition is free and does not require a ticket for entry.
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