BLUE LAKE, CA–Two Feathers Native American Family Services collaborated with the Blue Lake Rancheria and local tribal artist Alme Allen to host a weekend-long; “Young Bucks”: Traditional Stool making workshop. Young Bucks is a prevention program within Two Feathers that focuses on youth leadership and development.
“We need something for young men to work with young men, specifically men working with young men,” Keoki Burbank, the Director of Partnerships at Two Feathers said. “That’s where we’re at with Young Bucks, we’ve done a lot of cultural projects and activities that get Native men to teach the younger Native men different skills and cultural practices.”
Alme Allen, a local artist and owner of Karuk Carving Studios, got into artwork around 25 years ago. Since then, he’s been teaching his community and Native youth about traditional artforms.
“What drew me to it was, yeah, we do use them in ceremonies, but we also use them in the everyday […] we use them in our houses every day, they’ll either give them to the mother or their aunty or use them for themselves,” Allen said. “I told them, I said, it’s traditional to always give your first one away so, it’s like it’s not just about you, you know, it’s about the bigger picture.”
Alme shared the importance of being a mentor.
“I think teaching cultural and traditional arts means that we’re preserving our art form, but we’re also teaching it to this next generation, which I feel is really important, you know,” Allen said. “For me, what I always feel is that I’m passing on something that was passed to me and things that impacted me in my life.”
The Young Bucks program has been an impactful way for Native youth to feel heard, supported, and connected with both their community and ancestors. One youth participant, Anthony Bennet shared his thoughts on the program.
“What’s bringing me out here is that we’re experiencing something that our ancestors of this land did but we’re not only getting taught, since we’re doing it kind of as a new way, we’re doing it because we have evolved, you know,” Bennet said. “So we’re doing it a whole different way. we’re using electric tools, but in the process we’re getting taught how our ancestors did it”
Allen expressed that many of the young Native men at the workshop were very eager to learn.
“I could tell today when we showed up that they were very engaged and they were ready to go for it again,” Allen said. “I actually had to slow them down and I said, hey, wait a minute, before we fire up the tool, let’s talk, you know, cause that’s supposed to be part of it is, you know, we give these moments of insight.”
These classes also provide a sense of identity to native youth.
“We came from a past of having to hide our culture, having to hide everything, who we were […] we had to hide who we were, and that’s a big part of Native Americans nowadays,” Bennet said. “They suffer with identity, they don’t know who they are and just because our parents were told they can’t do it anymore, it’s like now we’re bringing it back and bringing our kids that were like the future generations […] they’ll just have it actual, just knowledge of it the only thing that could happen is expanding our culture and expanding who we are.”
“Our people come from a very rich culture, from basket weaving, to carving […] everything that we do from this area is very, you know, ornately done,” Allen said. “It’s just something to be proud of, it’s something to embrace and I feel that we’re very fortunate for having this type of very strong art community […] I have no worries that this, uh, this, this artform is here to stay.”
For Native families in Humboldt County seeking for resources and other youth programs visit the Two Feathers Native American Family Services: https://twofeathers-nafs.org/
