Climate Conversations: Connections to Natural Material: Native Culture Today and Tomorrow with Yolanda Hart Stevens

From birth to death, the mesquite tree is an integral part of life for many who call the desert home. The mesquite tree is just one of many holistic materials, elements of our natural environment, that are vital to sustaining Native culture and practices. But climate change and environmental degradation are changing the landscapes of Arizona. From the lack of water resources to the loss of mesquite trees, the future is uncertain. Join us for a program about water, land, and the environmental challenges impacting Native communities with artist and community activist, Yolanda Hart Stevens.

This program is part of the Climate Conversations series hosted by Arizona Humanities and supported by funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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Yolanda Hart Stevens is Pee-Posh/Kwatsan from the Yuman Peoples of the Colorado River. She is a successful artist and community activist. An artist in residence at the Heard Museum, her art (presentation) has been featured in exhibitions as far away as New Zealand. Yolanda is passionately involved in spreading knowledge of, and appreciation for, Native American art and culture. She shares her knowledge of bead working and traditional dance with youth and elders through various community events. She volunteers at the Boys & Girls Club Komatke Branch Gila River and Indigenous Tribal Museums in the southwest. She also works with a contemporary artist group called “Indigenous Artists Continuum” to effectively communicate with other Native American Artists in surrounding urban areas in Arizona to acknowledge, identify and incorporate design.